Stephen Olford was born in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) of missionary parents. His father, an Englishman, was converted through the ministry of R.A. Torrey. His mother, an American from Buffalo, New York, was associated with the evangelistic work of Sister Abigail.
Educated in Britain at St. Luke's College, Mildmay, and the Missionary Training Colony in London, his evangelistic crusades throughout Britain were interrupted in 1939 by the war, when he worked with the troops, and for seven years preached in a Forces Center in South Wales, reaching almost a thousand men a week. After the war, he returned to crusading on a much larger scale in major cities of the British Isles, Canada, and the United States, and was a frequent speaker at Keswick, in England. He held a six-year pastorate in Richmond, Surrey, before coming to New York.
In 1966 Wheaton College conferred upon Stephen Olford the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and Houghton College awarded him the Doctor of Letters degree.
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Stephen F. Olford is well known as pastor of New York's Calvary Baptist Church, radio and television preacher, conference and crusade speaker, as well as author of several books and pamphlets. As pastor of Calvary Baptist Church since 1959, Dr. Olford's leadership has led to an expanded radio ministry, "The Calvary Church Hour" being heard each week throughout the Caribbean, Great Britain, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. He has also pioneered a gospel program on television with the weekly "Encounter," which has a potential audience of some twenty-seven million in the New York area. His conference and crusade ministry has taken him around the world.
Educated in Britain at St. Luke's College, Mildmay, and the Missionary Training Colony in London, his evangelistic crusades throughout Britain were interrupted in 1939 by the war, when he worked with the troops, and for seven years preached in a Forces Center in South Wales, reaching almost a thousand men a week. After the war, he returned to crusading on a much larger scale in major cities of the British Isles, Canada, and the United States, and was a frequent speaker at Keswick, in England. He held a six-year pastorate in Richmond, Surrey, before coming to New York.
In 1966 Wheaton College conferred upon Stephen Olford the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and Houghton College awarded him the Doctor of Letters degree.
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Stephen F. Olford is well known as pastor of New York's Calvary Baptist Church, radio and television preacher, conference and crusade speaker, as well as author of several books and pamphlets. As pastor of Calvary Baptist Church since 1959, Dr. Olford's leadership has led to an expanded radio ministry, "The Calvary Church Hour" being heard each week throughout the Caribbean, Great Britain, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. He has also pioneered a gospel program on television with the weekly "Encounter," which has a potential audience of some twenty-seven million in the New York area. His conference and crusade ministry has taken him around the world.