Ken “Hutch” Hutcherson, former NFL standout ,founder of Antioch Bible Church in Redmond, WA, and Blaze TV personality passed away Wednesday after battling prostate cancer for 13 years.
Antioch Bible Church wrote of their Senior Pastor:
Ken Hutcherson left an award-winning professional football career in 1977 due to a knee injury, and took with him a no-nonsense attitude and an intense drive to communicate the gospel. As a Dallas Cowboy, a San Diego Charger, and finally, a Seattle Seahawk, he pursued a life of athletic discipline. Translating this into the spiritual realm, “Hutch” applied himself vigorously to the study of the Bible under Howard Hendricks, Tim LaHaye, and Wilbur J. Antisdale, who instructed him as a part of Pro Athletes Outreach.
Hutcherson attended Cascade Bible College in Bellevue, Washington until 1979, adding post-graduate theological studies to his 1974 bachelors degree in Education from Alabama’s Livingston University (where he had also been an All-American football player from 1972 to1974).
Setting his sights on ministry, he served eight years as director of high school ministries at Westminster Chapel in Bellevue, Washington. In 1984, he founded Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland, Washington, along with Mark Webster and Dwight Englund. Hutcherson accepted the position of Senior Pastor in 1985 and was ordained in 1986. In 2002 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Western Baptist Theological Seminary, Portland, OR.
Throughout his career Ken Hutcherson has been a tremendously popular speaker – sharing his faith at churches, conferences, retreats, outreach programs, as a three-time special guest speaker on the Billy Graham Crusade team, and for PAO (Pro Athletes Outreach). The outspoken pastor combined football techniques and practical Biblical principles to 140 high school students at the Ken Hutcherson Football Camp annually. He had a passion for traditional, biblical marriage. One man, one woman, the way God intended marriage to be. He spearheaded a movement called “Mayday for Marriage”. There have been three such Rallies since March 2004. The first Rally was held on May 1st, 2004 in Seattle at Safeco field drawing 25,000 people. The next Rally was held in Washington DC on the National Mall, October 15th, 2004 with 250,000 people from all over the United States. The latest Rally was held March 8th, 2005 on the Capitol Grounds in Washington State with 10,000 in attendance.
As Antioch blossomed into a thriving multiracial worship center, “Hutch” honed his message about what God’s true intentions for the body of Christ were in relationship to the modern-day church. "The greatest need today in the church – which does not seem to be important in the average church – is the training of people in evangelism, discipleship and the responsibility they have for the church and responsibility they have for God," said Hutcherson. "So many of our churches today are afraid to stand on the disciplines of the Word of God."
Pastor Hutch’s published works include The Church: What We Are Meant to Be (now re-released as Here Comes the Bride) published March 1998, Before All Hell Breaks Loose published May 2001. Enough Faith publish 2006, and Hope is Contagious published 2009.
Pastor Hutch was an avid hunter who also enjoyed weight lifting, reading, automobile restoration, and Appaloosa (horse) and Rottweiler (dog) breeding and training.
Pastor Hutcherson is survived by his wife and four children in Redmond, Washington.
Hutcherson was born in Anniston, AL in July 14, 1952 to a single mother under the time of Jim Crow laws. He shared publicly numerous times about how he was impacted by racial prejudice and had carried a deep-seated anger toward white people. He had said he had been drawn to football because he “could hurt white people legally.” This was the subject of a moving testimony he shared for I Am Second.
Ken Hutcherson was truly a man transformed by Jesus who is now in the arms of his Savior.
