Henrietta Mears

Henrietta Cornelia Mears (October 23, 1890 – March 19, 1963) was a Christian educator, evangelist, and author who had a significant impact on evangelical Christianity in the 20th century and one of the founders of the National Sunday School Association Best known as the innovative and dynamic Director of Christian Education at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, California and in charge of the college and young adult people in the mid-1900s, she built a dedicated, enthusiastic staff, trained and mentored her teachers and implemented a graded, age-appropriate curriculum from “cradle roll” to adults. Henrietta lectured and wrote passionately about Sunday school's power to teach others the Bible. Within two years, Sunday School attendance at Hollywood “Pres” was averaging more than 4,200 per week. She served in leading the Sunday School program from 400 to 6500. Henrietta Mears taught the college age program herself. Henrietta Mears was one of the most influential Christian leaders of the 20th Century. She founded Gospel Light, a publishing company for many of her training materials, [http://www.foresthome.org/aboutfh/henrietta-mears/ Forest Home], a Christian conference center nestled in Forest Falls, California, and , and profoundly impacted the ministries of Bill Bright and Vonette Zachary Bright (Campus Crusade), Jim Rayburn (Young Life) and Billy Graham (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association) and Louis Evans, Jr. who was the organizing pastor of Bel Air Church (where Ronald Reagan and many other stars attended) and led the congregation of the National Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C., with her emphasis on Scripture and a clear Gospel message for young people. Mears is believed by many theologians to have most directly shaped Bill Bright’s Four Spiritual Laws, which defined modern evangelism in the 20th century.

She was a gifted educator and was known as "Teacher" by those in her program. Her book, ," has sold over three million copies.

Literally hundreds of men and women came out of her Sunday School program into full-time Christian service, including 1st Presbyterian Hollywood's Louis Evans, Sr.'s son; Louis H. Evans, Jr. (Colleen Townsend Evans), who became the organizing pastor of Bel Air Presbyterian church; Bill Bright and his wife Vonette Zachary Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, which lived in and worked out of Henrietta's house for 10 years; Billy Graham; Reverend L. David Cowie, pastor of University Presbyterian Church in Seattle, Washington, 1948 to 1961; Donn Moomaw, a UCLA All American football player in 1951, who later became Ronald Reagan's pastor at Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, California and Frederick Dale Bruner, a biblical scholar best known for his commentaries on Matthew and John. Provided by Wikipedia