Wilbur Nelson

Wilbur Eugene Nelson (September 25, 1910 – August 22, 2003) was an American Christian radio broadcaster, church minister, gospel singer and composer, and published author. He produced and hosted the nationally-syndicated Morning Chapel Hour radio program in the 1940s–1990s. In addition to pastoring churches in California, he sang as a tenor soloist throughout his career. Nelson's radio ministry continues today, now known as Compassion Radio.

Nelson was born in Brighton, Colorado, on September 25, 1910. He attended Pilgrim Bible College in Colorado Springs, Colorado, before moving to California. He attended the old Country Church of Hollywood in the 1930s, where he married his wife, Ethyl, in 1936.

A talented tenor, Nelson sang in a quartet at the Country Church of Hollywood in the 1930s, later singing on the popular Old Fashioned Revival Hour radio broadcast in the early 1940s. Pianist Rudy Atwood, who frequently accompanied Nelson on the program, praised him as "one of the truly great singers of our day", writing, "Whether he sings the old hymns, or the contemporary gospel songs, his magnificent voice and dedicated life is a blessing to people everywhere". Among his many singing roles, Nelson sang at Billy Graham's crusade in Los Angeles in 1949, while pastoring Grace Church in Huntington Park, California.

Nelson was founder and pastor of Grace Church of Huntington Park, California, in the 1940s–1950s, which advertised itself as the "Singing Church". While pastoring Grace Church, he also held open-air summer tent meetings drawing thousands, the Los Angeles Times reported in 1949, publishing a photo of Nelson, shirtsleeves rolled up, driving tent stakes into the ground. The goal, he said, was to overcome the "summer slump in church attendance". Nightly meetings were held in the 500-seat tent, which he called "The Canvas Chapel".

For two years, Nelson led the Youth for Christ movement in Long Beach, California, one of the largest at the time on the West Coast, and organized and conducted their mass rallies at the Hollywood Bowl. Known as the "singing evangelist", Nelson both sang and preached at his church, as well as when making frequent guest appearances at other churches.

In the 1960s–1970s, Nelson was minister at Metropolitan Bible Church in Paramount, California, in addition to continuing to make singing appearances as a soloist.

While pastoring the Grace Church of Huntington Park, Nelson founded the Grace Evangelistic Association to produce a daily half-hour radio program, The Morning Chapel Hour, beginning in 1944 on KGER in Long Beach, California. The broadcast was eventually syndicated to radio stations around the United States and internationally. In later years, it was also carried by the Bible Broadcasting Network during the 1970s–1990s. On each broadcast, a choir sang gospel hymns, often as backup with Nelson singing lead, preceding a short devotional message given by Nelson to encourage and comfort listeners. The program's motto was, "Songs and Thoughts that Lift the Heart". He made guest singing and speaking appearances at churches and special events around the country, such as the Western Pennsylvania Bible Conference in June 1974.

As the program's popularity grew, Nelson extended its international outreach. In the early 1950s, for example, the Morning Chapel Hour broadcast sponsored the building of the Evangel Children's Home in Hong Kong, a Christian orphanage for refugee children from mainland China. He also built a 2,000-seat chapel/auditorium for Isabelle Christian School for Girls in Pusan, Korea. The auditorium was named "Nelson Hall" in his honor.