ST. LOUIS — Oswald C.J. Hoffmann, the voice of “The Lutheran Hour” radio program for more than three decades, died Sept. 8 after a brief illness.
The religious broadcasting pioneer and minister of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod was 91, Lutheran Hour Ministries said in an announcement. Ordained in 1939, Hoffmann was the speaker for the program from 1955 until 1988. “Dr. Hoffmann was an incredible blessing to Lutheran Hour Ministries and to the millions of listeners who tuned in to ‘The Lutheran Hour’ during his tenure as speaker of the program,” said Greg Lewis, executive director of St. Louis-based Lutheran Hour Ministries, which is an auxiliary of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
During his career of almost 70 years, Hoffmann was a pastor, film production adviser, consultant to foreign dignitaries and U.S. presidents and author of eight books.
David Strand, a spokesman for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, said the program that carried Hoffmann’s voice has been popular far beyond his St. Louis-based denomination. “That program didn’t just cross lines of Lutheranism,” Strand said. “It entered into all realms of Christianity.”
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