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Jerry Falwell
Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American 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, later renamed Liberty Christian Academy, in 1967, founded 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, on August 11, 1933, the sons of Helen Virginia (née Beasley) and Carey Hezekiah Falwell. His father was an entrepreneur and one-time bootlegger who was agnostic. His father shot and killed his brother Garland and died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1948 at the age of 55. His paternal grandfather was a staunch atheist. 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. Falwell met Macel Pate on his first visit to Park Avenue Baptist Church in 1949; Macel was a pianist there. They married on April 12, 1958. The couple had two sons, Jerry Jr. (a lawyer who succeeded Jerry Sr. as president of Liberty University until 2020) and Jonathan (who succeeded Jerry Sr. as senior pastor at Thomas Road Baptist Church, and became chancellor of Liberty University in 2023), 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 did not shy away from showing physical affection. Of his marriage, Falwell jokingly said: "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 had been married for nearly 50 years when Jerry died.
Falwell graduated from Brookville High School in Lynchburg, and from then-unaccredited Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, in 1956. He enrolled there to subvert Pate's relationship with her fiancé, who was a student there. Falwell was later awarded three honorary doctorates: Doctor of Divinity (1968) 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.
In 1956, aged 22, Falwell founded the Thomas Road Baptist Church. Originally at 701 Thomas Road in Lynchburg, with 35 members, it became a megachurch. Also in 1956, Falwell 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 church's senior pastor. The weekly program's name was then changed to Thomas Road Live.
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 federal government. Liberty Christian Academy (LCA, founded as Lynchburg Christian Academy) is a Christian school in Lynchburg that the Lynchburg News in 1966 called "a private school for white students".
Falwell opened The Lynchburg Christian Academy in 1967 as a segregation academy and a ministry of Thomas Road Baptist Church.
The Liberty Christian Academy is recognized as an educational facility by the Commonwealth of Virginia through the Virginia State Board of Education, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and the Association of Christian Schools International.
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Jerry Falwell
Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American 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, later renamed Liberty Christian Academy, in 1967, founded 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, on August 11, 1933, the sons of Helen Virginia (née Beasley) and Carey Hezekiah Falwell. His father was an entrepreneur and one-time bootlegger who was agnostic. His father shot and killed his brother Garland and died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1948 at the age of 55. His paternal grandfather was a staunch atheist. 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. Falwell met Macel Pate on his first visit to Park Avenue Baptist Church in 1949; Macel was a pianist there. They married on April 12, 1958. The couple had two sons, Jerry Jr. (a lawyer who succeeded Jerry Sr. as president of Liberty University until 2020) and Jonathan (who succeeded Jerry Sr. as senior pastor at Thomas Road Baptist Church, and became chancellor of Liberty University in 2023), 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 did not shy away from showing physical affection. Of his marriage, Falwell jokingly said: "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 had been married for nearly 50 years when Jerry died.
Falwell graduated from Brookville High School in Lynchburg, and from then-unaccredited Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, in 1956. He enrolled there to subvert Pate's relationship with her fiancé, who was a student there. Falwell was later awarded three honorary doctorates: Doctor of Divinity (1968) 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.
In 1956, aged 22, Falwell founded the Thomas Road Baptist Church. Originally at 701 Thomas Road in Lynchburg, with 35 members, it became a megachurch. Also in 1956, Falwell 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 church's senior pastor. The weekly program's name was then changed to Thomas Road Live.
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 federal government. Liberty Christian Academy (LCA, founded as Lynchburg Christian Academy) is a Christian school in Lynchburg that the Lynchburg News in 1966 called "a private school for white students".
Falwell opened The Lynchburg Christian Academy in 1967 as a segregation academy and a ministry of Thomas Road Baptist Church.
The Liberty Christian Academy is recognized as an educational facility by the Commonwealth of Virginia through the Virginia State Board of Education, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and the Association of Christian Schools International.