Introduction

Biography

Rader was one of the most pow­er­ful ev­an­gel­is­tic preach­ers of the ear­ly 20th Cen­tu­ry. He des­cribed him­self as an ex-bell­boy, ex-cow­boy, ex-pros­pect­or, ex-foot­ball play­er, and ex-pu­gil­ist.

He was pas­tor of Moo­dy Church in Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois (1915–21), and fol­lowed found­er Al­bert Simp­son as pre­si­dent of the Chris­tian and Mis­sion­ary Al­li­ance (1920–23). He al­so found­ed the Chi­ca­go Gos­pel Ta­ber­na­cle in 1922 and was its pas­tor for 11 years.

Rader wrote ma­ny Gos­pel song ly­rics and a few tunes, and was ins­tru­ment­al in found­ing of the Ta­ber­na­cle Pub­lish­ing Com­pa­ny.

He was a pio­neer of Christ­ian broad­cast­ing, as well: In the ear­ly 1920s, the be­gin­ning days of ra­dio, sta­tion WBBM in Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois, closed ev­ery Sun­day. Ra­der re­ceived per­mis­sion to use the stu­dios, and for se­ver­al years ran a 14-hour Chris­tian pro­gram ev­ery Sun­day. Rader called his sta­tion with­in a sta­tion WJBT (Where Je­sus Bless­es Thou­sands).