This coming week, our Moody Church Media team will be headed to Nashville for the National Religious Broadcasters meetings. On Friday, we’ll be celebrating a very special milestone for our own Pastor Emeritus, Dr. Erwin Lutzer, as he is inducted into the Hall of Fame. This is the NRB’s most prestigious award, honoring those who model excellence, integrity, and longstanding service in Christian communications.
Many of you know Pastor Lutzer as the longest-serving Senior Pastor to date, serving from 1980 to 2016. But his influence extends far beyond our sanctuary walls at the corner of Lincoln Park. For over four decades, he has been a stalwart voice on the airwaves, proclaiming the Gospel of God’s grace with unwavering clarity.
- Beginning his tenure in 1980 as Senior Pastor, Pastor Lutzer took the helm of the weekly broadcasts Moody Church Hour and Songs in the Night. Our Sunday services have been broadcasting since 1926 and are now known as Moody Church Hour. Songs in the Night has been on the air since 1943.
- Launched as a daily program in 1995, Running to Win provides clear, biblical teaching to radio audiences, expanding Pastor Lutzer’s reach. To serve a changing media environment, the 25-minute version of Running to Win was introduced in 2008, which included Pastor Lutzer answering listeners’ questions. Pastor Lutzer’s programs now air on over 1,000 outlets nationwide.
- From 2017 to the present, Moody Church Media’s International Initiative works with key ministry partners to enable the international growth of Running to Win. Today, it is broadcast in seven languages, reaching people in over 50 countries.
Pastor Lutzer is still actively involved in Moody Church Media; he continues writing, adding to the seventy books he’s already authored; and remains a frequent speaker around the world.
From a young boy on a farm in Canada dreaming of preaching to sharing the joy of changed lives, his reflection on his legacy has consistently remained: “It is all of God!” That humility and devotion are why we love him so much.
Congratulations, Pastor Lutzer! We are grateful for who you are. This award is well deserved. You are loved, more than you know!
