Larry Hill

Larry Hill was born on October 4, 1944, to G.H. and Mamie Hill in Beauty Hill, McNairy County, Tennessee. He attended schools in Orlando, Florida, Nettleton, Mississippi, and graduated from Pentecostal Bible Institute in 1962. He received the Holy Ghost at age 9, at the first Mississippi Youth Camp. Larry was the third son in the G.H. Hill Family. Bobby, the oldest brother, died in 1990, as the result of an auto accident. Big brother, Coy, and his wife, Margie, live in Amory, Mississippi, where they pastored for many years. Sister, Debbie, and her husband, Larry Davis, live in the hometown of Nettleton, where they have pastored for many years.

Larry felt the call to preach when just a child, but living in a pastor’s home, he tried to get away from the ministry by planning to go into the medical field or become an attorney. But, the call of God never left, and he preached his first sermon, in 1959, at the Mississippi Youth Camp in Tupelo.

Larry and Bonnie Hackworth Hill married June 23, 1962, after graduating from Bible School. They were blessed with two children, Cindy and Larry II. While in Bible School, and after Larry and Bonnie married in 1962, he worked as assistant manager at J.C. Penney in Tupelo when he resigned to go into the ministry full-time. Larry and Bonnie evangelized, and they were involved in gospel music, recording several albums during that time. Many people remember Larry for his guitar playing, as he played on many recordings, camp meetings, etc. His wife, Bonnie, blessed his ministry through singing, writing songs, and directing the Mississippi Youth Camp as well as Camp Meeting choirs and the choir at her home church in Albion, Michigan.

The Larry Hills assisted his Father, Brother George Hill, at Nettleton Pentecostal Church before pastoring in Amory, Philadelphia, Meridian, Booneville, and Tupelo, Mississippi. Larry retired from full-time pastoring in Tupelo, Mississippi, in January of 2017, (completing 52 years of pastoring). He now serves the congregation as Bishop, serving with Pastor Jay Carney.

Larry received Ministerial Licenses with the United Pentecostal Church International, in 1963; he served as Section 2 Youth Director, District Youth Secretary, and District Youth President. He served on the Mississippi District Board for Section 7 and Section 1. He produced two Sheaves for Christ (SFC) recordings to raise money for SFC, which is a financial arm of the UPC Youth Department. He has served as Counselor on numerous judicial cases in the UPC. While Youth President, he served on the National Youth Redemption Center Board of Directors. He has kept a highly active life, also serving on New Beginnings Board of Directors. Larry was appointed by Governor Bill Allain to serve on the Yellow Creek Inland Port Authority Board in Iuka, Mississippi.

While in Booneville, he was appointed by the City to serve on the Booneville City School Board as Chairman of Booneville City Schools. In 1976, Larry became a part of Eagle Radio Group and brought gospel music, 24 hours a day, to North Mississippi, West Alabama, and Southern Tennessee. Larry has been the on-air host on the Saturday Morning Gospel Singing Convention since 1976, and continued this 5-hour program in 2020. He is still called upon for weddings and has preached countless funerals. He enjoys traveling and preaching on weekends, when not at the Tupelo church. He is also an avid hunter and fisherman.

Currently, Larry and his wife, Bonnie, live in their home on the Tenn-Tom Waterway, near Fulton, Mississippi. Larry gives God all the glory for his protection and healing power, especially after an auto accident in 1955, which took the life of his first cousin; then a motorcycle accident in 2013, he miraculously survived and a near fatal blood clot on the brain, that resulted in a stroke, in 2017. God miraculously healed him, and he had no rehab or effects from it, at all. “So, I owe my life to Jesus Christ and the church, He purchased with His own blood”, says Larry. If anyone wonders why I still preach and work so hard at age 76, I owe a debt I could not pay, that Jesus Christ paid for me.