Adrian Rogers, Honored for his Years of Broadcasting Service

NASHVILLE, Tenn - Adrian Rogers, founder of "Love Worth Finding," was inducted into the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame during their annual convention at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville. President Bush was among the 2,700 prestigious attendants at the convention, Feb. 10.

Rogers currently pastors the Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tennessee, near Memphis. Under his leadership, the congregation grew from 9,000 in 1972 to more than 28,000 members in 2002. In conjunction to his ministry, he developed Love Worth Finding to assist his work.

LWF debuted in 1987 with a one-hour television broadcast on just 17 stations, and a 30-minute daily radio broadcast of on 19 radio stations, when requests for his Rogers' sermons grew beyond management. Since then, the program had expanded its outreach to more than 14,000 television outlets and 2,000 radio stations across America.

"We were called into this ministry;" says Dr. Rogers. "People were requesting tapes of the messages, and soon the requests began to grow to the point that we knew God was leading us into a wider ministry. "The effectiveness of Love Worth Finding has been an exciting thing for me, because it is right in line with our commitment and calling to preach the gospel to the whole world."

The program also broadcasts in Spanish to nearly all Latin American Countries. The Spanish broadcast is part of LWF's international branch, which includes more than 120 countries.

Dr. Rogers had served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1979-1980, and from 1986-1988, and had preached overseas in Taiwan, South Korea, Israel, Russia, Romania, and in Central and South America. He has also served as the keynote speaker for such meetings as "Washington for Jesus," the National Association of Evangelicals, and the National Religious Broadcasters.

"I believe God wants us to proclaim the message of salvation in the power of the Holy Spirit by every means possible, especially through radio and television," Rogers said.

Others honored at the National Religious Broadcasters convention was Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, with the Board of Directors' Award; the late W.A. Criswell, former pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, with the Milestone Award; "FamilyLife Today" with host Dennis Rainey, named Radio Program of the Year; "Money Matters" with host Larry Burkett, named Talk Show of the Year.

By Pauline C.