Memories
He was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Oral Roberts was not only my earthly father; he was also my spiritual father and mentor. He was the greatest man of God I’ve ever known. An innovator and a modern-day apostle of the healing ministry, he was one of the first men of his generation to build a worldwide ministry, an accredited university, and a medical and research center. He had a passion to bring healing to the sick. He came along when many in Christendom did not believe in God’s power and goodness, yet his name became synonymous with miracles.
The Bible teaches that when a Christian dies, he or she is instantly transferred into the presence of God. My father has run his race and finished his course. Now he is in heaven, and we as Christians have the Bible promise that someday we will be reunited. My heart is sad, but my faith in God is soaring, knowing that the man I so dearly loved is now with Jesus.
Richard Roberts (Oral’s son)
What Leaders Are Saying
About Oral Roberts
Billy Graham, founder, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association:
“Oral Roberts was a man of God, and a great friend in ministry. I loved him as a brother. We had many quiet conversations over the years. I invited Oral to speak at one of our early international conferences on evangelism held in Berlin in the 1960s…
“Just three weeks ago, I was privileged to talk to Oral over the telephone. During the short conversation, he said to me that he was near the end of his life’s journey. I look forward to the day that I will see Oral and Evelyn Roberts again in Heaven, our eternal home.”
Source: BGEA website
Franklin Graham, president, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association:
“Oral Roberts was loved and admired by millions of people around the world. I always appreciated the times when he went out of his way to befriend me. He invited me to speak at Oral Roberts University when I was just starting my ministry and was an encouragement to me.
“I thank God for his friendship and godly example and his faithfulness in ministry. He will be greatly missed. Our love and condolences go to Richard and Roberta and their families.”
Source: BGEA website
Pat Robertson, founder, Christian Broadcasting Network:
“I am grieved at the passing of my dear friend, Oral Roberts. He was a pioneer in healing evangelism and in Christian education. He inspired a generation of young people to follow his lead in the charismatic ministry. We were friends for over 50 years, and I will miss him. My sympathies to those children who survive him.”
Source: Tulsa World website
Jack Hayford, founder, The King’s College and Seminary:
“If God had not in his sovereign will raised up the ministry of Oral Roberts, the entire charismatic movement might not have occurred. Oral shook the landscape with the inescapable reality and practicality of Jesus’ whole ministry. His teaching and concepts were foundational to the renewal that swept through the whole church.”
Source: CNN website
Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry:
“Oklahoma and the nation have lost a truly remarkable man of God. The influence and impact of Oral Roberts and his ministry are beyond measure. His faith, compassion and charity have left a legacy that will be felt for generations to come. Our thoughts and prayers are with Rev. Roberts’ family and loved ones during this difficult time.”
Source: Tulsa World website
Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett:
“I am saddened by the passing of Oral Roberts, and my prayers are with his family. Reverend Roberts was an important force in Tulsa for many decades. He was a trendsetter in business, education and religion… So many of our fellow Tulsans owe their success to the education they received at ORU. His spirit and legacy will live on in the hearts and minds of local citizenry.”
Source: Fox23 News website
Sen. Jim Inhofe, U.S. Senate:
“I first remember personally meeting Oral Roberts when my father’s company purchased a 3-story building from Roberts in 1965. Since that first meeting, my family and I have had a close relationship with Oral and his family. Oral Roberts put Tulsa on the map… I can remember from my time in the Army, whenever anyone heard I was from Tulsa they immediately recognized the city as the place where Oral Roberts was from. Oral dedicated his life to ministry. He has meant so much not just to Oklahomans, but to many across this nation and world. He will be sorely missed and my thoughts and prayers are with his family.”
Source: Fox23 News website
Rep. John Sullivan, U.S. House of Representatives:
“I am personally saddened by the death of Oral Roberts… While [his] leadership, wisdom, and faith in God will be missed, they will live on every day in the hearts and minds of countless ORU students, alumni and so many other Oklahomans… May God bless Oral Roberts, his family, and the generations he has touched.”
Source: Fox23 News website
Oklahoma State Rep. Dan Boren:
“Oral Roberts walked a path in the footsteps of Christ and brought an untold number of souls to His teachings. Through Oral’s ministry, those who were starving, ill, or homeless were given hope for a brighter future during their most vulnerable moments.”
Source: Tulsa World website
Oklahoma State Sen. Dan Newberry:
”Today the world mourns the passing of a great man, a great leader and a great mentor, who leaves behind an indelible legacy of ministry and service. His impact stretched beyond the boundaries of our state to every corner of the world. Age never diminished his passion for the Gospel. He finished [his] race with zeal, and in a manner befitting a man of his tremendous character and unwavering faith.”
Source: Fox23 News website
Mark Rutland, ORU President:
“Chancellor Roberts was one of the brilliant spiritual lights of the 20th century and a giant of the Christian faith. At the core of his legacy is a great university that bears his name. Like millions worldwide, I am mourning his passing and am grateful for his visionary life and contributions.”
Source: ORU website
Previous Quotes from Leaders
Congratulations, Oral, on your fifty years of ministry! It has been our privilege to know you and love you for many of those years.
I am amazed at the progress and growth of Oral Roberts University. You were kind enough o invite me to dedicate ORU in 1967 when you had approximately 20,000 in attendance there in Tulsa. The words that I spoke that day still ring in my heart: “If Oral Roberts University ever goes away from faith in the Bible and faith in God and putting God first, then let us this day pronounce a curse on it. This institution was built by the prayers, the dedication, and the money of men and women who love God, who believe in the Gospel, and who believe the Bible is the Word of God. Its founder, Oral Roberts, is an evangelist, first and always, of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
May God continue to bless you and your son, Richard, and all those who preach and teach the Gospel and prepare young people for life and ministry. I say again, Congratulations!
Billy Graham
Dear Oral,
When I read your autobiography recently, it brought back a flood of memories of the wonderful way that our Lord has used you over the years.
He has lifted you in an extraordinary way to be the spokesman to our generation on behalf of the miraculous healing power of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He used you to be a major voice in the formulation of the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship.
He used you to raise up a great educational institution whose graduates will be a living legacy of your ministry long after you and I have gone to be with the Lord.
He used you to encourage younger ministers like me and thousands of others who were called of God to serve Him during the fifties and sixties. And only the Lord and His angels know how many millions of people will be standing before the throne of God because of your crusades, your television programs, your overseas missions work, and the books and articles which have poured out from a great heart and a great vision.
I know when you stand before our Lord, there is no question that His words will be, “Well done , thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joys of thy Lord.”
Congratulations, my brother! Even after fifty years I know there is much more anointed service ahead of you.
With my love to you and Evelyn, I am your friend,
Pat Robertson
I will never forget the first time I met Brother Roberts. It was 1958, in Rapid City, South Dakota. Television was in its infancy, and the local TV station where I worked, NBC affiliate, KRSD TV-7, had only been broadcasting a short time. I was the host of the first local news program produced in Rapid City.
One day we received word that Oral Roberts was going to be in town for his annual evangelistic crusade to the Native Americans living in the area. This was really “big time” news for Rapid City. Brother Roberts was the most prominent healing evangelist of the day. I invited him to be our guest on my live newscast, and to my absolute delight, he accepted.
Looking back, I guess it could be said that the very first Praise the Lord program took place that night – fifteen years before Jan and I ever dreamed of TBN! Little did I realize that Brother Roberts’ path and mine would cross again twenty-five years later and that we would have many real Praise the Lord programs together.
The modern-day body of Christ has reaped a rich heritage from the life and ministry of Oral Roberts. He has taught us about healing, faith, and the bigness and dependability of God in all circumstances. And Brother Roberts has lived what he preaches! From humble beginnings in Oklahoma to a ministry that now reaches the world, Brother Roberts has lived his life as a servant in simple obedience to the voice of God, and the results have been absolutely glorious!
Jan and I, along with the entire TBN family, salute Oral Roberts as he celebrates fifty years of ministry. We pray that God will bless and continue to use him in even greater ways to reach a new generation of believers with the message of God’s love and faithfulness.
Paul and Jan Crouch
I became a Partner with Oral Roberts because I felt I was sowing seed into some of the most fertile soil in the nation. The University is a tremendous school that God is using to mold quality Christian men and women for His service in the church and business world today. I am very sincere when I say that each time I go to Tulsa and see the legacy Oral Roberts has left the world, I shake my head in amazement at what God can accomplish through a willing and submitted vessel.
I also became a Partner with Oral Roberts’ ministry because I feel very strongly about the call on Richard Roberts because I am continually amazed at the long-term impact his life and ministry has had on the world. As I sow faithfully, I expect to reap from his years of experience and from his anointing. Oral’s contribution to Christianity and the church stands in a category of its own. Very few have accomplished in their lifetime what Oral has.
I had occasion to be taken through the archives at Oral Roberts University, and I was deeply touched by the legacy of books, tapes, and television footage that represent decades of faithful service and hard work. Aisle after aisle and shelf upon shelf are packed with recorded sermons and wisdom from a great man of God. I count it a privilege to be Oral Roberts’ Partner!
Joyce Meyer
My mother first heard Oral Roberts on television when I was only nineteen years old. At that time she had a tumor in her breast. She heard Oral’s message of faith, put her hand on the television set as a point of contact, and was healed! Mother became Oral’s Partner and went to his meetings whenever he came to Denver. She gave from her grocery money to support his ministry.
When Oral built ORU, some of the key people from our church went to help him, and every year we had young people from our church and our high school who decided to attend ORU.
Some years ago, I, too, became a Partner with Oral. I felt the seed my mother sowed was coming up in me, and I intended to continue my partnership. Now, my daughter, Sarah, and her husband Reece, are Partners with Oral. I think of that as kind of a third generation blessing!
Of all the large ministries, I believe Oral Roberts’ ministry has had the greatest impact on our family. He had been a visionary – even a “battering ram” for the body of Christ – to take us where God is leading. It has been a privilege to be on the ORU Board of Regents and to serve as chairman and literally see and feel the vision that burns within Oral Roberts’ heart.
My husband, Wally, and I are involved with Oral’s International Charismatic Bible Ministries and participate every year. I believe ORU is on the cutting edge of what God is doing in the world. Wherever I travel – to whatever country – I always find graduates from ORU. And personally believe that the healing and miracle anointing which is on my ministry has come, in large part, from being around and being a Partner with Oral Roberts!
Marilyn Hickey
Dr. Oral Roberts is a man of God whom I look to as one of God’s statesmen in this generation. His ministry has touched the world, and he has charted the course in the area of the miraculous. He is a wonderful example of what can be accomplished for the work of the Lord when a life is surrendered to the Master.
Dr. Roberts has sowed great wealth into my spiritual life, and I have been blessed by his words of wisdom and years of experience. He is a man of faith and vision whose life proclaims that nothing is impossible when you put your trust in God. This is evidenced by fifty years of successful ministry.
Dr. Oral Roberts is my dear friend, and I love him dearly. I count it a great privilege to know him and his lovely wife, Evelyn.
Benny Hinn
Dear Oral and Evelyn,
Gloria and I want to express our congratulations to you on your fiftieth year of ministry – fifty years of one divinely inspired purpose – to meet the needs of people through teaching the Word of God, preaching the Name of Jesus, and taking the message of His healing power to an entire generation.
Over the last fifty years, God, through you Oral Roberts, has changed the spiritual complexion of first the United States and then the rest of the world concerning divine healing, seedtime and harvest, giving and receiving, and many other heavenly truths that have made the church of Jesus Christ in the earth the powerful, overcoming, body it is today.
Thirty years ago the ministry God gave Gloria and me was born through your ministry, Brother Roberts. According to I Corinthians 4:15, we look up to you and Evelyn as our spiritual parents. In all these thirty years of knowing you, we have never once been disappointed. You have never failed to inspire and encourage us on to victory, giving Jesus all the glory.
God bless you both. You will surely be here and going strong when Jesus comes. We Love you and pray for you every day. Jesus is Lord!
Kenneth and Gloria Copeland
It was 1948 in Houston, Texas, and I was sitting under a 5,000-seat tent, with thousands more standing packed around the tent, trying to catch a glimpse of Oral Roberts, and the mighty healing ministry that was touching the heart of America.
Many had been sitting in their seats for hours, anticipating the service. Some people hired others to sit in a seat on the front row all day, reserving it for them so they could see the signs and wonders of God personally.
Finally, Oral Roberts was introduced, and the audience became electrified, anticipating the miracles of God. They were not disappointed. Night after night under the big tent mighty miracles of God’s power were visible for all to see.
The life and ministry of Oral Roberts are now legendary in Christianity. Out of the tried and common clay of Bebee, Oklahoma, God called an apostle whose message was pure and whose ministry shook America and the world.
Blessings to Oral and Evelyn Roberts on this, the fiftieth anniversary of a ministry born in heaven that shall bless the earth for generations to come!