''The Old-Time Gospel Hour'' was a ministry program television broadcast from

Thomas Road Baptist Church Thomas Road Baptist Church (TRBC) is a Baptist megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia, located on the campus of Liberty University, which it founded and is closely affiliated with. In 2016, a church spokesperson stated they had an average weekly atten ...

hosted by minister

Jerry Falwell Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American Baptist pastor, televangelism, televangelist, and conservatism in the United States, conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, ...

featuring the church's Sunday service. Started in 1956 by

, ''The Old-Time Gospel Hour'' gained a national following on both radio and television. The series was a major fundraising source for Falwell, bringing in over $90 million dollars in the early 1980s. The show's popularity continued through the 1990s, during which time it was still broadcast on hundreds of stations across the country. The television show as it was known ended in 2007 following the death of

. His son,

Jonathan Falwell Jonathan Pate Falwell (born September 7, 1966) is the senior pastor at the Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, and campus pastor at Liberty University. Education Falwell earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Liberty Universit ...

, became the primary minister featured in the Sunday services and eventually folded the show into the church's online video library and livestream website called ''Thomas Road On Demand''.

In popular culture

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...

of the band U2 mentions ''The Old-Time Gospel Hour'' in the 1988 live version of the song "

Bullet the Blue Sky "Bullet the Blue Sky" is a song by Irish rock band U2, and is the fourth track from their 1987 album ''The Joshua Tree''. Lyrically, the song was inspired by a trip that lead vocalist Bono made to Nicaragua and El Salvador, where he saw firsthand ...

" on the album ''

Rattle and Hum ''Rattle and Hum'' is a hybrid live/studio album by Irish Rock music, rock band U2, and a companion rockumentary film directed by Phil Joanou. The album was produced by Jimmy Iovine and was released on 10 October 1988, while the film was distri ...

''. Toward the end of the song, there is a spoken section where he says "...and I can't tell the difference between

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

, ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...

'', and a preacher on the ''Old-Time Gospel Hour'' stealing money from the sick and the old. Well the God I believe in isn't short of cash, mister."U2 Bullet The Blue Sky Lyrics
/ref>

References

External links

* Television series about Christianity Jerry Falwell {{US-nonfiction-tv-prog-stub