Rex Humbard
Encyclopedia
Alpha Rex Emmanuel Humbard (August 13, 1919 – September 21, 2007) was a well-known American
television evangelist
whose Cathedral of Tomorrow
show was shown on over 600 stations at the peak of its popularity.
Born in Little Rock, Arkansas
, to Pentecostal
evangelists, Rex Humbard was the first evangelist to have a weekly nationwide television program in the United States
, running from 1952 to 1983, although his first television broadcast was in 1949. Humbard's $4 million Cathedral of Tomorrow
church in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
, a suburb of nearby Akron
, was built in 1958 specifically to accommodate television equipment, crew, and chorus as well as seating for 5,400 people.
Humbard's television programs featured gospel music
such as the popular Cathedral Quartet
. Humbard's wife, Maude Aimee, and his children were also often featured on the programs. His ministry eventually extended to Canada
, Europe
, the Middle East
, Far East
, Australia
, Latin America
and Africa
, giving it a worldwide reach of 8 million viewers, greater than any of his contemporaries by the late 1970s. In Brazil
, he attracted large crowds at the giant soccer
stadium in São Paulo
for weeks. Humbard officiated at Elvis Presley
's funeral, as Presley had been an admirer of Humbard's ministry.
In the 60s Humbard's ministry started to purchase businesses through a for-profit arm to raise money. Over time they owned a girdle factory in Brooklyn, an office tower in Akron, a college on Mackinac Island, and advertising agency, an apartment building, and other assets.
Humbard's ministry ran into financial problems in the early 1970s. Starting in 1959 the ministry had sold bonds and promissory notes through their own team of salesmen. The securities were not registered and came under the scrutiny of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Officials in at least six states halted the sale of the securities. Humbard said that the SEC did not allow him to count expected bequests from wills as assets, the ministry never missed an interest payment, and that the investors were not worried about losing their money. In the end he was forced to sell of nearly all of the ministries assets and cut off the overseas operations.
Humbard was inducted into the Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1993 by Ohio
Governor George Voinovich
. He was termed one of the "Top 25 Principal Architects of the American Century" by U.S. News & World Report
on December 27, 1999.
Humbard began to build a rotating tower restaurant
(similar to Calgary Tower
) at his Cathedral of Tomorrow
complex in Cuyahoga Falls, which was also slated to hold a transmission tower for his planned local TV station on Channel 55, WCOT. During that time, though, the SEC investigation mentioned above occurred and Humbard had to stop construction of the tower. Years later the tower was purchased by a local businessman and is now used as a cellular phone tower.
Humbard's son Rex, Jr. succeeded his father in the ministry after the family moved to Florida
in 1982. But Humbard's television ministry was influential in promoting an independent Christian television station in Canton, Ohio
, WDLI (Channel 17), which later was purchased by the Trinity Broadcasting Network
as its Cleveland
-area station. Another son, Charles, heads the Gospel Music Channel
.
The rest of Humbard's Cathedral of Tomorrow complex was sold in 1994 to television evangelist Ernest Angley
, along with the Channel 55 license, which was used by Angley's Winston Broadcasting Network division for the current Akron-licensed
and Cuyahoga Falls-based CW
affiliate, WBNX-TV
.
After retiring to Lantana, Florida
, in the 1980s with his wife, Maude Aimee (whom he married in 1942), Humbard was still often seen on television broadcasts and at public appearances preaching Christianity. He wrote two autobiographies
, Miracles in My Life and, in 2006, The Soul Winning Century, The Humbard Family Legacy. In April 2007, he was inducted into the Arkansas Walk of Fame.
Rex Humbard died in Atlantis, Florida
, of congestive heart failure, following hospitalization in August 2007.
He is buried at Rose Hill Burial Park in Fairlawn, Ohio
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television evangelist
Televangelism
Televangelism is the use of television to communicate the Christian faith. The word is a portmanteau of television and evangelism and was coined by Time magazine. A “televangelist” is a Christian minister who devotes a large portion of his ministry to television broadcasting...
whose Cathedral of Tomorrow
Cathedral of Tomorrow
The Cathedral of Tomorrow was built in 1958 as home to Rex Humbard's ministry. The Cathedral, a round building with the sanctuary in the middle and classrooms and offices around the edges, located in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, seats 5,400. It has a domed roof with a large illuminated cross that hangs...
show was shown on over 600 stations at the peak of its popularity.
Born in Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
, to Pentecostal
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...
evangelists, Rex Humbard was the first evangelist to have a weekly nationwide television program in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, running from 1952 to 1983, although his first television broadcast was in 1949. Humbard's $4 million Cathedral of Tomorrow
Cathedral of Tomorrow
The Cathedral of Tomorrow was built in 1958 as home to Rex Humbard's ministry. The Cathedral, a round building with the sanctuary in the middle and classrooms and offices around the edges, located in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, seats 5,400. It has a domed roof with a large illuminated cross that hangs...
church in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 49,374 people, 21,655 households, and 13,317 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,932.9 people per square mile . There were 22,727 housing units at an average density of 889.7 per square mile...
, a suburb of nearby Akron
Akron, Ohio
Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
, was built in 1958 specifically to accommodate television equipment, crew, and chorus as well as seating for 5,400 people.
Humbard's television programs featured gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
such as the popular Cathedral Quartet
Cathedral Quartet
The Cathedral Quartet, often known as simply The Cathedrals, was an American southern gospel quartet that lasted from 1964 until their retirement in 1999....
. Humbard's wife, Maude Aimee, and his children were also often featured on the programs. His ministry eventually extended to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, giving it a worldwide reach of 8 million viewers, greater than any of his contemporaries by the late 1970s. In Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, he attracted large crowds at the giant soccer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
stadium in São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
for weeks. Humbard officiated at Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
's funeral, as Presley had been an admirer of Humbard's ministry.
In the 60s Humbard's ministry started to purchase businesses through a for-profit arm to raise money. Over time they owned a girdle factory in Brooklyn, an office tower in Akron, a college on Mackinac Island, and advertising agency, an apartment building, and other assets.
Humbard's ministry ran into financial problems in the early 1970s. Starting in 1959 the ministry had sold bonds and promissory notes through their own team of salesmen. The securities were not registered and came under the scrutiny of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Officials in at least six states halted the sale of the securities. Humbard said that the SEC did not allow him to count expected bequests from wills as assets, the ministry never missed an interest payment, and that the investors were not worried about losing their money. In the end he was forced to sell of nearly all of the ministries assets and cut off the overseas operations.
Humbard was inducted into the Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1993 by Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
Governor George Voinovich
George Voinovich
George Victor Voinovich is a former United States Senator from the state of Ohio, and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, he served as the 65th Governor of Ohio from 1991 to 1998, and as the 54th mayor of Cleveland from 1980 to 1989.-Personal life:Born in Cleveland, Ohio, his father was...
. He was termed one of the "Top 25 Principal Architects of the American Century" by U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
on December 27, 1999.
Humbard began to build a rotating tower restaurant
Revolving restaurant
A revolving restaurant is a usually tower restaurant eating space designed to rest atop a broad circular revolving platform that operates as a large turntable. The building remains stationary and the diners are carried on the revolving floor. The revolving rate varies between one and three times...
(similar to Calgary Tower
Calgary Tower
The Calgary Tower is a 191 metre free standing observation tower in Downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Originally called the Husky Tower, it was conceived as a joint venture between Marathon Realty Company Limited and Husky Oil as part of an urban renewal plan and to celebrate Canada's centennial...
) at his Cathedral of Tomorrow
Cathedral of Tomorrow
The Cathedral of Tomorrow was built in 1958 as home to Rex Humbard's ministry. The Cathedral, a round building with the sanctuary in the middle and classrooms and offices around the edges, located in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, seats 5,400. It has a domed roof with a large illuminated cross that hangs...
complex in Cuyahoga Falls, which was also slated to hold a transmission tower for his planned local TV station on Channel 55, WCOT. During that time, though, the SEC investigation mentioned above occurred and Humbard had to stop construction of the tower. Years later the tower was purchased by a local businessman and is now used as a cellular phone tower.
Humbard's son Rex, Jr. succeeded his father in the ministry after the family moved to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
in 1982. But Humbard's television ministry was influential in promoting an independent Christian television station in Canton, Ohio
Canton, Ohio
Canton is the county seat of Stark County in northeastern Ohio, approximately south of Akron and south of Cleveland.The City of Caton is the largest incorporated area within the Canton-Massillon Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, WDLI (Channel 17), which later was purchased by the Trinity Broadcasting Network
Trinity Broadcasting Network
The Trinity Broadcasting Network is a major American Christian television network. TBN is based in Costa Mesa, California, with auxiliary studio facilities in Irving, Texas; Hendersonville, Tennessee; Gadsden, Alabama; Decatur, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Orlando, Florida; and New...
as its Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
-area station. Another son, Charles, heads the Gospel Music Channel
Gospel Music Channel
gmc is an American satellite and cable television channel, known from its 2004 launch until February 1, 2010 as Gospel Music Channel. It is also available in high-definition as a separate channel called gmcHD ....
.
The rest of Humbard's Cathedral of Tomorrow complex was sold in 1994 to television evangelist Ernest Angley
Ernest Angley
Ernest Angley is an international Christian evangelist, based in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.-Grace Cathedral:Ernest Angley's interdenominational ministry was originally based at Grace Cathedral in Springfield Township, Ohio southeast of Akron...
, along with the Channel 55 license, which was used by Angley's Winston Broadcasting Network division for the current Akron-licensed
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
and Cuyahoga Falls-based CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
affiliate, WBNX-TV
WBNX-TV
WBNX-TV, virtual channel 55 , is the CW television affiliate serving the Cleveland/Akron/Canton, Ohio television market; it brands itself as "WBNX, The CW". The studios are located in Cuyahoga Falls and the transmitter is in Parma, although it is licensed to Akron...
.
After retiring to Lantana, Florida
Lantana, Florida
Lantana is a town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 9,437 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 10,389.-History:...
, in the 1980s with his wife, Maude Aimee (whom he married in 1942), Humbard was still often seen on television broadcasts and at public appearances preaching Christianity. He wrote two autobiographies
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, Miracles in My Life and, in 2006, The Soul Winning Century, The Humbard Family Legacy. In April 2007, he was inducted into the Arkansas Walk of Fame.
Rex Humbard died in Atlantis, Florida
Atlantis, Florida
Atlantis is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 2,005 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S Census estimates of 2005, the city had a population of 2,142.-Geography:Atlantis is located at ....
, of congestive heart failure, following hospitalization in August 2007.
He is buried at Rose Hill Burial Park in Fairlawn, Ohio
Fairlawn, Ohio
Fairlawn is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. A suburb of Akron, its population was 7,307 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Fairlawn is located at ....
.
External links
- Rex Humbard History Official Website
- Obituary on Florida TodayFlorida TodayFlorida Today is the major daily newspaper serving Brevard County. The Gannett corporation bought the paper in 1966.In addition to its regular daily publication, Florida Today publishes four weekly and eight biweekly community newspapers which are tailored for distinct neighborhoods within Brevard...