Eugene Scott
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| Gene Scott | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 14, 1929 Buhl, Idaho, USA |
| Died | February 21, 2005 (aged 75) Glendale, California, USA |
| Cause of death | stroke |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Stanford University (Ph.D., 1957) |
| Known for | Pastor/Teacher, religious broadcaster |
| Religious beliefs | Paulinist |
| Spouse(s) | Melissa Scott |
William Eugene Scott, also known as Dr. Gene Scott (and sometimes styled w. euGene Scott), (August 14, 1929 - February 21, 2005), was a United States pastor and teacher who served for almost 50 years as an ordained minister and religious broadcaster in Los Angeles, California. In 1975, he began nightly live broadcasts, and eventually satellite broadcasts extended his services and talk shows to many countries.[1][2][3] Scott became known for his stage persona as much as his preaching skills. On stage with him was always a cigar which he could never keep lit, and several chalkboards or dry-erase boards which he would fill with scriptural passages in the original Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic as he preached, discussing the nuances of biblical languages and their interpretations. During his live fundraising broadcasts, he would stare into the camera and order viewers to "Get on the telephone! Give me your money!", while dressed as an English admiral or a French field marshall, demanding that the viewers send him money for his horses, successfully raising $1 million a month.[4] His charitable activities included raising money for the Los Angeles Public Library and the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena.[4]
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[edit] 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 Center 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.
Over the years, Scott wrote and published some 20 books. Three books have been released (as of 2008), including the first volume of "The Pulpit" that will track every Sunday message preached since his arrival at Faith Center in 1975.
He was also an artist, painting well over 1000 watercolors, acrylics or oils, a philatelist, an equestrian, and a philanthropist.
Critics call him a cult leader, pompous and an embarrassment to the Christian church.
[edit] 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.[5]
[edit] 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.[6] Upon Scott's passing all assets and copyrights transferred to his wife, Melissa Scott.
[edit] Full Gospel Fellowship
Scott was voted vice president of the fledgling "Full Gospel Fellowship of Churches and Ministers International", of which his father was a member, and later served as its president from October 1975 to July 1984.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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 called 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[7] and the neon "Jesus Saves" signs[citation needed] are designated historic monuments.
The "Dr. Gene Scott Bible Collection" of Bibles, books, and manuscripts is housed at the Los Angeles University Cathedral.[8]
[edit] 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.
[edit] Broadcasting presentation
During two and a half years following Scott's death, his surviving wife and successor Melissa Scott has purchased many hours of time over broadcast, cable, and satellite television for the presentation of 1-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.
[edit] Other activities
Scott's interests and memberships included:
-
- 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
[edit] Marriages
Scott was married three times:
- Betty Ann Frazer, his high school sweetheart; their marriage of 23 years ended in divorce in the 1970s;
- Christine E. Shaw; the marriage ended in divorce in the mid-1990s; and
- Melissa Pastore, whom he married in August 2000, 40 years his junior, and was widowed by his death.
[edit] Death
Scott was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2000, but declined surgery and chemotherapy. Four years later conventional treatments were implemented but were not effective at stopping the metastatic cancer. Complications of the cancer and treatments set in, leading to heart failure, fluid in the lungs, and abnormal blood clotting; all of which Scott described to his congregation during several months of continued live broadcasts.
A few days before his death, Scott experienced a stroke, and then he signed papers to transfer powers and assets to his wife, Melissa Scott. Eugene Scott then lapsed into a coma in Glendale Adventist Hospital.
Scott suffered a fatal stroke and was pronounced dead at 4:30 p.m. PST on Monday, February 21, 2005.[9]
[edit] Scott in culture
Clips from one of his on-air fund drives were used in the Cabaret Voltaire recording Sluggin' for Jesus.
Scott is depicted in the 1980 documentary God's Angry Man, directed by Werner Herzog.
[edit] 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
- ^ a b Gene Scott -- television preacher and philanthropist, Larry B. Stammer, San Francisco Chronicle, February 24, 2005, Retrieved 2007-07-09
- ^ 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]
- ^ 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
