- Gene Scott
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For the American tennis player, see Gene Scott (tennis) .
Dr. Gene Scott Born William Eugene Scott
August 14, 1929
Buhl, Idaho, USADied February 21, 2005 (aged 75)
Glendale, California, USACause of death stroke Nationality American Education Stanford University (Ph.D., 1957) Spouse Betty Ann Frazier, 1951(?)-1974
Melissa Pauline Pastore, 2000-2005 (his death)Children none Church Pentecostal then Protestant (Paulinist) Title Dr. Gene Scott Website http://www.drgenescott.com William Eugene "Gene" Scott (August 14, 1929 - February 21, 2005) was an American pastor and teacher who served for almost 50 years as an ordained minister and religious broadcaster in Los Angeles, California.
Contents
Broadcasting
In 1975, Scott began nightly live broadcasts, and eventually satellite broadcasts extended his services and talk shows to many countries.[1][2][3]
Scott became known as much for his stage persona as he was for his preaching skills. He would fill chalkboards with scriptural passages in the original Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic during his exegeses as to their meaning.
During his live fundraising broadcasts, Scott would typically stare into the camera and tell his viewers to get on the telephone and give if you feel as though the spirit calls for it, often wearing a variety of hats including an English pith helmet or a sombrero.
Early life and career
Gene Scott was born in Buhl, Idaho. He earned his Ph.D. in Philosophies of Education at Stanford University in 1957 and subsequently served as an ordained minister for almost 50 years. During his career, Scott served as a traveling Teacher for the Pentecostal Assemblies of God, the president of the Full Gospel Fellowship of Churches and Ministers International for nine years and, for a combined total of 35 years, as the pastor for the Protestant Wescott Christian Center and Faith Center. For the last fifteen years of his ministry Scott held weekly Sunday Bible teaching services at the Los Angeles University Cathedral in Los Angeles, California.[1]
In 1975, Scott was elected pastor of Faith Center, a 45-year old church of congregational polity in Glendale, California. Faith Broadcasting Network was the first Christian television station and the first to provide 24 hour Christian programming. Scott added a nightly live television broadcast to the network called the Festival of Faith.
In 1983, the University Network began broadcasting the first 24 hour-a-day religious television network via satellite to North America and much of Mexico and the Caribbean. Affiliate television and radio stations broadcast Scott's services and nightly teachings.
Ministry
Assemblies of God
Although an agnostic while attending Stanford University, he came to a strong faith in Jesus Christ while earning his Ph.D. in 1957. He then taught at Evangel College (now Evangel University), then assisted Oral Roberts in establishing Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Scott eventually joined the Assemblies of God, a Pentecostal denomination and served overseas in the mission field for several years.
Scott showed disdain for other religious broadcasters like Jerry Falwell and Jimmy Swaggart and bristled when people referred to him as a "televangelist", preferring to be regarded as a teacher and pastor.[4]
Wescott Christian Center
In 1970, Scott resigned his Assemblies of God credentials in good standing and formed Wescott Christian Center with his father, a pastor in Oroville, California. Later, Scott was elected Pastor by a unanimous vote of the church board of "Faith Center" in Glendale, California. His father, known as "Pop Scott" and his mother, known as "Mom Scott" assisted him at his new church.
Wescott Christian Center is the titleholder to the Los Angeles University Cathedral, other church properties and bank accounts, according to County records.[5] Upon Scott's passing all assets and copyrights transferred to his wife, Melissa Scott.
Full Gospel Fellowship
Scott was voted vice president of the fledgling Full Gospel Fellowship of Churches and Ministers International, of which his father was also a member. He would serve as its president from October 1975 to July 1984.
Faith Center
In 1975, while serving his Oroville ministry, Scott was approached to serve as a financial consultant for the forty-five-year-old "Faith Center" church in Glendale, California, by its then pastor and founder, religious broadcaster Ray Schoch.
Faith Center owned four broadcast stations, which included KHOF-TV channel 30 in San Bernardino, California, KHOF-FM 99.5 in Los Angeles, California, KVOF-TV channel 38 in San Francisco, California, and WHCT channel 18 in Hartford, Connecticut. All the stations together made up FBN, the Faith Broadcasting Network.
Los Angeles University Cathedral
In 1989, Scott was approached by Bruce Corwin, then president of Miracle on Broadway and chairman of the Metropolitan Theatres Corporation to restore the United Artists flagship theater in downtown Los Angeles.
In 1990, Scott and his congregation moved their Sunday service to the building, now renamed the Los Angeles University Cathedral. According to the Los Angeles County Recorder's office and North American title report, Scott acquired ownership of the cathedral through his entity, Westcott Christian Center, in December 2002. Both the cathedral[6] and the neon "Jesus Saves" signs are designated historic monuments.[citation needed]
The Dr. Gene Scott Bible Collection containing Bibles, other books and manuscripts now resides housed at the cathedral.[7]
University Network
In 1975, Scott began a series of broadcasts, which resulted in the creation of the University Network. By 1983, the University Network was broadcasting his sermons twenty-four hours a day via satellite to the United States and Canada, as well as to much of Mexico and the Caribbean. By 1990, his network was available to 180 countries, and by 1992 his sermons were being broadcast in several languages on AM, FM, and short-wave radio.
Drawing from nearly thirty years of recorded programming, Scott's radio, satellite and television ministry continues to be broadcast although on different stations and at different times.
Notable members of congregation
Among Scott's volunteer cadre of telephone-answering "Voices of Faith" was Los Angeles Dodgers First Baseman Wes Parker. During a 1982 broadcast (index number S-1086-3), Parker spoke with Scott publicly for over 20 minutes, stating that before coming across Scott's television program, he had never understood or felt drawn toward Christianity. He explained that it was Scott's intelligent and fact-based approach to teaching that earned his respect and allowed him to build faith. He stated that his earlier exposures to Christianity had no effect, because they were mostly based on simplistic platitudes such as "God is love" which he found unconvincing. An audio recording of this conversation was included in Scott's cassette album "Demonology Vol. 3" and today is preserved in a freely downloadable torrent collection entitled "Dr. Gene Scott - Part 15 - 3 New Digitized Tape Albums, etc."
Continuing broadcast presentation
During five and a half years following Scott's death, his surviving wife and successor, Pastor Melissa Scott, has purchased many hours of time over broadcast, cable, and satellite television for the presentation of one hour programs of his messages from his later years, as well as many recent lectures done by herself from the Los Angeles University Cathedral. Still available are the 24 hour a day satellite, Internet, short-wave radio broadcasts, carrying the raw network feed, featuring 30 years of Scott's recorded teachings.
Melissa Scott has led the Los Angeles, California and Glendale churches since 2005 and is seen weekly on her own national television broadcast. She refers to Scott as her mentor.[8]
Writings
Scott wrote and published around 20 books. As of 2011, nine books by Scott have been released posthumously. These include the first five volumes of The Pulpit, a series that will track every Sunday message preached since his arrival at the Faith Center in 1975.
Hobbies
He was also an artist and painted well over 1000 watercolors, acrylics or oils. He was a philatelist and an equestrian.
Philanthropic activities and memberships
Scott's charitable activities included raising money for the Los Angeles Public Library and the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena.[9] Scott's interests and memberships included:
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- Los Angeles Central Library Save the Books telethon
- Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center and one of its founding directors
- Member, Board of "Rebuild L.A."
- Member, Philatelic Foundation of New York
Marriages
- Betty Ann Frazer, married 23 years. Divorced in 1974.
- Christine Shaw, longtime girlfriend, not a spouse, from early 1980s until 1995.
- Melissa Scott, wife from August 2000 until his death.
Death
Scott was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2000, but declined surgery and chemotherapy. After four years he was diagnosed with cancer elsewhere in his body. Scott described his battle with the sickness to his congregation during several months of continued live broadcasts.
In mid-2004 he named his wife, Melissa Scott, as pastor of the church and signed paperwork effecting the transition. In February 2005, Scott suffered a stroke and lapsed into a coma in Glendale Adventist Hospital.
Scott was pronounced dead at 4:30 p.m. PST on February 21, 2005.[10]
Scott in popular culture
Scott is profiled in the 1980 documentary God's Angry Man by Werner Herzog.
Clips from one of his on-air fund drives were used in the 1981 Cabaret Voltaire recording Sluggin' Fer Jesus.
References
- ^ a b Biography of the late Dr. Gene Scott Ph.D.
- ^ Gene Scott made Christianity wacky and fun while D. James Kennedy was bad to the boneBest/Worst Deceased Televangelists
- ^ Austin Chronicle: Print an Article
- ^ Glenn F. Bunting, "The Shock Jock of Televangelism," LA Times, July 10, 1994, http://articles.latimes.com/1994-07-10/magazine/tm-14042_1_gene-scott
- ^ Los Angeles County Recorder, North American Title Company, Los Angeles Superior Court of California, Articles of Incorporation on file at the Secretary of State of California.
- ^ City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM) Report Entry #523
- ^ [1]
- ^ Dr. Gene Scott's Bio on Pastor Melissa Scott.com
- ^ Gene Scott -- television preacher and philanthropist, Larry B. Stammer, San Francisco Chronicle, February 24, 2005, Retrieved 2007-07-09
- ^ Larry B. Stammer, "Gene Scott, 75; Television Preacher Famous for His Unconventional Ministry", Los Angeles Times, February 23, 2005, http://articles.latimes.com/2005/feb/23/local/me-scott23
External links
Categories:- 1929 births
- 2005 deaths
- Oral Roberts University people
- Deaths from stroke
- American television evangelists
- Stanford University alumni
- American philanthropists
- People from Twin Falls, Idaho
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