On June 5, 1901, the baby preacher Mr. and Mrs. Richard
Lakin had prayed for was born in a farmhouse on Big
Hurricane Creek in the hill country of Wayne County,
West Virginia. B. R. Lakin often joked of his birth
saying, People ask me where I was born and I tell them I
was born at home. They ask why weren’t you born in a
hospital? And I tell them because I wanted to be close
to my mother.
At the age of 18 Lakin was saved and immediately began
preaching. He rode a mule for transportation and
preached in small country churches in the mountains and
hills of West Virginia and Kentucky.
He became associate pastor of Cadle Tabernacle in 1939
and upon the death of founder Cadle, Lakin became
pastor. The church seated 10,000, and had a choir loft
of 1,400. Over 5,000 attended regularly on Sunday
mornings and 2,500 on Sunday nights.
Lakin became a household word across America in the
thirteen years he pastored and preached on the radio
from coast to coast. In 1952, he became an evangelist
and that ministry bore much fruit all around the world
with thousands saved and untold numbers called to
preach.
He was one of the most sought-after gospel preachers in
America. On March 15, 1984, pastor and evangelist B. R.
Lakin was called home to Glory.
