Harvey Ben Kinchlow (December 27, 1936 – July 18, 2019) was an American

evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...

who co-hosted ''

The 700 Club ''The 700 Club'' is the flagship television program of the Christian Broadcasting Network, airing each weekday in syndication in the United States and available worldwide on CBN.com. The news magazine program features live guests, daily news, con ...

'' from 1975 to 1988 and again from 1992 to 1996. He also hosted other shows on the

Christian Broadcasting Network The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) is an American Christian media production and distribution organization. Founded in 1960 by Pat Robertson, it produces the long-running TV series ''The 700 Club'', co-produces the ongoing ''Superbook'' an ...

such as ''Straight Talk'' and a radio talk show, ''Taking It to the Streets''.

Early life and education

Ben Kinchlow was born and raised in

Uvalde, Texas Uvalde is a city and the county seat of Uvalde County, Texas, United States. The population was 15,217 at the 2020 census. Uvalde is located in the Texas Hill Country, west of downtown San Antonio and east of the Mexico–United States bord ...

, the son of a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

minister. Kinchlow received his elementary and secondary education during the 40´s in what was the Nicolas School, a tiny building which was located in the center of East Uvalde city park, which was the last segregated campus for the city’s black students, operating exclusively for

African-Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

from 1938 until 1955. He served in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

for thirteen years He rediscovered

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

in the 1970s after a period as a

Black Nationalist Black nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that black people are a race (human categorization), race, and which seeks to develop and maintain a black racial and national identity. Black natio ...

influenced by

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Is ...

and the Black Muslims.Connection Magazine
He earned his MBA, later becoming a

born-again Christian Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sepa ...

. Soon thereafter, in 1971 he was ordained an

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Black church, predominantly African American Methodist Religious denomination, denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, c ...

minister.

Career

Kinchlow became the executive director of a Christian drug and rehabilitation center and appeared as a guest on ''The 700 Club'' in order to speak about the people he saw coming to Christ through the center. He was asked back to host the show while

Pat Robertson Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is an American media mogul, religious broadcaster, political commentator, former presidential candidate, and former Southern Baptist minister. Robertson advocates a conservative Christian ...

was in Israel and in 1975 became ''The 700 Club''s Director of Counseling. In 1982, he became ''700 Club'' co-host and

vice-president for domestic ministries, in 1985 was promoted to executive vice-president. He left CBN and ''The 700 Club'' in 1996 to pursue an independent ministry. Kinchlow was founder of Americans for Israel and the co-host of the ''Front Page Jerusalem'' radio show. Kinchlow was President and Co-Founder of Brio TV which launched in 2015 as a subscription-based streaming service with television affiliates focused on providing positive, faith-driven content for individuals and families. He hosted the platform's flagship program Ben Kinchlow's Real America. He was also commentary contributor to WND,

WorldNetDaily ''WND'' (formerly ''WorldNetDaily'') is an American far-right fake news website. It is known for promoting falsehoods and conspiracy theories, including the false claim that former President Barack Obama was not born in the United States. T ...

, a conservative network newspaper.

Personal life and death

Kinchlow died on Thursday, July 18, 2019, at the age of 82. Followers of Kinchlow's official Facebook page received a "prayer alert asking for emergency prayers" the day before, though the reason for the request, as well as the official cause of death was never publicly disclosed.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kinchlow, Ben 1936 births 2019 deaths Place of death missing American television evangelists African-American television personalities African Methodist Episcopal Church clergy American Christian writers People from Uvalde, Texas Military personnel from Texas Converts to Protestantism from Islam Former Nation of Islam members Black conservatism in the United States