Joyce Meyer (born Pauline Joyce Hutchison;June 4, 1943) is a Charismatic Christian author and speaker andpresident of Joyce Meyer Ministries. She and her husband Dave havefour grown children, and live outside St. Louis, Missouri. Herministry is headquartered near the St. Louis suburb of Fenton,Missouri.
She was born Pauline Joyce Hutchison in south St. Louis in 1943.Her father went into the army to fight in World War II soon aftershe was born. She has said in interviews that he began sexuallyabusing her upon his return, and discusses this experience in hermeetings.
She maintains that her husband frequently cheated on her andpersuaded her to steal payroll checks from her employer. They usedthe money to go on a vacation to California. She states that shereturned the money years later. After her divorce, Meyer frequentedlocal bars before meeting Dave Meyer, an engineering draftsman.They were married on January 7, 1967.
Meyer also reports that she was praying intensely while driving towork one morning in 1976 when she said she heard God call her name.She had been born-again at age nine, but her unhappiness drove herdeeper into her faith. She says that she came home later that dayfrom a beauty appointment "full of liquid love" and was "drunk withthe Spirit of God" that night while at the local bowlingalley.