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Jerry Falwell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Jerry Laymon Falwell August 11, 1933 |
| Died | May 15, 2007 (aged 73) Lynchburg, Virginia, U.S. |
| Occupations |
|
| Known for | Founding the Moral Majority |
| Television | The Old-Time Gospel Hour[1] |
| Title | Chancellor of Liberty University (1971–2007) |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse |
Macel Pate (m. 1958) |
| Children | 3, including Jerry Jr. and Jonathan |
| Ecclesiastical career | |
| Religion | Christianity (Baptist) |
| Church | |
| Ordained | 1956 |
Congregations served | Thomas Road Baptist Church |
Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr.[a] (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007)[3] was an American Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservative activist.[4] He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia. He founded Lynchburg Christian Academy (Liberty Christian Academy) in 1967, founded Liberty University in 1971, and co-founded the Moral Majority in 1979.
Early life and education
Falwell and his twin brother Gene were born in the Fairview Heights area of Lynchburg, Virginia, on August 11, 1933, the sons of Helen Virginia (née Beasley) and Carey Hezekiah Falwell.[5][6][7] His father was an entrepreneur and one-time bootlegger who was agnostic.[5] His father shot and killed his own brother Garland and died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1948 at the age of 55.[8] His paternal grandfather was a staunch atheist.[5] Jerry Falwell was a member of a group in Fairview Heights known to the police as "the Wall Gang" because they sat on a low concrete wall at the Pickeral Café.[9] Falwell met Macel Pate on his first visit to Park Avenue Baptist Church in 1949; Macel was a pianist there.[8] They married on April 12, 1958.[10] The couple had sons Jerry Jr. (a lawyer, and former chancellor of Liberty University) and Jonathan (senior pastor at Thomas Road Baptist Church) and a daughter Jeannie (a surgeon).
Falwell and his wife had a close relationship, and she supported him throughout his career. The Falwells often appeared together in public, and they did not shy away from showing physical affection. Reflecting on his marriage, Falwell jokingly commented, "Macel and I have never considered divorce. Murder maybe, but never divorce." Macel appreciated her husband's non-combative, affable nature, writing in her book that he "hated confrontation and didn't want strife in our home ... he did everything in his power to make me happy." The Falwells were married nearly fifty years until his death.[11]
He graduated from Brookville High School in Lynchburg, and from then-unaccredited[12][13] Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri in 1956. He enrolled there to subvert Pate's relationship with her fiancé who was a student there.[8] Falwell was later awarded three honorary doctorates: Doctor of Divinity from Tennessee Temple Theological Seminary, Doctor of Letters from California Graduate School of Theology, and Doctor of Laws from Central University in Seoul, South Korea.[14]
Associated organizations
Thomas Road Baptist Church
In 1956, aged 22, Falwell founded the Thomas Road Baptist Church. Originally located at 701 Thomas Road in Lynchburg, Virginia, with 35 members, the church became a megachurch. In the same year, he began The Old-Time Gospel Hour, a nationally syndicated radio and television ministry. When Falwell died, his son Jonathan inherited his father's ministry, and took over as the senior pastor of the church.[15] The weekly program's name was then changed to Thomas Road Live.[16][17]
Liberty Christian Academy
During the 1950s and 1960s, Falwell spoke and campaigned against the civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. and the racial desegregation of public school systems by the US federal government. Liberty Christian Academy (LCA, founded as Lynchburg Christian Academy) is a Christian school in Lynchburg which was described in 1966 by the Lynchburg News as "a private school for white students".
The Lynchburg Christian Academy later opened in 1967 by Falwell as a segregation academy and as a ministry of Thomas Road Baptist Church.[18]
The Liberty Christian Academy is recognized as an educational facility by the Commonwealth of Virginia through the Virginia State Board of Education,[19] Southern Association of Colleges and Schools,[20] and the Association of Christian Schools International.[21]
Liberty University
In 1971, Falwell co-founded Liberty University with Elmer L. Towns.[22] Liberty University offers over 350 accredited programs of study, with approximately 13,000 students on-campus and 90,000 online.[23]
Moral Majority
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The Moral Majority became one of the largest political lobbies for evangelical Christians in the United States during the 1980s.[24] According to Falwell's self-published autobiography, the Moral Majority was promoted as being "pro-life, pro-traditional family, pro-moral, and pro-American"[25] and was credited with delivering two thirds of the white evangelical vote to Ronald Reagan during the 1980 presidential election.[26] According to Jimmy Carter, "that autumn a group headed by Jerry Falwell purchased $10 million in commercials on southern radio and TV to brand me as a traitor to the South and no longer a Christian."[27] As head of the Moral Majority, Falwell consistently pushed for Republican candidates and for conservative politics. This led Billy Graham to criticize him for "sermonizing" about political issues that lacked a moral element. Graham stated at the time of Falwell's death, "We did not always agree on everything, but I knew him to be a man of God. His accomplishments went beyond most clergy of his generation."[24]
PTL
In March 1987, Pentecostal televangelist Jim Bakker came under media scrutiny when it was revealed that he had a sexual encounter (and alleged rape) with Jessica Hahn and had paid for her silence.[28] Bakker believed that fellow Pentecostal pastor Jimmy Swaggart was attempting to take over his ministry because he had initiated a church investigation into allegations of his sexual misconduct.[29] To avoid the takeover, Bakker resigned on March 19 and appointed Falwell to succeed him as head of his PTL ministry, which included the PTL Satellite Network, television program The PTL Club and the Christian-themed amusement park Heritage USA.[30]
Bakker believed Falwell would temporarily lead the ministry until the scandal died down,[31] but Falwell barred Bakker from returning to PTL on April 28,[32] and referred to him as "probably the greatest scab and cancer on the face of Christianity in 2,000 years of church history".[30] Later that summer, as donations to the ministry declined in the wake of Bakker's scandal and resignation, Falwell raised $20 million to keep PTL solvent and delivered on a promise to ride the water slide at Heritage USA.[33] Despite this, Falwell was unable to revive the ministry from bankruptcy and he resigned in October 1987.[34]
Social and political views
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