John Robert Stevens

John Robert Stevens (August 7, 1919 – June 4, 1983) founded The Living Word Fellowship in the 1950s and was the leader of the organization until his death.^[1]

Stevens was born in

Assembly of God

in September 1937.

Stevens was first married to Martha Mickelson in 1939 and had two daughters by this marriage, which ended in divorce. In 1980, John Robert married Marilyn Holbrook.

Stevens moved to the Los Angeles area in 1946 and later became pastor of an Assemblies of God church in

divine revelation. In 1951 he established his own church in South Gate, California, and by 1955 he had expanded his ministry into a new movement based largely on the teachings of Branham and the Latter Rain.^[2] Initially called the Church of the Living Word, it was later called The Living Word Fellowship. The organization was also known informally as "The Walk" referencing the biblical view that every Christian should have a personal walk with Jesus Christ, from I John 1:6-7. For the remainder of his life he was the group's spiritual leader, expanding across the United States and into several other countries.^[3]

Stevens died in 1983. His widow, the former Marilyn Holbrook, married Gary Hargrave in 1984 and together they led the Fellowship until Marilyn's passing in 2015. Many of Stevens' writings, as well as recordings of his sermons, continue to be distributed by Living Word Publications. At least one of Stevens' works was plagiarized. [4]