#752: Jack Hayford

Jack Hayford is an author, Pentecostal minister, and Chancellor of The King's University (formerly The King's College and Seminary). He is the founding pastor of The Church On The Way in Van Nuys, California, former President of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel (a fine overview of that church is here), and did, for instance, give the closing prayer at the 54th Inaugural Prayer Service for President George W. Bush, in 2001. He is also a dominionist, and more explicitly so than many fundie wingnuts, closely connected to the New Apostolic Reformation (a good resource here), and quite influential – among the people he has helped shape are Pat Boone and Caleb Quaye, author of “Louder than Rock’n Roll”, though I am not sure either case counts as evidence of significant influence.

Apart from his dominionism Hayford is one of the leading proponents of “demon deliverance” ideas, and has written at least a couple booklets on the issue (noting that “[d]emonic matters seem to incite some to fanaticism”. Indeed.) Hayford has for instance endorsed the idea that supernatural forces were to blame for the crash in the Japanese stock market prices during the early 1990s, more specifically that the real cause was the Japanese emperor’s alleged sexual intercourse with a “sky goddess” who might have been a succubus. Hayford’s fight is, apparently, a real war that involves burning down worldly items (catholic books, Book of Mormon, statues of Buddha) from which witches and demons gain their power (the account of how the evangelicals “took” the city of Resistencia, Argentina is a must-read, and involves several people with close ties to famous American politicians.)

Wonder what Hayford thinks of science? Though more careful than some fellow fundies about explicitly rejecting science, he has said that “One of the issues that face spiritual leaders today is how are we going to relate to an increasingly scientifically brainwashed society, that is very prejudiced against the Word of God,” and consequently plumped for old-earth creationism.

David J. Stewart believes that Hayford is a false prophet (Stewart will be covered later), as does the people of Way of Life , since Hayford is known to have been associating with heretics and catholics. Clearly his associating with the rabble shows that Hayford hasn’t really understood the true meaning of Jesus’s teachings.

Diagnosis: Hayford is rabidly crazy, if not as loudly or extrovertedly so as some of his fellows. He is uncannily influential, however, and must be considered very, very dangerous.