Lloyd Thomas Squires, Jr.

Lloyd T. Squires, Jr., was born at the US Naval Hospital in Green Cove Springs, Florida, on August 24, 1949. He was the second of three children, all born just a year apart. His mother was only nineteen, and his father, Lloyd Sr., was a sailor who had joined the US Navy to avoid legal repercussions. While his father was away at sea, his mother abandoned the family.

Thankfully, Squires and his two sisters were rescued by their grandparents and spent several happy years in St. Louis, Missouri. Then their father remarried and relocated the family to Virginia, where two younger brothers were born. When Lloyd Sr.’s naval career ended, the family returned to St. Louis. Lloyd Squires was twelve years old.

The following years were marked by neglect, rejection, and abuse. After graduating high school in 1967, Squires tried to escape the pain of his upbringing by enlisting in the Navy. Instead, he found himself trapped in a cycle of turmoil. He worked hard to earn promotions, only to rebel and lose them again. One superior summarized him as “a good sailor, but a lousy person.”

By 1969, Squires was ready to end it all. As he climbed over the ship’s rail, he thought of his grandfather’s suicide and his father’s suicide attempts and wondered whether his life mattered to anyone. As he clung to a ladder, trying to find the courage to jump, he heard a voice call from the darkness, “I love you, my son. I always will.” For the first time, Squires heard the words of love and acceptance for which he longed.

After completing military service, Squires briefly moved to Florida before returning to St. Louis in 1971. His father, now changed in many ways, tried to help him rebuild his life. Squires enrolled in business school, earned a degree in computer programming and operations, and took a job with a clothing manufacturer. He also attended the high school graduation of an old friend named Karen. Their friendship quickly deepened and they married in 1973, wed by his Episcopalian priest in her Methodist church. In that combination of confusion and faith, Squires put away his alcoholism and began a real search for God’s purpose for his life.

That search took a dramatic turn when a close friend was introduced to Jesus by a coworker. The transformation was more convincing than any sermon. When the woman looked Squires in the eyes and said, “Lloyd, Jesus loves you,” he knew he found the answer. After months of Bible study, Squires received the Holy Ghost and was baptized in Jesus’ name on April 27, 1975, at Apostolic Faith Tabernacle in Jennings, Missouri, under Pastor Joseph Fiorino. Later that fall, Karen was also born again.

Hungry for God, Squires threw himself into bus ministry, children’s church, street services, and any opportunity to serve. Looking for direction, he enrolled at Gateway College of Evangelism. Still, he sensed traditional ministry was not where God intended to use him.

During a chapel service, God challenged Squires to “fast and pray to find your ministry,” so he went on a forty-day fast. On day thirty-nine, a neighbor unexpectedly handed Squires a grocery sack and he felt a whisper saying, “This is your ministry.” Inside was a hand-sewn clown suit the woman had made for her deceased husband. Surprised and initially confused, Squires accepted his calling. A new type of children’s ministry was born.

Birthday parties and community events provided income during the Bible school years, but more importantly, they gave Squires invaluable experience ministering to children from every background. Then at a children’s revival in Columbia, Missouri, the clown and preacher became one as Squires stepped behind the pulpit for the first time while wearing his clown suit. His ministry was forever changed. 

In 1981, God sent Lloyd and Karen Squires to Tupelo Children’s Mansion in Tupelo, Mississippi, where they became house parents for twelve boys. God expanded their home from two to four when they adopted Miguel in 1981 and Emily in 1984. In 1982, Squires became assistant pastor at Tupelo’s Abundant Life Tabernacle under Steve Drury.

Then one night, Squires experienced a vivid dream about the rapture of the church. He sensed God calling him into full-time evangelism. In 1988, the Squires family purchased a motor home and launched a new season of full-time ministry, booking their first event in Jena, Louisiana. For the next three decades, the King’s Clown took his gospel circus to children and families across North America. Beginning with camp meetings in Mississippi, summer camps became the cornerstone of the King’s Clown ministry, providing opportunities to mentor children’s ministers, build lifelong friendships, and watch generations of children receive the Holy Ghost. As word spread about this unconventional but effective ministry, invitations arrived from nearly every state and multiple nations, including Canada, Mexico, Bolivia, Liberia, Australia, and the Philippines.

For five decades, Lloyd Squires was one of the most unique and effective children’s ministers in the UPCI. As The King’s Clown, he combined music, storytelling, puppetry, heartfelt preaching, and slapstick silliness to create an unforgettable experience that led tens of thousands of children to the altar where God filled them with the Holy Ghost. Squires also found great joy in helping other children’s evangelists discover their calling and develop their ministry. 

Beyond the costumes and slapstick, Squires’ greatest legacy is the souls filled with the Holy Ghost, the ministers he mentored, and the countless lives forever changed through his obedience to God’s call. He faithfully demonstrated a servant’s heart, a burden for souls, and a lifelong commitment to building the kingdom of God one child at a time.