Pastor Jack Hayford, Called the ‘Gold Standard’ for Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians, Dies at Age 88

Jack W. Hayford, an author, radio teacher, and pastor once called “The Pentecostal Gold Standard,” died Sunday morning at his home in southern California. He was 88 years old.

Hayford’s ministry announced the well-known pastor’s passing in a statement online, noting he had dinner Saturday with his wife, Valerie, and had spoken to one of his grandchildren the same day. “Today, we mourn his loss but celebrate the homecoming of a great leader in God’s kingdom. We know that this great servant and worshipper is now experiencing the greatest worship service of all.”

Hayford was best-known as “Pastor Jack,” founding The Church On the Way in Van Nuys, California, in 1969. During his three-decade tenure as pastor of the charismatic Foursquare Gospel megachurch, it reportedly grew to over 12,000 members.

A believer in supernatural healing, Hayford often recounted how as an infant he suffered from a “life threatening illness” and, in childhood, from polio—and how he was healed following prayers of family and friends. “These two extraordinary events ignited in Jack’s heart a passion for God and convinced him that the Holy Spirit is alive and active in the contemporary church,” states his ministry bio.

In a 2005 article, Christianity Today referred to Hayford as “Pentecostals’ and charismatics’ gold standard.” Steve Strang, publisher of Charisma and Ministries Today said Hayford was a “statesman almost without peer. . . . His integrity and theological depth are so well known that he can draw together all kinds of factions.”

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Source: Roys Report