Roberts, Oral (1918-2009), was an American missionary and revivalist whose preaching made him known in many parts of the world. He gained fame largely through his preaching on radio and television.
Granville Oral Roberts was born on Jan. 24, 1918, near Ada, Oklahoma. He was a Methodist but attended the Pentecostal Holiness Church as a boy. He was ordained a Pentecostal Holiness minister in 1937. Roberts attended Oklahoma Baptist University part time from 1942 to 1946 and then served as a minister in Enid, Oklahoma. In 1947, he organized revival crusade teams that traveled throughout the world.
In 1965, Roberts founded and became president of Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He served as its president from 1965 to 1993. Roberts became a Methodist again in 1968. He wrote more than 50 books, including The Call: An Autobiography (1972). He died on Dec. 15, 2009, in Newport Beach, California.
See also Revivalism .
