Compiled by Ted Olsen / Christianity Today, Posted February 8, 2001
Jack Hyles, pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, founder of Hyles-Anderson College in Crown Point, Indiana, and one of the leaders of the Independent Fundamental Baptist movement, died Tuesday after undergoing open-heart surgery.
Between 15,000 and 20,000 people now attend services at First Baptist every Sunday. When he started there in September 1959, the weekly attendance was 44.
"When he was a scrawny, nervous teenager who said he wanted to be a preacher, nobody took him seriously," writes the
(The Times of Munster, Indiana, has several articles on Hyles, including an editorial, a chronology, and an article on what's next for First Baptist. See also the Associated Press's brief obituary, and more on Hyles at JackHyles.net, First Baptist's (unofficial - Bro. Sleeve)Web site.)