Kirby J. Hensley

Kirby James Hensley (July 23, 1911 – March 19, 1999) was the president and founder of the Universal Life Church (ULC.)

Hensley was born as second in a family of seven children on July 23, 1911, in the mountains of Lowgap, North Carolina. For over 65 years he studied and preached religion throughout the United States. An illiterate his entire life, he hired people to read the Bible to him and later listened to recordings of the Bible on tape.^[1]

Hensley was ordained in the Baptist Church, but after preaching for several years he left that denomination and attended the Pentecostal churches in the area. Through this church he married his first wife Nora and they had two daughters. He pastored in Oklahoma and California.

Hensley and Nora divorced and he moved to North Carolina, where he met his second wife, Lida. During their forty-six-year marriage they had one daughter and two sons.

In the mid-1980s, he called himself the king of Aqualandia and sold citizenships, including church ordinations, for $35.^[2]

Hensley ran for President of the United States as a third party candidate under the third Universal Party in 1964 and 1968, with Roscoe MacKenna as his running mate.

Hensley remained as president of the church until his death on March 19, 1999. During this time he managed to compile many sermons and even appeared on 60 Minutes.^[3]

References

1. The Holy Bible for the 21st Century, U.L.C. Printing Dept.
2. Inside the Universal Life Church, the internet's one true religion theweek.com, Andrew Sankin, April 3, 2015
3. Jackman, Ian (2003). Con Men: Fascinating Profiles of Swindlers and Rogues from the Files of the Most Successful Broadcast in Television History. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-2448-5.

Notes

• Ashmore, Lewis (1977). The Modesto messiah: The famous mail-order minister. Universal Press. ISBN 0-918950-01-5.
• Hensley, Kirby J. (1986). The Buffer Zone. Universal Life Church. ASIN B00071NQX0.