Goodbye to an old friend, Dr. Gene Scott

Our Christian friends around the world have lost a great teacher and Israel has lost a great friend.

Gene Scott, the longtime pastor of Los Angeles University Cathedral died yesterday, Monday, after suffering a stroke. He was 75 years old. Dr. Scott began hosting a nightly television broadcast of Bible teaching in the mid-1970s. His University Network eventually aired a nightly talk show and Sunday morning church services on radio and television stations in about 180 countries.

We were fortunate enough to meet Dr. Gene Scott at his church one Sunday while vacationing in Los Angeles back in 1991. We used to listen to him for years while our cable company still broadcasted his network. When he was no longer part of the programming schedule on our cable network, we listened to him on shortwave radio. Dr. Gene Scott was like another member of our family.

His teaching on history and Scripture displayed a vast and insightful knowledge that we may not see in one single individual again for a long time.

Scott's church, a congregation of more than 15,000 members, raised millions of dollars through round-the-clock Internet and satellite TV broadcasts.

Dr. Scott, who earned his Ph.D. in Philosophies of Education at California's prestigious Stanford University in 1957, was perhaps one of the greatest Bible teachers and historians we have ever seen and was also a great advocate for Israel.

Dr. Scott, in addition to being flamboyant and outspoken, was also devoted to charity. After a fire badly damaged the Los Angeles Central Library, he organized a telethon that raised $2 million. In 2002, Scott gave $20,000 to save the Museum in Black from eviction. The museum has some 5,000 items from the slave and civil rights eras.

He was also instrumental in providing the facilities for the "Save the Books" telethon for the Central Library. Multiple institutions have benefited from his insights and providing of funds, including the Richard Pryor Burn Foundation, the Central Library, the Southwest Museum, the Museum in Black, the Junior Achievement headquarters, the Adventist Medical Foundation, Rebuild LA, and the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center, to name just a few.

According to the reply we received after we placed a call to his office today, Dr. Gene Scott's teachings will continue to be re-broadcast on television, radio, and the internet.

Dr. Gene Scott