Jerry Falwell | |
---|---|
Born |
Jerry Lamon Falwell August 11, 1933 Lynchburg, Virginia, U.S. |
Died | May 15, 2007 Lynchburg, Virginia, U.S. |
(aged 73)
Cause of death | Cardiac arrhythmia |
Burial place |
Liberty University Campus Lynchburg, Virginia, U.S. |
Occupation | Pastor, educator, evangelist, activist |
Years active | 1956–2007 |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Macel Pate (m. 1958–2007) |
Children | 3, including Jerry Falwell Jr. and Jonathan Falwell |
Jerry Lamon Falwell Sr. (/ˈfɔːlwɛl/; August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia. He founded Lynchburg Christian Academy (now Liberty Christian Academy) in 1967 and Liberty University in 1971 and co-founded the Moral Majority in 1979.
Falwell and his twin brother Gene were born in the Fairview Heights area of Lynchburg, Virginia, the sons of Helen Virginia (Beasley) and Carey Hezekiah Falwell. His father was an entrepreneur and one-time bootlegger who was agnostic. His grandfather was a staunch atheist. Jerry Falwell married the former Macel Pate on April 12, 1958. The couple had sons Jerry Jr. (a lawyer and current chancellor of Liberty University) and Jonathan (senior pastor at Thomas Road Baptist Church) and a daughter Jeannie (a surgeon).
He graduated from Brookville High School in Lynchburg, and from the then-unaccreditedBaptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri in 1956. Falwell was later awarded three honorary doctoral degrees: 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.