Granville Oral Roberts (born January 24, 1918, in Tulsa, OK) is an American neo-Pentecostal televangelist. He is also a leader in the charismatic movement and a former faith healer.

Early life

Roberts was born in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, as Granville Oral Roberts, the fifth and youngest child of the Rev. Ellis Melvin Roberts and Claudia Priscilla Irwin.<ref>http://www.wargs.com/other/robertso.html</ref> His mother was one-quarter Cherokee.

He left high school and his further education consists of about two years of college study at Oklahoma Baptist University and Phillips University. In 1938, he married a preacher's daughter, Evelyn Lutman Fahnestock.<ref>http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10919187</ref> Their marriage lasted 66 years until her death on May 4, 2005. During their life together, they expanded his ministry from preaching in tents to preaching on the radio. Roberts became one of the forerunners on television and attracted a vast viewership. Furthermore, he has written several books, such as Miracle of Seed-Faith and three autobiographies:, Expect a Miracle, Oral Roberts: Life Story, and The Call.

Roberts originally made a name for himself with a mobile big tent "that sat 3,000 on metal folding chairs" where "he shouted at petitioners who did not respond to his healing."<ref name="Time1972"> </ref> Roberts became a traveling faith healer after dropping out of college.<ref name="Time1972"/>

Ministry and university

In 1947, Roberts resigned his pastoral ministry with the Pentecostal Holiness Church to found Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association. He began conducting evangelistic and faith healing crusades, mainly in the U.S. and appeared as a guest speaker for hundreds of national and international meetings and conventions. In the healing line, thousands of sick people would wait to stand before Oral Roberts so he could pray for them and lay his right hand on their afflicted body. According to his autobiography, there were many people healed in this manner.



He founded Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1963, stating he was obeying a command from God. The university was chartered in 1963 and received its first students in 1965. Students were required to sign an honor code pledging not to drink, smoke, dance, party, or engage in premarital sex. Another part of the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association is the Abundant Life Prayer Group, which operates day and night.

In 1977 Roberts claimed to have a vision from a 900-foot-tall Jesus who told him to build City of Faith Medical and Research Center and the hospital would be a success.<ref>Ideas and Trends: Oral Roberts's Word on Cancer," "New York Times" Jan 30, 1983</ref><ref>"Oral Roberts' Ministry Hits a 'Low Spot'," "Dallas Morning News" Jan 5, 1986</ref>

In 1980, Roberts said he had a vision which encouraged him to continue the construction of his City of Faith Medical and Research Center, which opened in 1981. At the time, it was among the largest health facilities of its kind in the world and sought to merge prayer and medicine in the healing process. The City of Faith was in operation for only eight years before closing in late 1989. The Orthopedic Hospital of Oklahoma still operates on its premi