Evangelist Oral Roberts Memorial Service:Tributes to Oral Roberts

by Sudha Krishna | December 21, 2009 at 02:26 pm

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Christian evangelist Oral Roberts' Memorial Service was held Monday before thousands of people at an auditorium on the campus named after him, Oral Roberts University.

"You sent us a man who we know and loved and who walked with God and never gave up the common touch," fellow evangelist Pat Robertson said during the ceremony's opening prayer. "I know you broke the mold with Oral," writes the Associated Press.

Oral Roberts was a pioneering evangelist who, along with preachers like Billy Graham, recognized early the power of television to spread the Christian faith. Television segments often showed Roberts display the "power of faith healing."

Oral Roberts' unique brand of Pentecostalism played well on television and among the audiences and appealed to the faithful he serviced. Ultimately, that popularity translated in a multi-million dollar ministry and the founding of the Oral Roberts University in 1963.

The website from Oral Roberts University had this following quote:

Oral Roberts University President Mark Rutland informed the school’s population of the news by describing Roberts as “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.”

The Oklahoma born Oral Roberts died of complications relating to pneumonia in California. He was 91.