John R. Rice

John R. Rice was born in Cooke County, Texas, December 11, 1895.

Pastor of Baptist churches in Dallas and Shamrock, Texas, Dr. Rice started about a dozen others from his primary work as an evangelist. In the 1930s and 1940s, he held huge citywide crusades in Chicago, Cleveland, Buffalo, Seattle and other major Metropolitan centers.

While pastor in Dallas in 1934, he founded THE SWORD OF THE LORD. The first printing, September 28, 1934, ran 5,000 copies which were handed out on the streets of Dallas, Texas. In 1940 the Sword of the Lord was moved to Wheaton, Illinois where it remained for the next 23 years. In 1963 the opportunity came to purchase the present location on Bridge Avenue in downtown Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

For 21 years Dr. Rice was heard weekly on the Voice of Revival—a 30-minute radio broadcast on 69 stations in 29 states, Puerto Rico and the Philippine Islands. He wrote many songs, which are found in a compilation, as well as in the Sword of the Lord hymnal, "Soul Stirring Songs and Hymns."
On Dec. 29, 1980, Dr. Rice graduated to Heaven. He is buried at the Bill Rice Ranch Cemetery (on Route 96) seven miles west of Murfreesboro.

By permission of Sword of the Lord Ministries