The Voice of Prophecy Turns 95 Years Old
23 September 2024|
The following is a press release:
The Voice of Prophecy (VOP), Seventh-day Adventism’s oldest existing media ministry,
celebrates its 95th birthday this month. From its first day to now, VOP has used cutting-edge
technology to proclaim the everlasting Gospel of Christ, touching millions of lives worldwide.
The ministry began on October 19, 1929, when Adventist preacher Harold Marshall Sylvester
(H.M.S.) Richards Sr. started regularly broadcasting biblical messages on California radio
stations. Although some church leaders at the time called radio “the devil’s tool,” Richards Sr.
was determined to harness the recently popularized invention for Christ.
Soon, the young evangelist was broadcasting his program, The Tabernacle of the Air (renamed
The Voice of Prophecy in 1937), on a daily basis. His headquarters, a renovated chicken coop in
his garage, reflected his humility, a trait he retained even as his broadcast’s fame grew—and
grow it did.
In 1942, just weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, listeners across the United States turned on
their radios to hear “Lift up the trumpet, and loud let it ring: Jesus is coming again!” The Voice of
Prophecy, which began each segment with its uplifting theme song, had become the Adventist
Church’s national radio program. This brand-new appointment, created in 1941 by the General
Conference Radio Commission, distinguished The Voice of Prophecy as one of the first religious
programs to be broadcast coast to coast.
Five years later, the broadcast went international, and communities around the world became
acquainted with the sound of VOP’s signature male quartet, The King’s Heralds, the contralto
Del Delker, and the friendly voice of Richards Sr. By the 1960s, over 1,300 stations in 30
languages carried The Voice of Prophecy.
Also growing was the ministry’s Bible Correspondence School (now called the Discover Bible
School), established in 1942. A month after the school was announced, more than 2,000 students
had enrolled. By 1946, that number had soared to 85,000.
H.M.S. Richards Jr. succeeded his father in leadership in 1969. He was followed by Lonnie
Melashenko, Fred Kinsey, and current Speaker/Director Shawn Boonstra. Under these leaders
and their associates, the Voice of Prophecy expanded its reach, developing specialized radio
programs, branching into television, and organizing preaching campaigns and evangelistic
crusades across the country and world.
“Ninety-five years—and look at the way God blessed a spark in a young preacher’s heart!”
Boonstra expressed. “The ministry started so humbly—in a chicken coop—and now it’s across
the face of the Earth, ministering in more than 70 languages. It’s become a front-line evangelistic
agency for the church.”
Boonstra, alongside his wife, Jean Boonstra, has been leading VOP for 12 years. The ministry is
now based in Loveland, Colorado, the city where Richards Sr. grew up and was baptized.
VOP’s current flagship program is the weekly television show Authentic, in which Shawn
Boonstra pursues answers to the deepest questions of human existence. Jean Boonstra leads the
children’s ministry, Discovery Mountain, a weekly Bible-based audio adventure series that has
captured the imaginations of kids worldwide—it even hosted the nightly broadcasts of the recent
International Pathfinder Camporee!
The Discover Bible School continues to offer free courses for both children and adults. It now
supports over 2,000 churches in North America and hundreds more across the globe. United
States graduates alone exceed one million. Far higher is the sum of worldwide graduates, which
has soared into the millions.
More than ever before, the Voice of Prophecy is focused on supporting local church evangelism
by producing high-quality media resources and bridge events. Its next series, Primordial,
decodes the origins of existence to point audiences toward their loving Creator. VOP’s
partnership with Pentecost 2025, a North American Division initiative, will allow participating
churches to host Primordial and other VOP events for free.
“I can’t believe I get to be a part of this enduring ministry,” Shawn Boonstra shared. “I’m
looking forward to the report we can give H.M.S. Richards Sr. on resurrection morning about the
way God continued to expand his vision.”
Visit vop.com to learn more about the Voice of Prophecy.
Amanda Blake is a writer for the Voice of Prophecy.