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The church has 22,000 active members, and Hyles reigns like a benevolent autocrat with a $4.5 million-a-year budget. His salary is a lean $11,000, and he says he plows his substantial book earnings (one of Hyles' 22 books, How To Rear Children, has already brought in over $80,000) back into the ministry. One recent Sunday morning he asked his rapt congregation: "When God decided to make the biggest church in the world, who did he choose to build it? He said, 'I think I'll use old Hyles. He's the crookedest stick I've got.' I'll tell you why I'm here−so people can say, 'He's not so hot, but God's a wonderful and mighty God.' " And why is newly baptized Chicago Typist May Lind there? "I can't explain it really. I guess it's the feeling of being wanted."
* Runners-up: Highland Park Baptist, Chattanooga (7,453); First Baptist, Dallas (6,703); Akron Baptist Temple (5,801); and Thomas Road Baptist. Lynchburg, Va. (5,566).