William A. Fagal, 70; Founded Long-Running Religious Show
William A. Fagal, who founded what may be the longest-running religious television program in the United States, died Thursday of complications from a stroke he suffered last year, officials with the old “Faith for Today” program said. He was 70.
Fagal, who had been ill for the past year, died at Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo, said Marilyn Thomsen, a spokeswoman for the program.
Fagal was pastor at a Seventh-day Adventist church in New York and broadcasting on WHN radio in 1950 when the denomination asked him to start a religious television program.
“Faith for Today” was first broadcast May 21, 1950, and was on the air under that title until 1969. Only “Meet the Press,” which went on the air in 1947, is believed to have been on television longer.
Faith for Today TV Productions broadcast the program as “Westbrook Hospital” for a time and replaced it in 1985 with its current program, “Christian Lifestyle Magazine,” said the program’s director, Daniel Matthews.
Fagal left the program in 1981 but remained involved in the ministry as a speaker and counselor.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
