Hometown Brandon - Summer 2015

Dual Servanthood
Camille Anding
On Sundays, the congregation at Rock Star
Missionary Baptist Church opens their Bibles and
follows the leadership of their pastor, Clifton Boggans.
The 150-member church respects the soft-spoken,
gentle pastor as their beloved shepherd.
On Monday morning he reports to his second job
at Northwest Rankin High School as the maintenance
supervisor, a job he’s held for twenty-five years. There
he services the buildings’ physical needs and with the
same soft-spoken, gentle manner.
Born in 1955, Boggans was the number six child
among a family of eleven raised in Flowood. He
remembers the city being a small town where he
and his brothers found fishing holes and carved trails
through the woods.
He attended high school at Carter High School until
integration sent him and his classmates to Pearl High
School. “I just never thought about the possibility of
problems or conflict.” And he experienced neither.
He does remember the kind math teacher, Mrs.
Cannon. “She was a good teacher; I just wasn’t a
good student!” he said with a hearty laugh.
After graduating from Pearl, he enrolled in
masonry trade school in Utica Junior College.
He used his new job skill that summer but became
a wanderer in the fall. He ended
up working at Mississippi State
hospital and met his future bride,
Myrtis Dell, who was employed
there, too. Willie Taylor, Boggans’ best friend, spotted
the same girl and suggested to Boggans that they
adopt her as their little sister. Boggans was quick
to reply, “I’ve already got enough sisters (six).
I want a girlfriend.” They dated for two years and
were married.
Pastor Boggans calls his bride a gift from the Lord.
Her godly character has always challenged him. He also
admits the pull that Satan had on his life in the months
after their marriage – a pull for a night out with the guys.
“I told God that He and Myrtis Dell were double-teaming
me. I would go to a club and try to listen to the music or
enjoy a dance, and God’s voice would say, ‘Come to me,
come to me.’”
The real turning point came after one of Boggan’s
nights on the town. Myrtis Dell met him at the door and
said, “Look at you, eyes all red, just ugly as you can be.
You gonna send us to hell!”
Boggans gave his life to the Lord and his years of
servanthood began.
As pastor, Boggans says that the most difficult task
he has is teaching his members to stick to Biblical
principles in a culture that wants to deny their existence.
In his years of ministering to families he sees how
Satan is intent on destroying the man
because the man is the fiber of the family.
Boggans explains, “Satan says I’ll destroy
the man, and then I’ll mess up the home.
That will lead to messing up the community
– then the country.” Boggans pauses. “It’s the
domino effect in our lives.”
Concerning race relations,
Boggans believes we need to be
proactive instead of having to
react. “Praying and working for
unity need to come before the problems.”
Pastor Boggans is expected to repair broken
items at Northwest Rankin High School and
broken lives as a minister. With his love for
people, his servant heart and gentle spirit,
he’s equipped for the tasks. ■
Hometown Brandon • 11