H. M. S. Richards

Infobox clergy
name = Harold Marshall Sylvester Richards, Sr.


image_size =
caption =
birth_date = 1894
birth_place = Davis City, Iowa
death_date = 1985
death_place =
church = Seventh-day Adventist
other_names = H.M.S. Richards
education = Washington Missionary College (now Columbia Union College)
ordained =
writings =
congregations =
offices_held = Founder/Speaker/Director Voice of Prophecy
title =
spouse = Mabel Annabel Eastman Richards (August 15, 1899 - October 25, 2002)
children = Virginia Cason, H.M.S. Richards, Jr., Kenneth E. H. Richards, Jan Richards
parents = Halbert M. J. Richards
footnotes =

Harold Marshall Sylvester Richards, Sr. (1894–1985), commonly known as H.M.S. Richards, was a well known Seventh-day Adventist evangelist and author.

Born in Iowa, he is most famous for founding the Voice of Prophecy radio ministry and was a pioneer in religious radio broadcasting.His ministry inspired broadcasts in 36 languages on more than 1,100 stations, and Bible courses in 80 languages offered by 144 correspondence schools.cite web
last =
first =
title = : Review and Herald Products
publisher = Review and Herald Publishing Association
url= http://www.reviewandherald.com/newproducts/product.pl?type=sku&sku=9781424309290
accessdate = 2008-08-09 ]

Richards married Mabel Annabel Eastman in 1920 and they had 1 daughter and 3 sons.

Radio broadcasting

Upon graduation from Washington Missionary College (now Columbia Union College) in 1919, H.M.S. Richards served as an evangelist in various places in the United States and Canada and during this period experimented with radio announcements in connection with his meetings.He began regular radio program in October 19, 1929 on KNX (AM) in Los Angeles.cite web
last =
first =
title = HMS Richards (Founder)
publisher = The Voice of Prophecy
url= http://www.vop.com/article.php?id=271
accessdate = 2008-08-09 ] cite web
last =
first =
title = Through the Decades...
publisher = The Voice of Prophecy
url= http://www.vop.com/news_update/pdf/spring2005/his.pdf
accessdate = 2008-08-09 ] cite web
last =
first =
title = HMS Richards (Founder)
publisher = The Voice of Prophecy
url= http://www.vop.com/article.php?id=271
accessdate = 2008-08-09 ] cite web
last =
first =
title = Record, November 23, 2002
publisher = South Pacific Division Seventh-day Adventist Church
url= http://link.adventistconnect.org/record/2002/rec46-02_11_23.pdf
accessdate = 2008-08-09 ]

Later Richards broadcast daily live broadcasts of "The Tabernacle of the Air" over KGER in Long Beach, and live weekly remote broadcasts from his tabernacle to KMPC (AM) in Beverly Hills.

In January 1937 his 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".

His first coast-to-coast broadcast over 89 stations of the Mutual Broadcasting System was on Sunday, January 4, 1942.

Throughout the years Richards' "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 his poem "Have Faith in God" each week having a new verse written.

As an author

In addition to published sermons and booklets, Richards authored the following books:
*The Indispensable Man [cite book
last = Richards, Sr.
first = H.M.S.
authorlink = H.M.S. Richards, Sr.
title = The Indispensable Man
publisher = Review and Herald Publishing Association
location = Hagerstown, MD
date = 1955
pages =
doi =
isbn = ]
*The Promises of God [cite book
last = Richards, Sr.
first = H.M.S.
authorlink = H.M.S. Richards, Sr.
title = The Promises of God
publisher = Review and Herald Publishing Association
location = Hagerstown, MD
date =
pages =
doi =
isbn = 0-8280-1793 ]
*What Jesus Said [cite book
last = Richards, Sr.
first = H.M.S.
authorlink = H.M.S. Richards, Sr.
title = The Promises of God
publisher = Southern Publishing Association
location = Nashville, TN
date = 1957
pages =
doi =
isbn = ]
*Feed My Sheep [cite book
last = Richards, Sr.
first = H.M.S.
authorlink = H.M.S. Richards, Sr.
title = Feed My Sheep
publisher = Review and Herald Publishing Association
location = Hagerstown, MD.
date =
pages =
doi =
isbn = 0-8280-1897 ]
*Look to the Stars [cite book
last = Richards, Sr.
first = H.M.S.
authorlink = H.M.S. Richards, Sr.
title = Look to the Stars
publisher = Review and Herald Publishing Association
location = Hagerstown, MD.
date = 1964
pages =
doi =
isbn = ]
*Why I Am a Seventh-day Adventist [cite book
last = Richards, Sr.
first = H.M.S.
authorlink = H.M.S. Richards, Sr.
title = Why I Am a Seventh-day Adventist
publisher = Review and Herald Publishing Association
location = Hagerstown, MD.
date = 1965
pages =
doi =
isbn = ]
*One World [cite book
last = Richards, Sr.
first = H.M.S.
authorlink = H.M.S. Richards, Sr.
title = One World
publisher = Review and Herald Publishing Association
location = Hagerstown, MD.
date = 1972
pages =
doi =
isbn = ]
*Revival Sermons [cite book
last = Richards, Sr.
first = H.M.S.
authorlink = H.M.S. Richards, Sr.
title = Revival Sermons
publisher = Review and Herald Publishing Association
location = Hagerstown, MD.
date = 1947
pages =
doi =
isbn = ]
*Day After Tomorrow [cite book
last = Richards, Sr.
first = H.M.S.
authorlink = H.M.S. Richards, Sr.
title = Day After Tomorrow
publisher = Review and Herald Publishing Association
location = Hagerstown, MD.
date = 1956
pages =
doi =
isbn = ]

Awards and biographies

*Awarded the Honor Citation by the National Religious Broadcasters in 1967 and 1970.
*Honorary doctorate conferred by Andrews University in 1960.

His life has been the subject of two biographies:
*"H.M.S. Richards Man Alive" by his daughter Virginia Cason [cite book
last = Cason
first = Virginia
authorlink = Virginia Cason
title = H.M.S. Richards: Man Alive
publisher = Freedom House
location =
date = 1974
pages =
doi =
isbn = 0-5330-45452 ]
*"H.M.S. Richards: A Biography" by Robert E. Edwards, longtime member of the King's Heralds [cite book
last = Edwards
first = Robert E.
authorlink = Robert E. Edwards
title = H.M.S. Richards: A Biography
publisher = Review and Herald Publishing Association
location = Hagerstown, MD.
date =
pages =
doi =
isbn = 0-8280-1332 ]

ee also

* Seventh-day Adventist Church

References

External links

* [http://www.vop.com/article.php?id=271 Biography] on the Voice of Prophecy website
* " [http://old.spectrummagazine.org/spectrum/archive11-15/13-1robertson.pdf The Voice of H. M. S. Richards] " by John Robertson in "Spectrum"
* [http://jewel.andrews.edu:82/search/a?Richards+H+M+S+Harold+Marshall+Sylvester+1894+1985 Articles by Richards] cataloged in the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index (SDAPI)