Alpha Rex Emmanuel Humbard (August 13, 1919 – September 21, 2007) was an American television evangelist whose ''

Cathedral of Tomorrow The Cathedral of Tomorrow was a Pentecostal church located in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. History The building was built in 1958 by Rex Humbard. The Cathedral, a round building with the sanctuary in the middle and classrooms and offices around the ed ...

'' show was aired on over 600 stations at the peak of its popularity.

Life and career

Humbard was born on August 13, 1919, in

Little Rock, Arkansas ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

, to

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestantism, Protestant Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian movement CNN obituary, September 22 2007.
He began attending church revivals all across the country and began to know God as a child, while withstanding the order from his father in learning how to play guitar while in church. Humbard was also the first evangelist to have a weekly nationwide television program in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, running from 1952 to 1983, although his first television broadcast was in 1949. Humbard's $4 million ''

'' church in

Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Cuyahoga Falls ( or ) is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 51,114. The second-largest city in Summit County, it is located directly north of Akron and is a suburb of the Akron metropol ...

, a suburb of nearby

Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...

, 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 is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is co ...

such as the popular ''

Cathedral Quartet The Cathedral Quartet, also known as the Cathedrals, was an American southern gospel quartet who performed from 1964 to December 1999. The group's final lineup consisted of Glen Payne (lead), George Younce (bass), Ernie Haase (tenor), Scott F ...

''. Humbard's wife, Maude Aimee, and his children were also often featured on the programs. His ministry eventually extended to

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Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, the

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Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The t ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, giving it a worldwide reach of 20 million viewers, greater than any of his contemporaries by the late 1970s. In

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, he attracted large crowds at the giant

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

stadium in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...

for weeks. Humbard officiated at

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

's funeral, as Presley had been an admirer of Humbard's ministry. In the 1960s, 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, an 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 its own team of salesmen. The securities were not registered and came under the scrutiny of the

Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

(SEC). 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, that 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 off nearly all of the ministry's assets and cut off the overseas operations. Humbard began to build a rotating-tower restaurant (similar to Calgary Tower) at his

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, with the

FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdictio ...

subsequently deleting WCOT's authorization in 1976. 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 is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

in 1982. Humbard's television ministry promoted an independent Christian television station in

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes an ...

WDLI WDLI-TV (channel 17) is a television station licensed to Canton, Ohio, United States, serving the Cleveland–Akron area as an affiliate of the digital multicast network Bounce TV. It is owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings alongside Ion Television ...

(Channel 17), which later was purchased by the

Trinity Broadcasting Network The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) is an international Christian-based broadcast television network and the world's largest religious television network. TBN was headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, until March 3, 2017, when it sold its ...

as its

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

-area station. Another son, Charles, heads the UP television network. The rest of Humbard's ''Cathedral of Tomorrow'' complex was sold in 1994 to television evangelist Ernest Angley, while a new channel 55 allocation was acquired by Angley's Winston Broadcasting Network division for the current Akron-

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

and Cuyahoga Falls-based former CW affiliate, WBNX-TV. After retiring to

Lantana, Florida Lantana is a town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is 37 miles north from Fort Lauderdale. This town is part of the Miami metropolitan area. The population was 10,423 at the 2010 United States Census. History The first settlers c ...

, 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.

Legacy

Humbard wrote two

autobiographies An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, ''Miracles in My Life'' and, in 2006, ''The Soul Winning Century, The Humbard Family Legacy''. He was inducted into the Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1993 by

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

Governor

George Voinovich George Victor Voinovich (July 15, 1936June 12, 2016) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from Ohio from 1999 to 2011, the 65th governor of Ohio from 1991 to 1998 and the 54th mayor of Cleveland from 1980 to 1989, the ...

after having been previously inducted into the

National Religious Broadcasters National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) is an international association of evangelical communicators. While theologically diverse within the evangelical community, NRB members are linked through a Declaration of Unity that proclaims their joint comm ...

Hall of Fame in 1991. Humbard was termed one of the "Top 25 Principal Architects of the American Century" by '' U.S. News & World Report'' on December 27, 1999. In April 2007, he was inducted into the Arkansas Walk of Fame. Humbard died on September 21, 2007, in

Atlantis, Florida Atlantis is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 2,142. Geography Atlantis is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which ...

, of

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

, following hospitalization, at the age of 88. He was survived by his wife, Maude Aimee (who died in 2012), and four children. He is buried at Rose Hill Burial Park in

Fairlawn, Ohio Fairlawn is a city in western Summit County, Ohio, United States, and a suburb of Akron. The population was 7,710 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Akron metropolitan area. Geography Fairlawn is located at (41.129555, -81.618103). Accor ...

Bibliography

*''Miracles in My Life'' *''The Soul Winning Century, The Humbard Family Legacy'' (2006)

References

External links

Rex Humbard Foundation
Official Website
Obituary
on

Florida Today ''Florida Today'' is the major daily newspaper serving Brevard County, Florida. Al Neuharth of the Gannett corporation started the paper in 1966, and some of the things he did with this newspaper presaged what he would later do at USA Today. ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Humbard, Rex 1919 births 2007 deaths American evangelists American Pentecostals American television evangelists Burials in Ohio People from Little Rock, Arkansas People from Akron, Ohio RCA Victor artists Religious leaders from Ohio People from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio People from Lantana, Florida