Oral Roberts
Charismatic televangelist who pioneered prosperity gospel and televangelism.
Granville Oral Roberts was born on January 24, 1918, in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, the youngest of five children. His father, Ellis Melvin Roberts, and mother, Claudius Priscilla Roberts, raised him in poverty. He later claimed Cherokee and Choctaw ancestry. At 17, he nearly died from tuberculosis. After high school, he attended Oklahoma Baptist University and Phillips University for two years each. In 1938, he married Evelyn Lutman Fahnestock, a preacher’s daughter.
Roberts left college without a degree and became a traveling faith healer. By 1972, a *TIME* profile noted he had made his name with a large mobile tent seating 3,000 on metal chairs. He was ordained in the International Pentecostal Holiness Church in 1936. In 1945, he resigned a pastorate in Shawnee, Oklahoma, to hold revivals, briefly accepting a small church in Toccoa, Georgia, before returning to Shawnee after the Georgia conference objected to an outside minister. During that short stay, his five-year-old daughter Rebecca met her future husband, Marshall, and Roberts experienced two healings he later called his first sign of approaching “my hour.”
Until 1947, Roberts struggled as a part-time preacher. At 29, he said his Bible opened to 3 John 2—“I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health”—and the next day he bought a Buick, claiming God appeared and directed him to heal the sick. He resigned his pastoral ministry to found the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association (OREA). He conducted evangelistic and faith healing drives across the U.S. and worldwide, claiming he could raise the dead. In November 1947, he launched *Healing Waters* magazine to promote his meetings. Thousands of sick people lined up for his prayers. Over his career, he held more than 300 crusades on six continents and personally prayed for over 2 million people.
In January 1955, Roberts held a “salvation and healing” campaign in Johannesburg, South Africa, during apartheid. The *Sunday Express* criticized the hysteria and traffic jams of 20,000 people at Wembley stadium, while other papers reported healings and 25,000 saved. He left a residual fund of $37,000 for a “100,000 Souls for Africa Campaign,” hoping to save 100,000 that year. The all-white campaign committee—including leaders of the Apostolic Faith Mission and Assemblies of God—planned to use the fund for revivals targeting both Afrikaners and Black Africans. They sponsored American evangelist Emanuele Cannistraci, whose revivals in Johannesburg and Durban included claims of healing two deaf and dumb brothers, later published in Roberts’ magazine.
Roberts ran direct-mail seed-faith campaigns that appealed to poor Americans, often from ethnic minorities. At its peak in the early 1980s, his organization generated $120 million a year and employed 2,300 people, including a university, medical school, and hospital. He transferred to the United Methodist Church in 1968, a controversial move that ended in 1987 when his credentials were revoked. He is considered a forerunner of the Charismatic movement and, at his height, one of the most recognized U.S. preachers. His ministries reached millions over six decades, pioneering televangelism and laying foundations for prosperity gospel and abundant life teachings. His funding appeals and broad ministry style made him a consistent subject of debate.
- born
- January 24, 1918, Pontotoc County, Oklahoma
- died
- December 15, 2009
- field
- Televangelism, faith healing, prosperity gospel
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- Pioneering televangelism, seed-faith teaching, founding Oral Roberts University
Verified Timeline
Quick Facts
- Honorific-Prefix
- The Reverend-->
- Birth Name
- Granville Oral Roberts
- Birth Date
- 1918-01-24
- Birth Place
- Ada, Oklahoma, U.S.
- Death Date
- 2009-12-15
- Death Place
- Newport Beach, California, U.S.
- Church
- Pentecostal (Pentecostal Holiness Church) 1936-1968, / Methodist (United Methodist Church) 1968-1987, · Charismatic 1987 onwards
- Occupation
- Evangelist
- Years Active
- 1947–1993
- Offices Held
- Founder and President, Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association; / Co-founder, President, and Chancellor, Oral Roberts University
- Spouse
- Evelyn Lutman · 1938 · 2005 · reason=her death
- Children
- 4, including Richard Roberts
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Roberts was born on January 24, 1918, in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, the fifth and youngest child of Reverend Ellis Melvin Roberts and Claudius Priscilla Roberts. He began life in poverty and nearly died of tuberculosis when he was 17. After finishing high school, Roberts studied for two years each at Oklahoma Baptist University and Phillips University. In 1938, he married a preacher's daughter, Evelyn Lutman Fahnestock. Roberts became a traveling faith healer after ending his college studies without a degree. According to a TIME Magazine profile of 1972, Roberts originally made a name for himself with a large mobile tent "that sat 3,000 on metal folding chairs."
In 1945, Roberts resigned from his pastorate in Shawnee, Oklahoma, to hold revivals. In late summer 1945, while preaching in a North Carolina camp meeting, he was asked by Robert E. "Daddy" Lee of Toccoa, Georgia, to consider becoming pastor of his small, eighty-member church. Roberts accepted, but by the end of the year had resigned and moved back to Shawnee. Until 1947, Roberts struggled as a part-time preacher in Oklahoma, but when he was 29, he said he picked up his Bible and it fell open at the Third Epistle of John, where he read verse 2: "I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." The next day, he said, he bought a Buick and God appeared, directing him to heal the sick. Roberts resigned his pastoral ministry with the Pentecostal Holiness Church to found Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association (OREA). In November 1947, he started Healing Waters, a monthly magazine. He conducted more than 300 "crusades" on six continents, and personally laid hands in prayer on more than 2 million people. In January 1955, Roberts held a "salvation and healing" campaign in Johannesburg, South Africa, during apartheid. He was bitterly assailed by the Sunday Express for the hysteria and traffic jams of 20,000 people that packed big Wembley stadium. Other newspapers reported on the healings and 25,000 people saved. In 1963, he founded Oral Roberts University (ORU) in Tulsa, Oklahoma, stating he was obeying a command from God. The Prayer Tower opened in 1967. Roberts began broadcasting by radio in 1947, and began broadcasting his revivals by television in 1954. His television ministry continued with The Abundant Life program reaching 80% of the United States by 1957, and quarterly Prime Time Specials from 1969 through 1980. On March 17, 1968, Roberts and his wife were received as members of the Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1977, Roberts claimed to have had a vision from a 900-foot-tall Jesus who told him to build City of Faith Medical and Research Center, which opened in 1981.
Reader's Guide
Oral Roberts was one of the most well-known and controversial American religious leaders of the 20th century. His preaching emphasized seed-faith. His ministries reached millions of followers worldwide spanning a period of over six decades. His healing ministry and his bringing American Charismatic movement into the mainstream had the most impact, but he also pioneered televangelism, and laid the foundations of the prosperity gospel and abundant life teachings. The breadth and style of his ministry, including his widely publicized funding appeals, made him a consistent subject of contention among critics and supporters. According to one commentator, his ministry's influence in conservative Protestant culture was second only to that of Billy Graham. His divine healing ministry called for prayer to heal the whole person—body, mind and spirit. Many labeled him a faith healer, but he rejected this with the comment: "God heals—I don't." He played a major role in bringing American Pentecostal Christianity into the mainstream. Even though Roberts was often associated with the prosperity gospel and the faith movement because of his close doctrinal and personal ties with Word-Faith teachers, his abundant life teachings did not fully identify him with that movement. His fundraising was controversial. In January 1987, during a fundraising drive, Roberts announced to a television audience that unless he raised $8 million by that March, God would "call him home." Late in March 1987, while Roberts was fasting and praying in the Prayer Tower, Florida, dog track owner J...
Did You Know?
- Roberts nearly died of tuberculosis when he was 17.
- He claimed his mother was of Cherokee descent and also claimed Choctaw heritage.
- In 1947, Roberts said he picked up his Bible and it fell open at 3 John 2, leading him to buy a Buick and begin healing the sick.
- In January 1955, Roberts held a campaign in Johannesburg, South Africa, during apartheid, with 20,000 people packing Wembley stadium.
- In 1977, Roberts claimed a vision of a 900-foot-tall Jesus who told him to build the City of Faith Medical and Research Center.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Oral Roberts?
Granville Oral Roberts was an American televangelist born in 1918 in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, who became one of the most widely recognized preachers in the United States during his lifetime. He is broadly credited as a pioneer who helped launch the Charismatic movement and brought faith-based preaching into American living rooms through early television broadcasting.
What theology is Oral Roberts most associated with?
Roberts is best known as an early proponent of Prosperity Gospel Theology, particularly his 'seed-faith' teaching that encouraged believers to give financially with the expectation of spiritual and material return. This framework became a defining element of his ministry and influenced countless later televangelists.
What institutions did Oral Roberts found?
He established the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association to manage his preaching and outreach work, and he also founded Oral Roberts University as a higher-education institution rooted in his faith-based mission. These organizations served as the structural backbone of his decades-long ministry.
How did Oral Roberts's story end?
Roberts passed away on December 15, 2009, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the age of 91, closing out a preaching career that spanned roughly six decades. His legacy continued through the university and association he had built, which carried on his educational and evangelistic work after his death.
Why is Oral Roberts considered important in Protestant history?
As one of the first major figures to combine television broadcasting with faith-healing revivals and prosperity-gospel messaging, Roberts essentially created a template that later megachurch pastors and media evangelists followed. His ability to reach millions across the globe made him a defining voice in mid-to-late twentieth-century American Christianity.
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