Family and Team Ministry – the Dugones and Crowders

 

During the summers of 1970 and 1971, Rev. Linfield Crowder, his sister Alice Foster and the Joe Dugone family travelled around the country presenting worship services entitled, “The Gospel in Art, Sermon and Song.” 

Both the Crowder and Dugone families had strong ties to Idaho Falls. 

Joe and Barbara Dugone moved to Idaho Falls in 1958 with their three young children.  Joe, a chemical engineer, had taken a job with the INL contractor Aerojet.  In Idaho Falls, Joe and Barbara were active in the Assembly of God church, then located on Garfield and Holmes, with Barbara leading the church choir.  When the family went on tour with the Crowders, the three kids were in high school or college.  Everyone in the Dugone family was talented musically.  Joe and Barbara sang frequently, as soloists and together, in services in their church, at union services, and at weddings, funerals and other community events.  As their kids grew older, they joined their parents in performances.  Sometimes the family would fill an entire worship service, presenting the gospel in song.

Rev. Crowder described the Dugone family music as bringing “the harmony and tones of the Northwest and the soul of the Southland together in a smooth blend of spiritual and evangelistic expression.” The family did their own arranging and recorded their first album of gospel music in 1970.  Besides their tours with the Crowders, the family spent other summer vacations singing in church services in Washington, Oregon, Louisiana, Texas and California.

The “Art” in the “Gospel in Art, Sermon and Song” services was supplied by Alice Foster.  She and her brother Linfield were born in American Falls, where both her mother and her uncle were artists. After getting a degree in art from a college in Missouri, she worked for Gospel Publishing House producing Sunday school materials, and for a period also teaching art at Drury College.  After marrying Robert Foster and starting a family, they moved to Pocatello in 1951 and then to Idaho Falls four years later.  In Idaho Falls, Alice had a 35-year career as an art teacher, mostly at Skyline, Idaho Falls, and Bonneville High Schools.  She also taught art workshops in Idaho Falls and other communities.  In 1967 she painted a 27-foot mural of the Last Supper for a church in San Diego and painted murals for many other churches and church camps.  On the tours with her brother and the Dugones, she painted during the services on themes related to the sermon.  Besides paintings illustrating Scriptural themes, she painted landscapes of mountains, rivers, lakes and other scenery, she wrote and illustrated several children’s books and illustrated many missionary stories.

While Alice’s brother Linfield never lived in Idaho Falls, he was frequent visitor, and many times led two or three week-long evangelistic or teaching meetings at the Assembly of God church.  Following his education at Northwest Bible Institute, in 1956 he was ordained as a minister with the Idaho District of the Assemblies of God.  He planted a church in Kuna, Idaho and then briefly worked as a Juvenile Court Judge.  In 1960 he was appointed as a missionary evangelist for the Assembly of God Church.  That appointment started a 50+-year career travelling to all 50 states and more that 60 countries speaking at evangelistic meetings, revivals, crusades, camp meetings, youth camps, minister's institutes, high school assemblies and Spiritual Emphasis revivals at Bible Colleges. He was known as the ''Man of a thousand teenage friends'' as he led many teens as well as others to know Jesus Christ.  He made 34 trips to the Marshall Islands to preach the gospel and teach.  He helped start a ministry within Assemblies of God Missions, initially called Craftsman for Christ, that coordinated volunteers to assist churches and ministry institutions with construction and evangelism projects.

His visits to Idaho Falls included:

·         September, 1959 – Speaking nightly during 2 weeks of evangelistic meetings at the Assembly of God church

·         January, 1961 – Preaching nightly for two weeks starting on New Year’s Day.  The announcement for the meeting included, “The evangelist has just finished a two-month tour of churches on the east coast and upon concluding this series in Idaho Falls, he will go to California, Oregon and Washington for further meetings.  In his sermons the Rev. Mr. Crowder has shown a unique ability to interpret the Bible in the light of the present world conditions. Along with preaching he will play his trombone, sing solos and pray for the sick." 

·         May, 1966 – Guest speaker at two weeks of meetings at the Assembly of God church

·         September to October, 1969 – Led a three-week evangelistic series at the Assembly of God church with an emphasis on youth

·         December, 1971 – A unique feature of the 8:30 pm to midnight service on New Year’s Eve at the Assembly of God church “will be a spiritual presentation with Rev. Linfield Crowder of American Falls speaking.  His message will involve a special painting by Mrs. Bob Foster and the ministry of music by the Joe Dugone family.  The Idaho Falls church will be joined by the Assembly of God churches of Shelley and Firth.”

·         March, 1972 – Featured speaker at a “Concentration Camp” for youth of Southeast Idaho held at the Assembly of God church in Idaho Falls.  The purpose of the camp was to prepare the youth of Southeast Idaho to meet the challenges of the 70s’.

·         October, 1972 – Spoke at two weeks of special services at the Assembly of God church. Some of the services included the music of the Joe Dugone family and the artistic work of Mrs. Alice Foster to illustrate the messages of Rev. Crowder. 

·         April, 1973 – Keynote speaker at the Idaho Falls Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast.  As he spoke on the need for prayer and praying for leaders, his sister  drew a portrait of a man kneeling and praying. 

·         May, 1973 – Speaker at two-week series at the Assembly of God church.

It is likely that Rev. Crowder spoke many more times in Idaho Falls, as he is mentioned speaking in Twin Falls as recently as 2008 [but most Idaho Falls newspaper data bases end in the 1970’s].  He passed away in 2010 in American Falls, while his sister Alice died May 21, 2023 in Middleton, Idaho at age 97.

Joe Dugone, age 94, is living in Leander, Texas, as does his son Ron, where he is the pastor of Believer’s Church.  Ron Dugone pastored New Life Assembly of God in Idaho Falls from 1980 to 1988.

Primary Sources

1. “North Joins South in Singing Texas Gospel,” The Post-Register, September 12, 1971, p. C-1.

2. “Alice Foster to be Featured Artist Sunday at Eagle Rock Art Gallery,” The Post-Register, December 10, 1971, p.13.

3. Idaho State Journal, December 28, 2010 [obituary of Rev. Linfield Crowder].

4. The Post Register, May 26, 2023 [obituary of Alice Foster Trumblee].

5. The Post Register, September 11, 1959, p. 10.

6. The Post Register, January 1, 1961, p. 15.

7. “Sermon Series to Open Here,” The Post Register, January 1, 1961, p. 15.

8. The Post Register, April 29, 1966, p. 9.

9. The Post Register, September 18, 1966, p. 21.

10. The Post Register, December 31, 1971, p. A-10.

11. The Post Register, March 29, 1972, p. D-5.

12. The Post Register, October 6, 1972, p. A-8.

13. The Post Register, October 20, 1972, p. A-8

14. “Prayer Key Word at Mayor’s Breakfast,” The Post Register, April 30, 1973, pp. 1 & A-11.

15. The Post Register, April 29, 1976, p. A-2.