Falwell Jerry

American pastor, promoter of TV evangelism and political lobbyist for the Moral Majority, Inc. who had a six-figure income, lived in a 12-room mansion and enjoyed such perks as his own jet and travel expenses for "The Old Time Gospel Hour." The family history in Virginia dating back to 1669 is a colorful, sweeping, almost biblical tale that includes financial success and murder, atheism and profound religious conviction, sin and atonement. Jerry and his twin, Eugene, were the youngest children of Carey and Helen Falwell. Falwell’s paternal grandfather was a vocal atheist. Their father, Carey Falwell, was a wealthy entrepreneur, a businessman who owned grocery stores, service stations, restaurants, an oil company and a bus company and who later turned to bootlegging. Like his father before him, he had little use for religion and was reputed to have run a brothel. When Carey’s brother Garland, the proverbial "wild child," came to the family restaurant with guns drawn, Carey killed him. Although the murder was labeled self-defense, Carey was laden with guilt and died at age 55 of alcoholism, when Jerry and Eugene were only 15 years old. The twins and their older siblings, Lewis and Virginia, have credited their mom with instilling the old-time-religion in the family. Falwell skipped second grade and earned a grade average of 98 in high school, also excelling in football, baseball, and basketball. Despite his good grades, he was barred from giving the valedictorians speech at graduation because it was discovered that he and other athletes had obtained free lunches for a year by using counterfeit lunch tickets. He enrolled in Lynchburg College majoring in mechanical engineering and won a B.F. Goodrich citation for earning the highest grades in mathematics in his freshman year. During his sophomore year on January 20, 1952 Jerry became a "born again" Christian when he and some friends attended a service conducted by the Rev. Paul Donnellson in Lynchburg, VA. The time as noted was 9:00 PM. Shortly thereafter he decided to transfer to the Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, turning down an offer to play baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals. He graduated with a Doctor of Theology degree in 1956. On his return to Lynchburg, Falwell founded an independent Baptist church with funds totaling $1,000. The first service of the Thomas Road Baptist Church was held June 24, 1956 in an abandoned building owned by the Donald Duck Bottling Company, and first congregation consisted of 35 adults and their families. Falwells energy and enthusiasm seemed unlimited. Besides his ministerial duties he performed maintenance, carpentry work, door-to-door campaigning and fund raising. He persuaded the buildings owner to underwrite the churchs purchase of the deteriorating building. A week following the opening of the church Falwell started a half-hour daily radio program. Six months later he began his first television show where he could preach to the multitudes. By the end of the first year the church had 864 regular worshippers; by 1969, membership neared 10,000. In 1959 he set up the Elim Home for Alcoholics on a 165-acre farm; the Lynchburg Christian Academy in 1964; a bus ministry for people lacking transportation to attend service in 1969; a free summer camp for children, a Bible institute and a seminary. The church also undertook missionary and relief work, sending teams to Guatemala, Haiti, South Korea, Indochina, Australia an Read less