The ''Voice of Prophecy'', founded in 1929 by H.M.S. Richards, Sr., is a

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

religious radio ministry headquartered in Loveland, Colorado. Initially airing in 1929 on a single

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

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the ''Voice of Prophecy'' has since grown to numerous stations throughout the United States and Canada. It was one of the first religious programs in the United States to broadcast nationally. Under the leadership of Shawn and Jean Boonstra, the ministry has now expanded into additional forms of media, including the weekly ''Authentic'' broadcast and ''Discovery Mountain'' radio adventure series for kids. Additional projects include humanitarian efforts in countries such as India and Myanmar.

History

H.M.S. Richards, Sr. began a regular

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

program on October 19, 1929 on

KNX (AM) KNX (1070 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Los Angeles, California. It airs an all-news radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. KNX is one of the oldest stations in the United States, having received its first broadcasting license, ...

. Richards earliest studio was his South Gate Tabernacle near Long Beach, where he was presenting nightly evangelistic meetings. His office was a renovated chicken coop in Walnut Park, California. Seventh-day Adventist Church members donated their old eyeglasses and gave teeth with gold fillings and jewelry and watches to help buy the first radio time on Long Beach station KGER. Later Richards presented daily live broadcasts of ''The Tabernacle of the Air'' over KGER in

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, and live weekly remote broadcasts from his tabernacle to KMPC (AM) in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

. In January 1937 the broadcast footprint expanded over a network of several stations of the Don Lee Broadcasting System, and the name of the broadcast was changed to the ''Voice of Prophecy''. The first ''Voice of Prophecy'' coast-to-coast broadcast was over 89 stations of the Mutual Broadcasting System on Sunday, January 4, 1942. It was one of the first religious programs to broadcast nationally. Up until the early 1950s broadcasts were produced live. Mispronounced names and singer mistakes went out unedited to the listeners. By 1980, Richards had a $6 million budget. The ''Voice of Prophecy'' broadcast each Sunday to 700 stations around the world. Throughout the years ''Voice of Prophecy'' broadcasts were marked by an opening theme song of "Lift Up the Trumpet" performed by the King's Heralds quartet and closed with Richard's poem "Have Faith in God" each week having a new verse written.

Speakers

H.M.S. Richards, Sr. was speaker from 1929 to 1969. In 1969, Richards' son, H.M.S. Richards, Jr., succeeded him and was speaker from 1969 to 1992. He was followed by Pastor Lonnie Melashenko, then by Fred Kinsey. The current speaker is Shawn Boonstra.

Musicians

Various musicians perform on the broadcast. Female vocalist

Del Delker Ardella V. Delker (October 21, 1924 – January 31, 2018) was an American contralto sacred music female vocalist who sang on the Voice of Prophecy radio ministry beginning in 1947. Biography Delker was born in Java, South Dakota, in 1924. She s ...

began as a regular on the program since 1947. The male quartet King's Heralds also performed weekly on the program from 1936 until 1982.

Wayne Hooper Wayne Hillard Hooper (July 4, 1920 – February 27, 2007) was widely known as a gospel music composer, arranger and as a singer in the King's Heralds quartet for the Voice of Prophecy radio program. During his prolific career he produced nine v ...

served as musical director until his retirement in 1980.

Discover Bible School

A key program of ''Voice of Prophecy'' is the ''Discover Bible School''. Introduced on February 1, 1942 as ''The Bible School of the Air'', it was one of the first correspondence Bible schools in North America. Known today as the ''Discover Bible School'' it offers free Bible guides by mail or online and has affiliate schools in over 120 countries with lessons in over 80 languages and dialects. In 2010, the Bible School celebrated its one millionth graduate.

Evangelists

Jim Reinking became a Voice of Prophecy evangelist in 1998 and served the ministry for 13 years.

References

{{Reflist

External links

''Voice of Prophecy'' website''Discovery Mountain'' website''Discover Bible School'' website''Bibleinfo'' website''KidsBibleinfo'' website
Independent ministries of the Seventh-day Adventist Church Adventist organizations established in the 20th century Christian eschatology Christianity in the United States Christian television networks Television networks in the United States Conservative media in the United States Religious television stations in the United States American Christian radio programs Television series about Christianity