2003: From this life to the next

2003 saw the passing of some notable figures, including evangelical giants Dr. Bill Bright, Dr. E.V. Hill and Larry Burkett.

Bill Bright
Bright founded Campus Crusade for Christ and built it into the world’s largest Christian ministry, touching billions of people and generating $381 million in annual revenues. He died July 19. He was 81.

Bright suffered from pulmonary fibrosis for the past three years and died of complications from the disease. Four years earlier, Bright underwent treatment for prostate cancer.

After its 1951 founding, Bright spent more than five decades leading the Orlando, Fla.-based ministry. It now employs 26,000 full-time employees and fields more than 225,000 trained volunteers who work in 191 countries. Campus Crusade has 60 specialty ministries and projects ranging from military ministries to inner city works.

In addition to his work with Campus Crusade, Bright was an author, with his 1956 book, “The Four Spiritual Laws” now printed in 200 languages and distributed to more than 2.5 billion people, making it the most widely disseminated religious booklet in history.

His worldwide effort to advance the gospel brought him accolades from some of the biggest names in Christian ministry.

“He has carried a burden on his heart as few men that I’ve ever known,” the Rev. Billy Graham, a longtime friend of the Brights, said in a statement shortly after Bright’s death. “A burden for the evangelization of the world. He is a man whose sincerity and integrity and devotion to our Lord have been an inspiration and a blessing to me ever since the early days of my ministry.”

Larry Burkett
Bright’s death came just two weeks after the passing of his friend, Larry Burkett, co-founder of the world’s largest Christian financial teaching ministry, Burkett, 64, died of heart failure July 4 following an extended battle with cancer and heart disease.

The co-founder of Crown Financial Services, honored in a July 11 service in Atlanta, was remembered as a man of unquestionable faith and integrity who was sold out to the authority of Scripture on his life.
Burkett, cofounder of Crown Financial Ministries, served on the staff of Campus Crusade during the 1970s.

Considered a pioneer in Christian talk radio, Burkett was the host of the syndicated radio programs “Money Matters,” “How to Manage Your Money,” “Money Watch” and “A Money Minute.” He also wrote more than 70 books.

E.V. Hill
Another legend in evangelical circles, Dr. E.V. Hill, a well-recognized and respected American preacher, died Feb. 25, from complications of a stroke. The 69-year-old Hill, who served as senior pastor of Mount Zion Missionary Baptist church in Los Angeles for four decades, had been hospitalized for the final two weeks of his life. It was also widely reported that he was battling pneumonia.

Hill founded Mount Zion Church, in the heart of Los Angeles’ Watt section, in 1963. As a prominent pastor in the area, he frequently mediated between gang factions that called Watts their home.

Dr. Hill’s influence was widely known beyond church circles and his efforts earned him recognition from Time magazine, which called him one of the most outstanding preachers in America.

A spokesman for conservative causes, Dr. Hill served as an adviser to several Republicans, including former President Ronald Reagan. He also spoke at the Democratic National Convention and the World Congress in Lucerne, Switzerland. He was also a prominent figure in the National Baptist Convention and in 1999 unsuccessfully sought a post as the organization’s president.

Dr. Hill was part of the Promise Keepers movement, participating in the first outdoor stadium event in 1992. He remained active with the group until 1999. He had been featured on national TV programs such as Jerry Falwell’s “Old Time Gospel Hour.”

Other prominent losses
There were numerous others who had left their mark in the Christian culture:

Arthur Matthews, WORLD magazine writer and editor, editor of the Presbyterian Journal, and associate editor of Christianity Today, passed away in January. He was 69.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a four-term U.S. Senator who earned the respect of thoughtful men and women from both parties, died in April. He was one of the first public figures to highlight the breakdown of the American family, especially the black family, and to document its consequences, in a famous 1965 paper, “The Negro Family: The Case for National Action.”

Wilbur Nelson, prominent pastor and pioneer religious broadcaster, passed away Aug. 22, in Laguna Woods, Calif. He was 92. Nelson, who in 1944 founded the nationally syndicated daily radio ministry,” “The Morning Chapel Hour,” was considered an evangelical renaissance man who excelled as a pastor, preacher, broadcaster, author, tenor soloist, song writer, choral conductor and trombonist.

Kenneth E. Hagin was a faith-healing evangelist who popularized the controversial “word of faith” and “name it and claim it” teachings in Pentecostal and charismatic circles. He died Sept. 19. He was 86 years old.

Mike Yaconelli, popular Christian writer, speaker and youth ministry leader died Oct. 29 at the age of 61 in northern California. Yaconelli died in an automobile accident outside his hometown of Yreka. Yaconelli had been involved in ministry for more than 40 years and was a cofounder of Youth Specialties, a ministry to youth and youth workers. He also helped start the satirical magazine “The Wittenburg Door” in 1971. Yaconelli published his last book, “Messy Spirituality,” last year.

Christian Examiner loses one of its own
On April 29 we said good-bye to a dear friend, one who had invested six years of his life as a co-worker on the Christian Examiner staff.

Roy Burrows, who served as the general manager of the Christian Times Yellow Pages from 1992 through 1998, went to be with the Lord on Tuesday, April 29, four days after surgery and less than two weeks after being diagnosed with what was thought to be an operable brain tumor.

Roy embodied a unique blend of humor, inner strength, intellectual rigor and warmth. A great friend, there was authenticity to what he had to say about life.

Left behind are his wife Lynda and their two daughters Blanca, 14, and Marlen, 11. The girls are special, both adopted at an early age out of Mexican orphanages, and both dearly loved by Roy and Lynda.

Published by Keener Communications Group, January 2004

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