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Louis Evans Jr.

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Sunshine Suzy (talk | contribs) at 06:29, 12 November 2015 (error corrected. Louis couldn't have graduated from Occidental College before WWII since he was born in 1926.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Louis Hadley Evans,Jr. was born June 20, 1926. He died at the age of 82, on Oct. 29, 2008 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease) at his home in Fresno, California.[1] Evans was one of four children of Marie and the Rev. Louis Hadley Evans Sr., pastor of 1st Presbyterian Hollywood.[2] Louis graduated from High School before serving in the Navy during WWII.

Louis, Jr. was the Organizing Pastor of Bel Air Church in Bel Air, California which started in his home in April 1956.

Louis Evans Jr.'s ministry was influenced by Henrietta Mears who was the Christian Education Director of 1st Presbyterian Hollywood where Louis' father was pastor. Mears led several of Louis Evans, Jr.'s friends to evangelism and ministry including Bill Bright, and Richard Halvorsen.[3]

Louis started the Hollywood Christian Group with Henrietta Mears in 1949 in Mears' home.[4] Original Hollywood Christian Group participants included Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Billy Graham, Colleen Townsend Evans, Jane Russell, Stuart Hamblen, Ronald Reagan [5] and many others, in the living room of Henrietta Mears home, The group was chaplained by J. Edwin Orr from 1949-1951.[6] This group, the Hollywood Christian Group is where Billy Graham met radio personality, Stuart Hamblen and other members of the Hollywood Christian Group including the Evans' who visited Graham on location at the Los Angeles crusade. Up until this point, Graham was doing regional crusades successfully, but his numbers were not reaching the masses until Stuart Hamblen reported about Grahama's crusades. Once this happened, Graham's crusades exploded in numbers and became national news.

Louis Evans, Jr. spoke regularly at Billy Graham's early crusades.[7]

References

  1. ^ Sullivan, Patricia (2008-11-04). "Rev. Louis Evans Jr.; Led National Presbyterian Church". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2015-11-10.
  2. ^ "The Rev. Louis H. Evans, organizing pastor of Bel Air Presbyterian Church, dies at 82". latimes.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  3. ^ "It's The Life That Wins | Henrietta Mears". www.henriettamears.com. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
  4. ^ "Fuller Seminary: The Original Five". www.seekgod.ca. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  5. ^ Turner, John G. (2009-11-30). Bill Bright and Campus Crusade for Christ: The Renewal of Evangelicalism in Postwar America. Univ of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9780807889107.
  6. ^ "Fuller Seminary: The Original Five". www.seekgod.ca. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  7. ^ http://www2.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/GUIDES/017.htm#602