BIO:Lester Roloff

BORN: June 28, 1914
Dawson, Texas
DIED: November 2, 1982
Houston, Texas
LIFE SPAN: 68 years, 4 months, 5 days
A MODERN-DAY PROPHET, and remembered well by many still liv-
ing, Lester Roloff in the last years of his life had become a 
symbol and example to all who believe man ought to obey God 
rather than men. Until his death in an airplane crash in 
1982, he was engaged in a battle against some of the forces 
of the State of Texas, primarily the Welfare Department--that 
would silence or greatly curtail his ministry if they could. 
The irony of it all is that he had done nothing but help 
change lives of countless youngsters who had nobody else to 
help them. It is hard to believe that the story you are now 
going to read could happen in America.
        Roloff was born on a farm ten miles south of Dawson, 
Texas, to Christian parents. He was saved in a little country 
church called Shiloh Baptist when about twelve, in a revival 
in July, 1926, under the ministry of John T. Taylor. High 
school was completed in Dawson. Reared on a farm he took his 
milk cow and went off to Baylor University in 1933 and milked 
his way through college. He graduated in 1937 with an A.B. 
degree.
        While at Baylor he was far from idle. He started 
pastoring among the Southern Baptists in a succession of 
pastorates. First was the Prairie Grove Mills Baptist Church 
in Navarro County where he had 67 converted in a revival to 
begin things. He also preached at his hometown church at 
Shiloh which was located outside of Dawson. Then he preached 
a revival at the First Baptist Church of Purden, Texas, and 
had 143 additions baptizing some 100 of them. This led to his 
call there while he retained the ministry at Navarro Mills. 
This latest venture happened his last year in college.
        Roloff went on to Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth 
for three years, 1937 to 1940, while he maintained his minis-
try at Purden, going then to the First Baptist Church of 
Trinidad, Texas, his last year in seminary.
        He married Marie Brady on August 10, 1936, at the 
First Baptist Church of Galveston, Texas. They had two daugh-
ters, Elizabeth, born June 20, 1937, and Pamela Kay, an 
adopted daughter.
        From 1941 to 1944 he pastored the Magnolia Park Bap-
tist Church in Houston, Texas, which had great crowds and 
much blessing. He was president of the local pastor's confer-
ence during some of this time.
        In 1944 he went to Corpus Christi where he spent the 
rest of his life. The Park Avenue Baptist Church extended a 
call to him, where he went in March 1944. On October 15, 
1944, the church burned, and later property was purchased in 
another location of town and the church became known as the 
Second Baptist Church--which he pastored from 1944 to 1951 
with some 3,300 additions during this time. A branch mission 
church was started, called the West Heights Baptist Church.
        Roloff began a radio ministry on May 8, 1944, with 
his Family Altar Program, first broadcast over a 250-watt 
station locally. Soon it was on more than 22 stations, ap-
proximately 65 hours per week. By the early 1980s, it was 
broadcasting on more than 150 stations nationally. Some of 
the broadcasts were 15 minutes in length, some one-half hour.
        Starting on the small KEYS station, the program had 
an interesting history. Roloff was kicked off the radio ten 
months after he started--his fight against liquor being a 
prime reason. The next day he started to broadcast on KWBU, a 
50,000-watt station where he held fort for eight years. In 
1954 the managers of KWBU decided to remove him because he 
was a controversial figure. Some businessmen bought the sta-
tion, and he was again on the air for a year. But not for 
long. The new managers, like today, were "ratings" minded, 
and felt some more popular programs would bring in more 
listeners and more revenue. That squeezed Roloff's program 
off the air once again. However, within one year, the owners 
of the station lost more than $70,000.
        By this time, Roloff decided to try to buy the sta-
tion and asked how much they wanted. The answer was $300,000, 
and Roloff didn't have a dime. However, with the help of God 
and the money of friends, $25,000 was put down as earnest 
money with $100,000 needed 90 days later. He had all the re-
quired funds--short of $7,250--on the last day. By the last 
hour, he was still short $250, but 45 minutes before the 2 
p.m. deadline it was all there! Others of course became stock 
holders and owned the station, but Roloff was the vehicle 
used to get it in the right hands. After Roloff bought the 
station, it changed its call letters to KCIA.
        Roloff founded the Park Avenue Christian Day School 
in 1946. The school even now operates a kindergarten and con-
tinues through upper grades. His headquarters continue at the 
Park Avenue Day School, located on the property of the former 
Park Avenue Church.
        In April 1951 he resigned as pastor at Second Baptist 
Church to enter full-time evangelism. He founded the Roloff 
Evangelistic Enterprises, a non-profit organization which 
sponsors many projects of faith. In May 1955 he printed his 
first issue of Faith Enterprise, a quarterly publication ded-
icated to the salvation of lost souls and strengthening 
believers.
        In August of 1954, with convictions about being inde-
pendent of the Southern Baptist Convention or any other 
denominational influence, he founded a church in Corpus 
Christi which was to be called the Alameda Baptist Church. He 
and four others put up $2,500 on ten and four-tenths acres of 
ground, and it was organized with 126 members on October 24. 
He pastored here until about 1961.
        On March 13, 1956, Roloff stood in Waco Hall, in 
Waco, Texas, and spoke to more than 2,000, giving his swan 
song to Baylor University. He stated all the issues in no un-
certain terms.
        Other ministries soon developed. Roloff described at 
least six major ministries that he became responsible for:
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        Thirty years ago, we started the Good Samaritan Res-
cue Mission that is still in operation. More than twenty 
years ago, the CITY OF REFUGE was started in an old Quonset 
hut given by Dr. Logan and put together by alcoholics at 
Lexington, Texas. The City of Refuge is now located in 
Culloden, Georgia, on 273 acres of an old antebellum home 
with lovely dormitories for men and women.
        The LIGHTHOUSE houseboat was built by Brother E.A. 
Goodman and taken down the Intracoastal Canal in 1958. On the 
way down, a boy fell off and went under this boat and missed 
the propeller. He was rescued by an unsaved boy who was going 
down to the Lighthouse for help, and one of our preacher 
boys, Bob Smith, who is now a missionary. This is where Bill 
Henderson, Ricky Banning and many others found God's will for 
their lives. We have preacher boys that come to the 
Lighthouse now studying for the ministry in other Christian 
schools. I have just dealt with three eighteen-year-old boys 
in Corpus Christi within the last week who are drug addicts. 
The Lighthouse is located forty miles down the Intracoastal 
Canal from Corpus Christi and it can only be reached by plane 
or by boat.
        The PEACEFUL VALLEY HOME for our older retired Chris-
tian friends is the prayer place. It is located near Mission 
and Edinburg, Texas, with many acres of citrus fruit and 
lovely vegetables that are grown there, in the midst of a lot 
of nice weather. This home is just for Christians who want to 
retire in a lovely place and still be of service to others. 
It began in 1969.
        The ANCHOR HOME FOR BOYS with three big two-story 
buildings for dormitories, a cafeteria, gymnasium, shop 
building and dining room, is located at Zapata, Texas. It has 
a capacity of nearly three hundred.
        The BETHESDA HOME FOR GIRLS in Hattiesburg, Missis-
sippi, is for girls in trouble. It is a very beautiful home, 
located on Blue Lake, for both pregnant and delinquent girls. 
It has made many friends and received a warm welcome in 
Mississippi.
        The REBEKAH HOME FOR GIRLS, located in Corpus 
Christi, Texas, is our largest home. We have had fifteen hun-
dred girls in about seven years and the three dormitories 
have a capacity of about three hundred beds. It is located on 
440 acres of land. This has been the most miraculous work we 
have ever seen and has been fought and despised by the devil. 
I have never seen such miracles in all of my ministry.
        The REBEKAH CHRISTIAN ACADEMY is the school for the 
Rebekah Home. It has a beautiful two-story air-conditioned 
building with the finest of equipment.
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        From 1961 to 1973 Roloff was developing these varied 
enterprises, and ministering as an evangelist in many 
churches, plus carrying on his radio ministry. He was an ex-
perienced pilot, having flown about 12,000 hours in his 1966 
Queen Air that a friend helped him to get, and also his 1968 
Cessna Skywagon that was used for Lighthouse work, which 
could land on the beach with people and provisions. These 
planes belonged to the Enterprises and had their own mechanic 
and radio men to maintain them and help fly them. Roloff 
landed his plane at least four times on one engine, and in 
unusual places such as a highway. His flying lessons began in 
1958.
        His themes through the years had been Christ Is the 
Answer and Now the Just Shall Live by Faith.
        The last of his varied works of good will--which, by 
the way, made no charges for those they helped, was the 
Rebekah Home in Corpus Christi, which was the scene of con-
troversy during his remaining years--and, in fact, still is. 
This was founded in 1967 along with the People's Church, a 
place where girls in trouble could get worship as they got 
straightened out. This school specialized in taking cases 
other agencies and homes refused to take. And no wonder--
Roloff got results. He ran his schools by Bible directives 
and naturally got Bible results--changed lives. Over 
$3,000,000 were tied up in the Rebekah project alone.
        In September, 1970, the Gulf Coast storm Celia hit, 
but miraculously did not touch the Lighthouse, nor their 
home, although severe damage was almost everywhere else. In 
1971 their homes were filled to capacity, and they had to 
start turning people away. In May, 1972, the Roloffs moved 
into their lovely, large new home on the acreage where the 
Rebekah Home and other buildings were already located. An-
other 118 acres of land was purchased. It had a runway on it 
for their plane, and they could farm some of the remaining 
acres. During the summer of 1972, workers built another big 
two-story building, which became the Rebekah Christian 
School.
        At the close of 1972 they had four days of dedication 
for the following new items: chapel at the Intracoastal Ca-
nal; their new home; the land adjoining the Enterprises prop-
erty; a big new boys' home at Zapata, Texas; five new units 
at the Peaceful Valley Home; the high two-story dormitory at 
the Rebekah Home; the two-story Rebekah School; and the Peo-
ple's Church, which is nearly two blocks long.
        The battle with the State of Texas developed ironi-
cally out of one of the most compassionate ministries done 
anywhere. Rebekah Home was founded as a place to help girls 
in trouble by giving them the answer--which is Christ. A 
Dallas probation officer attests to the fact the place to 
send young people in trouble is Roloff's work. Children re-
jected elsewhere were welcomed with open arms and a book 
could be written, telling of the amazing changed lives. Some 
of the young men from the Lighthouse have married some of the 
girls from Rebekah Home ("the bumblebees meeting the 
honeybees").
        The talk of licensing began in 1971. This threatened 
to shut the work down, unless they conformed to rules and 
regulations that would have greatly increased the cost of the 
operation without improving on what they were doing. Roloff's 
legal problems began in April, 1973, when the state Welfare 
Department filed a suit in an attempt to have his Rebekah 
Home licensed. Had Roloff agreed to do this, he would then 
have had to follow Welfare Department guidelines, which would 
have been totally alien to Bible principles and the philoso-
phy upon which the girls' home was founded. Roloff had no de-
sire to fight the Welfare Department or put them out of busi-
ness, but simply wanted this unconstitutional interference to 
stop. It was government interference with religion. "Licens-
ing a church home is as unnecessary and wrong as licensing a 
church," Roloff contended. At issue was the constitutional 
principle of separation of church and state.
        If licensed, the home would have been required to 
hire a home supervisor who holds a degree in social work and 
who is approved by the Welfare Department. That supervisor 
would be required to complete an additional fifteen hours of 
college level social studies every two years. Not only that 
but the home would be required to file financial reports reg-
ularly with the state Welfare Department. The home would also 
have to hire one state-approved worker for every eight girls. 
The home would also be forced to serve foods from a menu pre-
pared by the Welfare Department. The Welfare Department also 
objected to Bible discipline, which would have to be elimi-
nated. (Translation: no spanking or other corporal punish-
ment.) One could readily see that Roloff would not be running 
the home he gave birth to, so naturally he chose to fight 
this invasion of privacy. When the welfare officials ap-
peared, he asked them what they wanted. When they presented 
new rules he simply took out his Bible and told them he was 
satisfied with God's rules.
        On August 3, 1973, an injunction was signed, in which 
Roloff was enjoined from operating a child care institution 
without a license for those under sixteen years of age. On 
October 5, 1973, a district judge heard the case and fined 
Roloff $500 and $80 in court costs for contempt of court when 
he refused welfare guidelines. With Roloff refusing to have 
the home licensed, the Welfare Department leveled charges of 
brutality against the home, based upon the testimony of a few 
of the girls. This adverse publicity was widespread. It was 
found that, of the 1,500 girls who had spent time at Rebekah 
Home, fewer than a dozen could be found who would testify 
against it. One set of parents were found willing to testify 
for the Welfare Department. None of the 1,490 who were helped 
or thankful for the home or their parents were consulted.
        Finally, on January 31, 1974, the case went to court 
again in Corpus Christi and Roloff was found guilty--fined 
$5,400 and sentenced to five days in the county jail on con-
tempt of court charges. The court also ordered him to "purge 
the home," which would mean to "dump the girls into the 
street." On February 4th he was given the opportunity to 
present his argument on the constitutionality of state li-
censing of a church-operated home before the Provisions Com-
mittee of the Texas State Senate. What was to have been a 
five-minute presentation blossomed into a three-hour session 
when the senators began questioning Roloff on the accomplish-
ments and problems of Rebekah Home. His jail term was limited 
to one day, February 12, pending appeal to the Texas State 
Supreme Court, and the fine was stayed as well, pending ap-
peal. He was released from jail on a writ of habeas corpus.
        On March 24, 1974, Roloff and his attorneys appeared 
before the nine judges of the State Supreme Court of Texas in 
a hearing to determine if a discharge of the charges could be 
obtained. This request was made on the grounds that the judg-
ment was ambiguous and unclear in that it does not define 
what age constitutes a child or children. The former policy 
was that individuals up to age sixteen were considered chil-
dren, but a recent state attorney general's ruling stated a 
person to be a child up to age eighteen. Questions were also 
raised in the minds of the judges as to what constituted a 
child-care home. Answers were unclear from the Welfare De-
partment and, in one instance, contradictory. The high court 
agreed that children sixteen or over could be cared for by 
Roloff and as a result overturned the contempt of court char-
ges May 20, 1974. Roloff received the news May 29, while at 
Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina, receiving 
an award "for those who have made special contributions to 
the defense of the faith." The Austin decision of the Supreme 
Court, however, did not end the fight.
        The Welfare Department has since been adamant in get-
ting the under eighteen years of age law declared as needing 
a welfare license. Roloff continued to help girls of any age 
who came to him for help. He estimated that, while he could 
not actively recruit for the younger ages, would there be no 
harassment, he could handle up to 700 young people over 
against his approximate 200 who were then cared for.
        To illustrate the problem, two girls, aged 13 and 15, 
ran away after two warnings for other offenses. They were 
told they would be spanked for the next violation. They were 
found four days later in a locked bar. They had spent this 
time with ten men and had a woeful story to tell. Roloff kept 
his word and spanked them. Word got out about the incident 
and Roloff was served a summons for child abuse. At the hear-
ing the girls admitted the offenses and the spankings. The 
judge declared Roloff could keep them until the trial. Roloff 
refused until the judge would ask them a question as to where 
they would like to go--back to Roloff or to some alternate 
arrangement. Hugging their "daddy" with great affection they 
said they wanted to be with Brother Roloff.
        By March, 1975, the Texas Welfare Department had 
filed against Roloff again for contempt and for being in vio-
lation of their rules and regulations. The Rebekah Home now 
housed only 200 girls, half of what they had previously when 
forced to close. Even more tragic was that they turned away 
3,000 during the legal problems.
        A legislative bill slipped through the Texas State 
Senate on March 13, 1975, clearly aimed, many people felt, at 
outlawing the Roloff homes and work. It passed through the 
Texas House of Representatives in May, 1975. In June another 
court order was issued whereby they would be held in further 
contempt if they did not allow inspection of the premises of 
their homes. They allowed the inspections, having nothing to 
hide.
        On July 4 and 5, 1975, a great rally was held in Gar-
land and Dallas, Texas, where hundreds of people gathered to 
join in the battle, with such as Jack Hyles and Bob Jones, 
III, addressing the crowds. On July 25, shortly thereafter, 
the Lighthouse dormitory burned to the ground. Later, a tall 
boy got saved and confessed to setting the fire.
        By January 1, 1976, the new guidelines by the Welfare 
Department became law, making it illegal for unlicensed homes 
to take in children under the age of eighteen. In May, 1976, 
a judge order instructed Roloff Enterprises to allow state 
welfare workers to inspect the homes. This time Roloff re-
fused. On June 3 a great rally with some 400 people was held 
in Austin, preceding Roloff's court appearance to fight state 
licensing. Again he was put in jail on June 21. He was re-
leased June 25, just prior to his 62nd birthday. He was fined 
$1,750 also. In the fall of 1976 a final ruling was laid 
down, giving him freedom until the Supreme Court of the 
United States would hear the case.
        On November 1, 1977, a great freedom rally was held 
at the convention center in Dallas. Great crowds came, in-
cluding over 1,500 preachers, and public sentiment again 
swelled for Roloff. Nearly a year later, on October 2, 1978, 
the United States Supreme Court ruled against hearing the 
case from Corpus Christi. Attorney General John Hill of Texas 
said the case was frivolous, and the justices must have be-
lieved it. Appearing on the nationwide CBS television program 
60 Minutes with Mike Wallace on October 22, 1978, gave Roloff 
some favorable national coverage long overdue. Then, on No-
vember 7, this same thorn-in-the-flesh, John Hill, was de-
feated in his bid for governor of Texas by William Clements 
in a very close election. Clements indicated he would use his 
powers to free Roloff from all charges.
        It seems that even now, a decade later, Roloff's 
case, still in litigation, is being considered a test case by 
many. What happens may determine the ultimate status of many 
other preachers.
        On the morning of November 2, 1982, Lester Roloff 
donned his pilot's clothing and boarded his Cessna Skywagon 
for the last time, on his way to a preaching engagement at 
the Calvary Baptist Church of Kansas City, Missouri. With him 
were three members of his men's quartet and an assistant. Ap-
proximately one hundred miles north of Houston, at 10:00 
a.m., the plane disappeared off radar screens. There was much 
stormy weather in the area. The wreckage of the aircraft was 
later found by sheriff's deputies. All five aboard were 
killed when the craft smashed into the ground.
        Though shocked and stunned at the sudden home-going 
of their founder and other close associates, the Roloff 
Enterprises vowed to continue the fight. Lester Roloff's per-
sonal battle was over, but legal battles continue to this 
day. Currently, the Rebekah Home has been closed, and the 
Lighthouse has not been allowed to reopen after 
reconstruction. Two other homes remain open.
        Perhaps justice will still be meted out.
