Oral Roberts dies at age 91
TULSA, OK
Roberts died of complications from pneumonia in Newport Beach,
Calif., according to his spokesman, A. Larry Ross. The evangelist
was hospitalized after a fall on Saturday. He had survived two
heart attacks in the 1990s and a broken hip in 2006.
Roberts was a pioneer who broadcast his spirit-filled revivals
on television, a new frontier for religion when he started in the
1950s. He was also a forerunner of the controversial "prosperity
gospel" that has come to dominate televangelism. The evangelist's
"Seed-Faith" theology held that those who give to God will get
things in return.
"If God had not, in His sovereign will, raised up the ministry
of Oral Roberts, the entire charismatic movement might not have
occurred," said Jack Hayford, president of the International
Church of the Foursquare Gospel, in a statement.
Roberts overcame tuberculosis at age 17, when his brother
carried him to a revival meeting where a healing evangelist was
praying for the sick. Roberts said he was healed of the illness and
of his youthful stuttering. He said that it was then that he heard
God tell him he should build a university based on the Lord's
authority and the Holy Spirit.
Roberts rose from humble tent revivals to become one of the
country's most famous preachers.
He gave up a local pastorate in Enid in 1947 to enter an
evangelistic ministry in Tulsa to pray for the healing of the whole
person -- the body, mind and spirit. The philosophy led many to call
him a "faith healer," a label he rejected with the comment: "God
heals -- I don't."
By the 1960s and '70s, he was reaching millions around the world
through radio, television, publications and personal appearances.
He remained on TV into the new century, co-hosting the program,
"Miracles Now," with son Richard. He published dozens of books
and conducted hundreds of crusades. A famous photograph showed him
working at a desk with a sign on it reading, "Make no little plans
here."
He credited his oratorical skills to his faith, saying, "I
become anointed with God's word, and the spirit of the Lord builds
up in me like a coiled spring. By the time I'm ready to go on, my
mind is razor-sharp. I know exactly what I'm going to say and I'm
feeling like a lion."
Unity of body, mind and spirit became the theme of Oral Roberts
University. The campus is a Tulsa landmark, with its space-age
buildings laden with gold paint, including a 200-foot prayer tower
and a 60-foot bronze statue of praying hands.
His ministry hit upon rocky times in the 1980s. There was
controversy over his City of Faith medical center, a $250 million
investment that eventually folded, and Roberts' widely ridiculed
proclamation that God would "call me home" if he failed to meet a
fundraising goal of $8 million. A law school he founded also was
shuttered.
Semiretired in recent years and living in California, he
returned to Tulsa, Okla., in October 2007 as scandal roiled Oral
Roberts University. His son, Richard Roberts, who succeeded him as
ORU president, faced allegations of spending university money on
shopping sprees and other luxuries at a time the institution was
more than $50 million in debt.
Richard Roberts resigned as president in November 2007, marking
the first time since Oral Roberts University was chartered in 1963
that a member of the Roberts family would not be at its helm. The
rocky period for the evangelical school was eased when billionaire
Oklahoma City businessman Mart Green donated $70 million and helped
run the school in the interim, pledging to restore the public's
trust. By the fall of 2009, things were looking up, with officials
saying tens of millions of dollars worth of debt had been paid off
and enrollment was up slightly.
That September, a frail-looking Oral Roberts attended the
ceremony when the school's new president, Mark Rutland, was
formally inaugurated.
"He was not only my earthly father; he was my spiritual father
and mentor," said son, Richard Roberts, in a statement.
The Rev. Billy Graham said in a statement that he spoke to Oral
Roberts three weeks ago by phone, and that Roberts told him his
"life's journey" was ending.
"Oral Roberts was a man of God, and a great friend in ministry.
I loved him as a brother," Graham said.