c. 2007 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) The late Rev. Jerry Falwell was known most as a pastor and conservative political activist, but his influence actually reached further _ sometimes in unexpected ways.

The Southern Baptist preacher, who died suddenly Tuesday (May 15), left his mark on a range of institutions and issues in American society _ from megachurches to education, religious broadcasting to the state of Israel, and on the controversial debates about abortion, gay rights and free speech.

Although fundamentalists have tended to set themselves apart from society, Falwell bucked that tradition _ sometimes with great force.

“Falwell moved from being a separatist fundamentalist to being _ one hesitates to use the word about Falwell _ more of an evangelical,” said John Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, “in a sense of wanting to be not of the world but very definitely in the world.”

Here’s a look at seven areas where Falwell’s legacy may linger:

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Education

In 1967, Falwell created the Lynchburg Christian Academy, an evangelical day school, in his hometown of Lynchburg, Va. Four years later, he founded Liberty University, which now has a student body of more than 21,500. “His original vision was for a Christian educational system from pre-kindergarten through doctoral programs,” said Mark DeMoss, chairman of the Executive Committee of Liberty’s board of trustees.

“He wanted Liberty University to be for the evangelical Christian student what Brigham Young is to a Mormon student or Notre Dame is to a Catholic student, a flagship institution.”

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Megachurches

When Falwell’s Thomas Road Baptist Church reached 2,000 attenders in 1968, it became a megachurch before the term was even used. “He was one of the early Christian leaders who thought of doing church that large,” said Scott Thumma, a megachurch expert and sociologist of religion at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut.

Falwell’s preaching and his successful Sunday school program created a model for other megachurches, some of which now grow through systems of small groups that gather in homes or around particular interests.

“I think that model has been changed over the years, but he and a few others, mostly Baptists, really did pioneer some of those early inventions that allowed church to be held at such large sizes,” Thumma said.

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Abortion

Randall Terry, the founder of Operation Rescue _ one of the prominent anti-abortion groups in the 1980s _ credits Falwell with giving attention and a stamp of legitimacy to both the anti-abortion crusade and Terry’s organization.

During Operation Rescue demonstrations in Atlanta in 1988, “Dr. Falwell came down, stood with us in front of an abortion clinic, gave us a $10,000 check and endorsed our work,” Terry said. “It gave us a level of credibility that was really helpful.”

Focus on the Family Chairman James Dobson said Falwell made it “respectable” for pastors to bring up the “evil of abortion” in the pulpit. “Until he led the way, the common response from conservative pastors was to say that abortion is a matter best left to a woman and her doctor.”

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Gay Rights

Sometimes Falwell’s influence had unexpected consequences, as in the fight over gay rights.

“I wouldn’t have a voice today if it hadn’t been for him,” said Mel White, a former ghostwriter for Falwell who started the gay rights group Soulforce in reaction to Falwell’s vehement preaching that homosexuality was a sin.

When White confronted Falwell in 1999 with a visit to Lynchburg with 200 others, he ended up on two network morning television shows: “There was no way that I could have gotten that kind of publicity for Soulforce or for our cause without Jerry.”

Others, too, began to speak out.

“He became the face of homophobia,” White said. “I think that his face mobilized more gay people to say, `I’m coming out of my closet’ . . . because (of) his hyperbole, his half-truths, his lies. This guy talked about gay people in ways that are abhorrent.”

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Free Speech

When Falwell sued Hustler publisher Larry Flynt for a parody ad that portrayed him committing incest with his mother in an outhouse, the Supreme Court in 1988 struck down an award for emotional damages.

“The most important result of our relationship was the landmark decision from the Supreme Court that made parody protected speech,” Flynt said Tuesday, “and the fact that much of what we see on television and hear on the radio today is a direct result of my having won that now-famous case, which Falwell played such an important role in.”

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Religious Broadcasting

Shortly after creating his Lynchburg church in 1956, Falwell began the “Old-Time Gospel Hour,” a radio and television ministry that grew to reach millions with his preaching.

“Jerry was one of the very early pioneers who saw that electronic media could extend the reach of the gospel outside the four walls of the church,” said Frank Wright, president and CEO of the National Religious Broadcasters. “Many people across America who are shut-ins or, for whatever reason, are not able to attend church regularly, they look at Jerry Falwell as their pastor.”

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Israel

Jewish leaders, who often differed theologically and otherwise with Falwell, found agreement on the state of Israel.

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, president of the International Fellowship of Christian and Jews, said Falwell was among the first Christians to support his group’s efforts at bridge-building. Eckstein said even when some Jews doubted Falwell’s motives, he stood his ground. “This did not deter him one bit in his unfailing support for Israel and the Jewish people,” he said.

Others agreed, including Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham H. Foxman, who called Falwell “a dear friend of Israel.”

_ David Finnigan in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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