Albert Pendarvis
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Albert Pendarvis is more commonly known as The Old Trailblazer which is the name of a Christian broadcast on which he appears.
Pendarvis is the pastor of Radio Missions, a ministry formerly based in Algiers, New Orleans, United States. The founder of this ministry was L. R. Shelton, Sr.. Pendarvis is the fourth pastor of this ministry.
The overall ministry is named Radio Missions. The church itself is called the First Baptist Church of Algiers. The church formerly met in the Metropolitan Tabernacle (a former vaudeville theater in Algiers). Two international radio broadcasts (in America, Northern Ireland, and now shortwave) originate from the ministry: the Voice of Truth (a weekly thirty-minute broadcast of Shelton, Sr.'s messages) and the Old Trailblazer (a weekday 15-minute broadcast by Pendarvis). The local church broadcasts its two Sunday morning services (the Bible School of the Air and the Worship Hour) on WLNO in New Orleans and all of its services on the Internet. In addition, the ministry operates in several other areas, including a bookstore called the Radio Bible and Bookroom which sells Bibles and Christian books.
The 2005 storm Katrina destroyed Radio Missions' facilities in Algiers, and because the buildings lacked proper insurance coverage, the ministry relocated to their chapel in Baton Rouge, near Pendarvis' home. [1] The ministry never missed a single broadcast of their radio programs or church services during this transition. (Although WLNO was off the air for an extended time until power was restored, the ministry still broadcast on the Internet.) In the Sunday evening message of Dec 17, 2006, Pastor Pendarvis mentioned that there was no broadcast the Sunday before the storm hit.
The ministry published a monthly magazine, "The Voice Of Truth", until Katrina destroyed their facilities. Publication is suspended until new facilities are constructed to house the press. Before the storm hit, the ministry was able to evacuate all of its people, the printing press, and all of its broadcast equipment from New Orleans and put its equipment in storage. Only the physical buildings were damaged by the storm. Currently, Radio Missions is in a transition between the old facilities in Algiers, New Orleans which had to be abandoned after the storm and their new facilities. Their temporary headquarters is in a chapel in Baton Rouge, but plans for building a new church and facility for ministry operations began almost immediately. The ministry is still going to be known as the "First Baptist Church of Algiers" even after the move.
In July, 2006, Pendarvis suffered an accidental fall while doing yardwork in which he broke his hip.[2] A couple of weeks later, he suffered another fall which broke his other hip. He missed several months of preaching while he recovered, but was soon back in his pulpit.
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[edit] Doctrinal Position
The Radio Missions ministry is Calvinist in their theology; and while they are not part of any denomination, the ministry believes the London Baptist Confession and are Reformed Baptists like Spurgeon.[3] The books sold by the ministry are predominantly from this point of view.
The ministry is strongly dispensationalist in its eschatology, and has numerous teaching series by Pendarvis and his predecessor Shelton available which discuss the Book of Revelation from this perspective. Similarly, the ministry teaches the premillenial view of eschatology. (The ministry bookstore sells the Scofield Reference Bible and speakers reference it occasionally.)
The primary emphasis of the ministry is on "awakening" sinners, that is showing mankind its sinful condition (the total depravity doctrine), and show individuals of the salvation freely offered by Jesus Christ. Almost every message sent out by the ministry contains this core teaching in some way or other. Radio Missions claims to be one of the few strictly Calvinist voices in religious broadcasting.
[edit] Mission Places
Radio Missions has several small groups which meet in "mission places" (as they call them) for services. These are scattered throughout the immediate area of New Orleans, including Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.[4] In these services, the congregation either listens to the broadcast of the main services, or hears lay ministers preach. Pastor Pendarvis personally visits these mission places periodically to preach and has several lay pastors who visit these missions. (One such misison place in Baton Rouge became the ministry's temporary meeting place after Katrina.)
[edit] Fellowship Day
Radio Missions has a Fellowship Day in both the spring and fall where local church members and listeners to their broadcasts meet for fellowship, food, singing, and services. Until 2005, when Katrina forced a relocation, this was held at the church in Algiers, New Orleans. Recent Fellowship Day meetings have been held at the Baton Rouge facility. Typically, these meetings have extra services which are broadcast over the Internet.
[edit] King James Only Advocacy
King James Only advocacy is not a major emphasis of the Radio Missions ministry, but the Old Trailblazer radio program frequently touches upon this topic. The Radio Bible and Book Room sells many books and audio presentations by King James Only advocates. The bookstore sells only the King James Bible text, and no other version.
The Old Trailblazer broadcast featured a lengthy series of messages on the so-called "Anti-Christ Bible" (the Revised Standard Version), based on notes by L. R. Shelton, Sr.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Information about this is available on the Radio Missions web site.
- ^ Posted to the Radio Missions web site and frequently mentioned in broadcasts.
- ^ See L.R. Shelton's printed sermons on Calvinism on the Radio Missions web site.
- ^ A complete list is available on the ministry's web site.
- ^ The Anti-Christ Bible messages are not currently available online, but can be purchased from the ministry.
[edit] External links
- Radio Missions web site, which includes radio logs, the Radio Bible and Book Room, and transcribed sermons by pastor L.R. Shelton.
- L.R. Shelton III, the grandson of Radio Missions founder L. R. Shelton, Sr., has a web site critical of doctrinal aspects of Shelton, Sr.'s ministry. This site includes an essay by Shelton III concerning what he perceives as errors in the ministry of Radio Missions.
