Jack Hayford, a highly influential charismatic Evangelical leader, has passed away at 88. Hayford, who composed more than 500 charismatic hymns in the modern worship scene, was highly influential in is largely responsible for a lot of the mainstream charismatic influence in modern Evangelical worship. Hayford taught a methodology of worship that is foreign to the Scriptures, essentially teaching that worship is to be emotionally driven rather than a response to God based on truth.

Jack Hayford, sadly, came face to face with the God he blasphemed regularly on Jan. 8, 2023 at the age of 88.

Jack Hayford was the former pastor and president of the Foursquare Gospel Church denomination. He has been collaborating with Rick Warren and his programs and teachings for years, yet has promoted false teachings and endorsed many false teachers, including Rick Warren and Todd Bentley.

Hayford has also been associated with Cleansing Stream, a counseling ministry rooted in Jungian psychotherapy, and has sat on the board of Renovare, an organization founded by Richard Foster, who has been criticized for importing Roman Catholic mysticism into the Evangelical Church. Hayford has also been a speaker at the Azusa Street Centennial and has promoted Roman Catholicism himself.

Hayford has endorsed the Message Bible, a contemporary paraphrase of the Bible with numerous errors that water down the gospel and has been involved with the ecumenical organization Promise Keepers, which promotes oaths and covenants. He has also been friendly with false teachers such as Todd Bentley, who claims to raise people from the dead on a regular basis and was recently accused of a homosexual sex scandal.

Hayford was also heavily involved in the Evangelical “climate change” movement and promotes Dominionist Kingdom Now Theology, which is the belief that it is the church’s responsibility to take control of the world – a belief evident in the lyrics of his song “Majesty.” Hayford has also mentored and trained Linda Godsey, who promotes the belief in generational curses on Christians, endorsed Dr. Neil Anderson, who believes that Christians can be possessed by demons, and supported the ordination of women as pastors, which is a controversial belief in some Christian circles.

Christians and church leaders have rightfully questioned the use of personality assessments, such as SHAPE, DISC, and MBTI, in the Christian church, arguing that these assessments are based on theories from Carl Jung, who derived his personality theory from a spirit guide. Finally, some have accused Rick Warren’s book “The Purpose Driven Life” of making false advertising claims about its sales. All of this begs the question: why was Jack Hayford held in such high esteem amongst Evangelical circles when his teachings and affiliations are in direct contradiction to the Word of God?

For more on Hayford, see this article.