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P.O. Box 345
San Antonio, TX 78292
Phone: (800) 926-5397
Dr. Gary Hedrick
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"I was in that state of mind in which a boy thinks it extremely telling to call God Javeh and Jesus Yeshua." -C.S. Lewis (Suprised by Joy)

Gary Hedrick has been President of CJF Ministries (CJFM) in San Antonio, since August of 1988. Prior to that time, he held a seat on the ministry’s board and frequently traveled during the summer months to raise financial support for CJFM’s evangelistic efforts around the world. In the early to mid-1970s, Gary was a minister of youth and music in two Atlanta-area Baptist churches. He later moved to Illinois, where he became associate pastor of Bayview Baptist Church in Washington, Illinois (1976—1978) and met his bride-to-be, Marcia Lee Goldsmith (they were married in 1977). After a brief stint with the home missions board of the Evangelical Mennonite Conference (1979—1980), Gary became the founding pastor of Liberty Bible Church in Eureka, Illinois (1980—1988).

Gary is a graduate of Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina (BA in Bible) and was awarded an honorary doctor of divinity degree (DD) in May of 2003 from Antioch Baptist Bible College and Seminary in Marietta, Georgia—the same school that bestowed this degree on a young Jewish Christian evangelist named Charles Halff 35 years earlier (almost to the day).  

CJF Ministries was incorporated by Charles Halff in the early 1950s. However, its true beginnings date back to the late-1940s, when Charles began broadcasting (at the insistence of Professor Charles Feinberg of Dallas Seminary) on a small AM station in Alabama. The fascinating story of how this Jewish teenager became a believer in Jesus as his Savior and Messiah, and shortly thereafter became a pioneer of Christian radio (“The Christian Jew Hour”), is recounted in his autobiography, What It Costs a Jew to Become a Christian (a revised and expanded version of this book was completed just prior to his death in 2000).

Today, the ministry continues to take the Good News of Yeshua (Jesus) “to the Jew first and also to the [non-Jew]” through its network of 25 field representatives stationed in major Jewish population centers like Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix, Dallas, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Toronto, London, Paris, South America, the former Soviet Union, and of course, Israel. Mrs. Halff (Bernice) continues to be active in the ministry, and is a blessing to all who know her. Today, the radio program is known as “Messianic Perspectives” and is heard not only on AM and FM radio stations from coast to coast, but also via Internet webcast, podcast, and vodcast.

Gary and Marcia make their home in San Antonio. Their two older children, Elizabeth and Michael, are both married (to Brian and Rachel, respectively) and are active in the ministry. Their younger daughter, Sarah, is a student at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where she is a theater arts major. They also have two grandchildren, Emily (6) and Owen (3).