Jack Williams Hayford (born June 25, 1934) is an American author,

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

minister, and Chancellor Emeritus of The King's University (formerly The King's College and Seminary). He is a former senior pastor of The Church On The Way in

Van Nuys, California Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, ...

, one of a handful of flagship churches in the Foursquare denomination, and was the fourth President of the

International Church of the Foursquare Gospel The Foursquare Church is an Evangelical Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in 1923 by preacher Aimee Semple McPherson. The headquarters are in Los Angeles, California, United States. History The church has its origins in a vision of ...

. He is widely known for his past involvement in the

Promise Keepers Promise Keepers is an Evangelical Christian parachurch organization for men. It originated in the United States, but independent branches have also been established in Canada and New Zealand. Promise Keepers describes its goal as "to bring abou ...

movement and for being a prolific author and songwriter, with over 600 hymns and choruses in his catalog. He is the author of the popular 1978 hymn "Majesty", which is rated as one of the top 100 contemporary hymns and performed and sung in churches worldwide.

Biography

Jack Williams Hayford was born on June 25, 1934, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, to Anita Dolores (née Farnsworth) (1916–1997) and Jack Hayford (1911–1979), who had married two years earlier on September 28, 1932. Hayford was born with a muscular condition in his neck, which improved later. His father had served in the military as a young man and worked as a switchman for the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

. Hayford's mother, Dolores, was a Bible teacher who spoke at interdenominational women's classes and Women's Aglow Fellowship (now Aglow International). Although Hayford's parents did not always attend church, he has credited them with providing him with a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

upbringing.

Education

Although he was born in Los Angeles, Hayford was raised in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, and attended

Oakland Technical High School Oakland Technical High School, known locally as Oakland Tech or simply "Tech", is a public high school in Oakland, California, United States, and is operated under the jurisdiction of the Oakland Unified School District. It is one of six compre ...

. After graduating in 1952, Hayford moved back to Los Angeles to attend

Life Pacific University Life Pacific University (LPU) is a private Christian Bible college endorsed by the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel and located in San Dimas, California. LPU serves as the denomination's flagship institution for higher education. Th ...

(formerly L.I.F.E. Bible College) and received his first bachelor's degree in 1956. Subsequently, after serving as the National Youth Director of

, he joined the faculty of L.I.F.E. and went on to become dean of students there. During this time, he began working on his second bachelor's degree, at

Azusa Pacific University Azusa Pacific University (APU) is a private, evangelical Christian university in Azusa, California. The university was founded in 1899, with classes opening on March 3, 1900, in Whittier, California, and began offering degrees in 1939. The uni ...

(APU), where he graduated in 1970. Over the course of his life, he has also been awarded several honorary degrees, including Doctor of Divinity from both L.I.F.E. and

Oral Roberts University Oral Roberts University (ORU) is a private evangelical university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1963, the university is named after its founder, evangelist Oral Roberts. Sitting on a campus, ORU offers over 70 undergraduate degree programs ...

, and Doctor of Literature from

California Graduate School of Theology The California Graduate School of Theology is an institution of higher learning in Garden Grove, California. History The California Graduate School of Theology was founded and chartered in the state of California in 1969 by William S. McBirnie, ...

Pastorate

In 1969, while serving as dean of students at L.I.F.E. and finishing his degree at APU, Hayford was asked to pastor a small congregation, the First Foursquare Church of Van Nuys, California, a struggling congregation of only 18 members, with an average age of 65 years. While Hayford had initially agreed to pastor the church for only a period of six months, he later felt compelled to remain permanently. Only a few weeks from accepting an offer to pastor another Foursquare church, Hayford met with Foursquare denomination president

Rolf McPherson Dr. Rolf Potter Kennedy McPherson (March 23, 1913 – May 21, 2009) was the pastor of Angelus Temple and president of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, serving in that capacity from 1944 to 1988. By his retirement, the ev ...

, stating that he wanted to remain with the Van Nuys congregation. By the early 1980s, The Church on the Way had become a pioneer of the

megachurch A megachurch is a church with an unusually large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities, usually Protestant or Evangelical. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research defines a megachurch as any Protestant C ...

movement and numbered among the largest churches in America, particularly within the Foursquare denomination, at one point reporting membership exceeding 10,000. Actor Dean Jones (deceased), a close friend of Hayford's, was an elder in the church, as was

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

, along with

Jan Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Num ...

and

Paul Crouch Paul Franklin Crouch /kraʊtʃ/ (March 30, 1934 – November 30, 2013) was an American television evangelist. Crouch and his wife, Jan, founded the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) in 1973; the company has been described as "the world’s la ...

, the founders of

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 ...

, which regularly broadcast services from the church.

Latter years

In the late 1990s, Hayford felt called to establish a Pentecostal seminary in Los Angeles to train other pastors and founded The King's College and Seminary. In 1999, he resigned as the senior pastor of The Church On The Way to focus on the college, although he briefly returned to help the church through a difficult transition after his successor and son-in-law,

Scott Bauer Scott George Bauer (January 11, 1954 – October 24, 2003) was the senior pastor of The Church On The Way from late 1999 until his sudden death in 2003. He also served as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the King’s College and Semina ...

, died suddenly. On October 4, 2004, Hayford was elected to a four-year term as president of the Foursquare denomination, a position he chose not to pursue after that single term. In 2013, Hayford felt called to move the King's University to

Southlake, Texas Southlake is a city located predominantly in Tarrant County with minor areas extending into Denton County in the U.S. state of Texas. Southlake is a suburb of Dallas/Fort Worth. As of th2019 census estimateit had a population of 32,376. Histo ...

, under the stewardship of Gateway Church. In 2015, The Church On The Way, led by senior pastor Tim Clark, honored Hayford with the title of Pastor Emeritus in recognition of his continuing contributions to church management and oversight.

Personal life

On July 4, 1954, Hayford married his college sweetheart, Anna Marie Smith. Their marriage produced four children (Rebecca, Jack III, Mark, and Christa), 11 grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren. In early 2016, Anna was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and died in 2017. Hayford remarried the following year and continues to live in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. He has discontinued making public appearances since 2019.

Recognition

In March 2014, Hayford was 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. He has also won the Gospel Music Association's Dove Award for his part in the album '' God With Us'' and the Salvation Army's William Booth Award, as well as serving a
Worship Leader in the Hosanna! Music album ''Men In Worship'', which is available on Compact Disc 00662 And Cassette 00664.

Books

* ''The Key to Everything'' (Thomas Nelson, 1982) * ''The Church On The Way'' (Marshalls Paperbacks, 1985) * ''Moments with Majesty'' (Multnomah Books, 1990) * ''Kingdom Warfare: Prayer, Spiritual Warfare, and the Ministry of Angels'' (Tommy Nelson, 1993) * ''The Power and Blessing'' (Victor Books, 1994) * ''Glory on Your House'' (Chosen Books, 1994) * ''The Beauty of Spiritual Language'' (Thomas Nelson, 1996) * ''The Heart of Praise'' (Regal Books, 1997) * ''Hayford's Bible Handbook'' (Thomas Nelson, 1999) * ''Rebuilding the Real You'' (Charisma House, 2013)

References

External links

Jack Hayford's ministry website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayford, Jack W. 1934 births American evangelicals American Pentecostal pastors American radio personalities American television evangelists Arminian ministers Arminian writers Azusa Pacific University alumni California Republicans Christian hymnwriters Christian writers Living people Members of the Foursquare Church Oral Roberts University people Pentecostals from California People from Los Angeles Promise Keepers Writers from Los Angeles