The late Edward Victor "E.V." Hill, Sr. was the senior pastor at the Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, California from 1961 until his passing in 2003. Under his leadership, it became one of the largest African-American congregations in the U.S. Born into poverty and raised by a single mom, E.V. Hill fought against the odds and received a four-year scholarship to Prairie View A&M University near Houston. As a young pastor in the 1950s, Hill became a confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and assisted him in establishing the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. A prominent figure within the wider Baptist movement, he later served as co-chair of the Baptist World Alliance. Rev. Hill was active in social issues, lobbying for government programs to provide housing and other basic amenities to poor, often rural blacks. E.V. Hill authored two books, A Savior Worth Having and Victory in Jesus: Running the Race You Were Meant to Win. He was one of the first African-Americans to have a voice on The Trinity Broadcasting Network, and he served the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association as an associate professor. Hill gave the prayer at Richard Nixon’s second inauguration and led clergy committees during Ronald Reagan’s presidency. The Rev. E.V. Hill was married to La Dean. His first wife, Jane Edna, passed away in 1987. Their son, E.V. Hill II, took over the pastoral role at Mount Zion Church until his passing in August 2019.
