Note: Ralph G. Stair almost never uses his first name or initials. He, his radio audience, and his critics alike almost always refer to him as "Brother" Stair. He also refers to himself as "The Last Day Prophet of God."

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Ralph G. "Brother" Stair is a radio preacher. Stair was born of German ancestry on May 3, 1933 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. (That his birthplace shares the same name as the birthplace of Jesus has been cited by Stair as proof of his credibility.) Married at age 18 to a woman four years his senior, Stair began preaching as a teenager and spent many years as a traveling evangelist with his first wife before settling in the Philadelphia area in the 1970s. The marriage ended in divorce in 1978.

His preaching emphasized an impending Second Coming of Christ following a nuclear war. His signature sign-off is:

"The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand! Jesus Christ is coming in your lifetime! This is the last generation! Prepare to meet your God! Maranatha!"

Stair warned of vast conspiracies involving world political and religious leaders and instructed his followers to sell all their possessions, donate the proceeds to him for the purchase of more land and airtime, and flee to rural areas.

Contents

1 Life with Brother Stair 2 The Voice of the Overcomer 3 Stair Arrested 4 External Links

Life with Brother Stair

Stair's closest followers moved with him in the late 1980s to a commune set up in a former motel near Walterboro, South Carolina. As more people joined Stair's group, now calling itself "The Overcomer Ministry", trailers were added to the property and additional lands in other states were purchased.

Stair's theological teachings were unfocused: Oneness Pentecostalism spiked with a collection of beliefs cribbed from various denominations. Stair was heavily influenced by circuit preachers A. A. Allen and William Branham and occasionally played tapes of these men on his radio show. Stair also was influenced by Baptist radio preacher Lester Roloff, who advocated strict physical punishment as discipline for adolescents, and a rejection of processed foods, especially sugar.

Among Stair's other tenets:

• Like many Independent Baptists, Stair uses only the King James Version of the Bible.

• From the Seventh-day Adventists came Saturday worship.

• From the Restoration Movement came a rejection of all religious denominations and titles.

• From traditional Pentecostalism came speaking in tongues.

• From the Amish, a rejection of modern technology and a return to agrarian lifestyle.

• Stair offered some praise for the moral stances - if not the racial beliefs - of Christian Identity preachers like Peter J. Peters who bought airtime on some of the same stations that he did. Before long, Stair denounced the entire Identity movement, noting that many of his group are African-Americans.

Stair also taught that television was evil. It therefore came as a surprise to some when he started his own website in 1998. Stair rejected modern medicine as sinful. Stair's followers also had strictly defined rules based on gender: Women wore no makeup or cosmetics and were forbidden from wearing pants or slacks. Males were forbidden from having long hair or tattoos. Alcohol and tobacco were forbidden.

The Voice of the Overcomer

Stair had broadcast on a strictly local basis from Philadelphia, purchasing airtime on local stations, but it was after the move to South Carolina that Stair began building his broadcasting empire. Flush with cash from the sale of his followers' property, Stair began purchasing airtime on high powered clear channel AM and shortwave radio stations. His gravelly, emotional tenor voice was soon being heard by a worldwide audience.

Most of Stair's broadcasts were of his preaching, often pre-recorded. At other times he would take live phone calls on the air or play tapes of his worship services. Also frequently aired were tapes of Alexander Scourby 's recitation of the King James Version of the Bible. Tapes would often switch abruptly and many of the recordings were of poor audio quality.

His explosive temper and lack of broadcasting polish and technique earned him many sarcastic fans who disagreed with his teachings but found him fascinating and occasionally tried to call up and provoke him.

As his purchases of radio airtime increased, Stair brokered a deal with pirate radio activist Allan Weiner to broadcast from a ship Weiner owned, the MV Fury. (Again Stair interpreted the ship's name as a prophetic allusion to the wrath of God.) With Stair fronting the cash and Weiner providing the technical expertise, the ship was to be docked in international waters off the South Carolina coast. Before the ship could leave Charleston Harbor, the FCC raided it and confiscated the broadcasting equipment. The FCC claimed that they had monitored test transmissions coming from some of Weiner's friends aboard the ship, which Weiner and Stair both denied. Weiner would later own licensed shortwave station WBCQ in Monticello, Maine and would sell airtime to Stair on the station.

Undaunted, Stair continued purchasing larger blocks of shortwave airtime to air his preaching including the entire schedule of some transmitters. In contrast to his increasing (some would say ubiquitous) presense on the late-night and shortwave radio dials, Stair and his organization became more and more secretive in dealing with the outside world.

Among the revelations about life with Stair that would later emerge; Stair never applied for building permits for many of the additions constructed on the Walterboro commune. When several of the members died, Stair would never notify the local authorities. The deceased were simply buried on the property. Despite the secrecy and reclusion, many outside of the commune were becoming very suspicious as reports of sordid behavior by Stair were escaping his tightly controlled universe.

Stair Arrested

On May 16, 2002, Stair was placed under arrest and charged with sexual misconduct towards several underage members of his commune. Among the allegations that emerged from Stair's arrest and criminal trial:

• Stair provided herbs that caused miscarriages and stillbirths to several women he had impregnated, including some that were underage.

• Stair had obtained a large collection of pornography over an Internet connection that only he was allowed to use

• Married couples were forbidden from having sex unless approved by Stair

Criminal charges against Stair were ultimately dropped, but Stair also faces civil charges in the matter. His following and ability to purchase airtime have decreased following the embarrassing allegations. Acknowledging some of his failings, while denying others, Stair has pleaded for forgiveness on his show, but most of his religious beliefs have remained unchanged.

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Miscellaneous

The rock group Live (who, like Stair, is originally from Eastern Pennsylvania) included two brief soundbytes of Stair in their 1994 song "White, Discussion".

External Links

Stair's website

Testimonies of former followers, now critical of Stair

A collection of news articles about Stair's criminal trial