death_date predecessor successor birth_place religion nationality name birth_date spouse article_title birth_name occupation alma_mater
6 february 2001 owen l. miller jack schaap italy , texas independent baptist usa jack hyles 25 september 1926 beverly hyles jack hyles
 jack frasure hyles pastor east texas baptist university december 2012
jack hyles

jack frasure hyles -lrb- september 25 , 1926 -- february 6 , 2001 -rrb- was a leading figure in the independent baptist movement , having pastored the first baptist church of hammond in hammond , indiana , from 1959 until his death .
he was well known for being an innovator of the church bus ministry that brought thousands of people each week from surrounding towns to hammond for services .
jack hyles built first baptist up from fewer than a thousand members to a membership of 100,000 .
in 1993 and again in 1994 , it was reported that 20,000 people attended first baptist every sunday , making it the most attended baptist church in the united states in 2001 , at the time of hyles 's death , 20,000 people were attending church services and sunday school each week .
he was accused of several scandals while pastoring the church , and his doctrinal positions often put him at odds with other christians -- even with other fundamentalist baptists .
