Dudley Rutherford is the senior pastor of Shepherd Church in Porter Ranch, Los Angeles, California.
He earned a Bachelor's degree in Church Growth from the Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri.
He went on to the Pacific Christian College (now called Hope International University) in Fullerton, California where he earned his Master's degree.
Rutherford attributed the increase to a feeling of despair brought about by the economic downturn, and a need to focus on spiritual needs rather than pursuit of the dollar.
[7] Rutherford was a prominent proponent for California Proposition 8 and has claimed, for instance, that legalizing gay marriage would ultimately lead to "it being illegal to read some sections of the Bible" and that "the polygamists would be next.