Category: Rex Humbard

CUYAHOGA FALLS: Hundreds flowed through the doors of the former Cathedral of Tomorrow on Saturday to pay respects to the revivalist preacher who pioneered television evangelism. At the height of the Rev. Rex Humbard‘s popularity, an estimated 25 million people worldwide on 2,000 stations watched his Sunday sermons from the Cathedral of Tomorrow. In 1999, he was heralded by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top 25 architects of the modern era. ”I grew up in this church. My parents came to Christ through Rex’s ministry,” said Elizabeth Bandy of Akron. ”His legacy is so touching. He’s

He realized the potential of television in the early 1950s and became known to millions by the 1970s. But financial overreaching eventually eroded his organization.

Lately, however, Humbard’s evangelical empire has been having some mammon troubles. Officials in six states have banned further sale of the securities sold by the cathedral because they were not properly registered.

Now 51, he heads a religious-business empire that deals in millions of dollars as well as souls; he reaches his outposts by private airliner.