Founder's Page

H.M.S. Richards - VOP Founder

H. M. S. Richards, Sr. (1894-1985)

Elder H.M. S. Richards was known and respected as a pioneer religious broadcaster--having been the founder and long-time speaker of the Voice of Prophecy radio ministry. His ministry inspired broadcasts in 36 languages on more than 1,100 stations and Bible courses in 80 languages offered by 144 correspondence schools.

Upon graduation from college in 1919, H.M.S. Richards served as an evangelist in various places in the United States and Canada and during this period experimented with radio announcements in connection with his meetings. He began regular radio broadcasts on October 19, 1929 on KNX (AM) in Los Angeles.

Later Richards presented daily live broadcasts of The Tabernacle of the Air over KGER in Long Beach, and live weekly remote broadcasts from his tabernacle to KMPC (AM) in Beverly Hills. In January 1937 his footprint expanded over a network of several stations of the Don Lee Broadcasting System, and the name of the broadcast was changed to the Voice of Prophecy. His first coast-to-coast broadcast over 89 stations of the Mutual Broadcasting System was on Sunday, January 4, 1942.

Throughout the years Richards' Voice of Prophecy broadcasts were marked by an opening theme song of "Lift Up the Trumpet" performed by the King's Heralds quartet and closed each week with a new verse written to his poem "Have Faith in God."

For more about H.M.S. Richards, click here for "Life Sketch."

For stories about H.M.S. Richards, click here.

For e-books and sermons by H.M.S. Richards, click here.

For poetry by H.M.S. Richards, click here.

To listen to H.M.S. Richards reading poems and Scripture, click here.

And for the complete story of the life of this remarkable man, you may purchase a biography written by long-time King's Heralds tenor Robert Edwards. Click on the icon or title below:

HMS Richards: A Bio - Buy the hardback 329-page book.