J. Harold Smith

Who was J. Harold Smith?

J. Harold Smith was a Southern Baptist evangelist and founder of Radio Bible Hour, "broadcasting the Gospel of Jesus Christ since 1935." The program is still aired today. Smith was a pioneer in the use of broadcast media, and started the Radio Bible Hour broadcast in 1935. He helped to develop Christian radio in the 1940s, and was one of the first ministries to be heard nationwide through the giant Mexican radio station XERF. He was the pastor of a number of churches, from very small to very large, and always loved the work of the pastorate. In 1953 as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Fort Smith, Arkansas, he started the television broadcast of the morning worship services. That was one of the first regular television broadcasts of a church service in the United States.