Christian broadcasting pioneer and author Rex Humbard died Sept. 21 of natural causes at a hospital near his home in Lantana, Fla., a family spokeswoman, Kathy Scott, told the Associated Press (AP). He was 88.

Recognized in 1999 by U.S. News & World Report as "one of the Top 25 Principle Architects of the American Century," Humbard was considered America's first televangelist.

He also wrote several books, including The Soul-Winning Century(Clarion Call Publishing, 2006), Miracles in My Life (Signet, 1971), Faith Is My Inheritance (Economy Printing Concern, 1959) and Your Key to God's Bank (Rex Humbard Foundation, 1977)

Humbard's sermons were televised on Sundays from 1953 to 1999, reaching up to 20 million viewers, his ministry estimated, the AP reported. For most of that time, Humbard broadcast from his 5,400-seat, marble-and-glass Cathedral of Tomorrow in suburban Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. A forerunner of the cavernous megachurches of today, the cathedral, with its circular space-age design, was built in 1958 especially to handle televised services, the AP reported. Humbard named his program after the cathedral.

At its peak, in 1977-78, the program leased time on 378 TV stations in the U.S. and Canada and broadcast on about 1,200 more in other countries. Humbard claimed that Cathedral of Tomorrow was on more TV stations than any other program in the nation, the AP reported.

"I am proud to be an electronic evangelist," he wrote in his autobiography, Miracles in My Life, "for I believe that God has a plan-a plan to get into the homes and hearts of mankind for Jesus."

Humbard is survived by his wife of 65 years, Maude; sons, Rex Jr., Don and Charles; daughter, Liz; 10 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be held Sept. 30 in Akron, Ohio, where Humbard will be laid to rest in a family plot near his mother, father and sister.

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