Is Saul also among the prophets?”

According to 1 Samuel, this inquiry was once a matter of public discussion in Israel (10:11–12; 19:24).

Saul was not known for righteous living. But after a couple of remarkable prophetic incidents, the Israelite people were abuzz about the king’s spiritual life.

During the mid-20th century, some Spirit-filled Christians in the U.S. asked a similar question: Is Elvis also among the Pentecostals?

In the summer of 1956, an Associated Press article appearing in newspapers across the nation described the sensuous music of Elvis Presley.

One paragraph in the middle of the article shocked Pentecostal readers: “Looking back over his life, Presley decided that he acquired his singing style along with his religion. He and his family belong to the First Assembly of God, a fundamentalist sect.”

Three years earlier, Assemblies of God General Superintendent Ralph Riggs had compiled a document outlining “holiness standards” for AG adherents. Riggs suggested church members should “entirely cease to attend places of worldly amusement” and abstain from “the movie show with its pictures of crime, lust, and wickedness [where] one is exposed to the devil’s direct propaganda.”

Those membership standards conflicted with what most churchgoers knew of Presley. Consequently, letters expressing concern and consternation poured into the national office.

“It is not very complimentary to our Assemblies as a body to have the likes of this circulating around in the newspapers,” one person wrote. “Some form of protest should be made to the boy’s local assembly.”

Another asked Riggs, “Is Elvis Presley a member of the Assembly of God church in Memphis and, if so, why?”

Riggs wrote James Hamill, pastor of First Assembly of God in Memphis, Tennessee. Hamill had also received numerous copies of the article from various parts of the country, along with letters from Pastor Thomas F. Zimmerman (who in 1959 succeeded Riggs as AG general superintendent) and Pentecostal Evangel Editor Robert C. Cunningham.

Hamill replied to Riggs’ inquiry, saying, “I am at a loss to understand the furor of such an exaggerated matter. Neither Elvis nor his parents belong to First Assembly of God, Memphis, nor have they ever been members.”

Growing up, Presley did ride an outreach bus to the church. He regularly attended Sunday School and youth meetings there, but he never sang in the church and apparently never joined the membership roster.

Presley also attended all-night gospel music events in the Memphis area, where he encountered such groups as the Blackwood Brothers, the Stamps Quartet, and the Statesmen Quartet.

The Statesmen’s bass singer, James “Big Chief” Wetherington, used dynamic choreography on stage. Elvis mimicked those moves when he began singing publicly — and many people sharply criticized him for it.

In his letter to Riggs, Hammill suggested Presley was conflating AG worship with the “gyrations and gymnastics” of some of the gospel quartets.

Despite this conflicted sense of yearning and estrangement, Presley always demonstrated an affinity for the
faith of his childhood.

Hamill spoke with Presley soon after the article came out. Presley expressed deep respect for the church and told the pastor he was proud to have been a part of it.

Relating this to Riggs, Hamill said, “It is very doubtful, in my opinion, that condemnation of Elvis and a statement denying that he is in any way identified with us will contribute anything to the cause of Christ.”

While concurring with Hamill’s assessment, Riggs said, “It does seem rather baffling that the name Elvis Presley seems so persistently linked with the Assemblies.”

Riggs added, however, “If God is dealing with this young man’s heart, we do trust and pray that the Holy Spirit will lead him into a knowledge of the truth.”

A number of Pentecostal magazines, including the Pentecostal Evangel, ran articles denouncing the music and lifestyle of Presley in the late 1950s. Yet it was in a Pentecostal congregation that a young Presley first experienced the raw power of exuberant singing, along with a number of musical instruments other church traditions shunned.

There is much evidence Presley’s church upbringing influenced his style and career decisions. In his private life, he often preferred gospel music to other genres. He chose gospel groups as his backup singers, including the Jordanaires, Imperials, Stamps Quartet, and Sweet Inspirations.

When Presley recorded “He Touched Me” in 1971, he introduced new audiences to the Southern gospel music of Bill Gaither. At nearly every concert Presley performed, he sang the Christian hymn “How Great Thou Art.” In fact, the only Grammy Awards Presley ever received were for his three gospel albums.

Even though he did not regularly attend services as an adult, Presley seemed to consider First Assembly of God in Memphis his church home. He called on Hamill to conduct his mother’s funeral. And Presley occasionally stopped by to see the pastor when he felt a need for spiritual guidance.

Sometime in the mid-1960s, Presley confessed to Hamill he was not living as he should and wondered what his efforts on stage might accomplish if he put them to work for the Lord.

Despite this conflicted sense of yearning and estrangement, Presley always demonstrated an affinity for the faith of his childhood. Before his death at 42, he had started reading the Bible and Christian literature regularly. He also developed an interest in the Self-Realization Fellowship movement, which combined elements of Hinduism and Christianity through meditation, lectures and music.

Upon his death, the book discovered next to Presley’s body was The Scientific Search for the Face of Jesus by Frank O. Adams, an examination of the shroud of Turin as evidence of Christ’s resurrection.

Measuring the religious commitment of another person is always a complicated matter. Presley was a lifelong spiritual seeker who, despite his early upbringing in the Assemblies of God, could not seem to find a place of full commitment.

Entertainers such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Little Richard, and Marvin Gaye were likewise associated with Pentecostal churches while dealing with the temptations of celebrity.

Just as Israel had to process the confusion of Saul embracing religious ritual but sidestepping obedience to God in the details of life, Pentecostals have historically grappled with those who claim some Christian identity but don’t seem to live it.

Testimonies of many who knew him indicate Presley struggled his entire life to connect the world he respected at Memphis First Assembly of God and the one he built down the road at Graceland on Elvis Presley Boulevard.

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” Presley did not reach old age. However, evidence suggests that while he strayed from the path of Pentecostal Christianity, Presley never quite departed from a longing for spiritual truth.

This article appears in the Fall 2023 issue of Influence magazine.