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Richard Roberts (evangelist)

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Richard Roberts
Born
Richard L. Roberts

(1948-11-12) November 12, 1948 (age 75)
Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Occupation(s)Evangelist, broadcaster
TitleCEO of Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association
Spouse(s)Lindsay Roberts
Patti Thompson (divorced)
ChildrenChristi, Juli, Jordan, Olivia and Chloe
Parent(s)Oral Roberts (deceased)
Evelyn Roberts (deceased)
Websitehttp://www.oralroberts.com/

Richard Roberts (born November 12, 1948) is an American evangelist. Roberts is chairman and chief executive officer of the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association. Since his healing ministry began in 1980,[1] he has preached on six continents. Holding his first overseas crusade in South Africa in 1982, he has since traveled to more than 39 nations[2] throughout the world. Roberts also served as president of Oral Roberts University (ORU) for 15 years. After Roberts stepped down, the outgoing ORU board of regents elected him president emeritus. He is the son of evangelist Oral Roberts and hosts the one hour television program, The Place for Miracles: Your Hour of Healing.

Early life

Roberts was born on November 12, 1948 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of evangelist Oral Roberts. As a young boy, he watched his father travel the world conducting healing meetings where he would preach and pray for the sick. When school and schedules permitted, Richard often accompanied his father.

Though drawn to the ministry, Roberts was made uncomfortable by the attention his father received. He was often teased by classmates and even teachers, and got into fights about his father. “I came home from school many a day with my shirt torn and my nose bloodied from being in fights with the other kids who made fun of me, my dad and the healing ministry of Jesus Christ,” he says.[1] As a teenager he began to pull away from involvement with his father's ministry, and began pursuing other talents and interests, such as singing.[1]

During Roberts’ senior year in high school, he was offered a music camp scholarship for the summer of 1966 to the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan by founder Joseph Maddy, when Maddy brought a performing group to the Oral Roberts University campus. In auditions, he landed the male lead in the camp’s production of Annie Get Your Gun.[3]

He began attending the University of Kansas in the fall of 1966. While a student there, he had the opportunity to perform with singers such as Broadway and TV star Shirley Jones at the 8,000 seat-outdoor venue at the Kansas City Starlight Theatre.[citation needed] Performing as the lead singer in a rock band in Tulsa and working in the nightclub circuit throughout the state of Oklahoma, he began to dream of becoming a nightclub singer in Las Vegas—“the place that signaled ‘success’ in the eyes of the world.”[1]

He later committed to join the ministry and transferred to ORU

Career

At 19 years of age, Roberts re-joined his father’s ministry, traveling and singing in his father’s meetings, helping to form and direct the ORU World Action Singers, becoming executive producer of the ministry’s weekly television program and finally President and CEO of the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association in 1985.

In 1984, he began a live, daily TV program called Richard Roberts Live. Today, the ministry produces two daily programs, The Place for Miracles—a one-hour, interactive broadcast that reaches millions, and Make Your Day Count, a program geared specifically to the needs of women.

In 2007, Roberts conducted what was considered the first evangelistic rally ever held in Niger.[4] The Christian population in Niger is relatively small. It accounts for less than 5 percent of the population—one estimate has Christians at 0.4% and Evangelicals at 0.1%.[5] Roberts’ rallies at night, with preaching and praying for the sick, were followed by days of free medical clinics, distribution of food for the hungry, and prayer by his team of more than 40 doctors, dentists, nurses, musicians, and others.[4]

In 2008 and 2009, Roberts began to focus his outreach in several Central American nations—El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua in particular. At the invitation of government leaders[citation needed], Roberts preached the Gospel, prayed for the sick, and ministered in church services, open-air Healing Rallies, and over satellite TV where he was able to reach homes in North, South, and Central America, as well as parts of Europe. Roberts and his team also preached in the tiny homes of a “cardboard city” in El Salvador, a disease-infested dump site in Nicaragua where 200 families live, and several understaffed orphanages.[4]

In January, 2010, Roberts and his team travelled to Kenya, at the invitation of Prime Minister Raila Odinga[citation needed], to conduct a 5-day Miracle Healing Rally in an area surrounding the capitol city of Nairobi. Part of rally was an to provide medical and food outreach to people, especially those in the slums of Huruma, Korogocho, Kayole, and Kibera—some of the largest in the world. Ministering to crowds estimated at 200,000 on the last night of the healing rally[citation needed], at least 3,500 people were treated through the free clinics.

Roberts works closely with his daughter, Jordan, Director of Hunger Needs A Voice – a humanitarian outreach of the Oral Roberts Ministries.[6] Together they take medicines, medical supplies, and food to people around the world. During 2009 alone, HNAV provided more than 3 million meals to hungry people in 5 countries—with more than 2,000.000 meals sent to Kenya by the end of the 2010 Healing Rally.[6] Additional outreaches are being planned every day.

Roberts also served as President of Oral Roberts University for 15 years. After serving as Executive Vice President for 8 years and having two earned degrees from ORU—a bachelor’s and master’s, [with a doctorate to follow in 2002]—Roberts assumed the position of President granted to him by the Board of Regents in 1993. Under his leadership, the university added new academic programs—graduate degree programs, a service learning program, an honors program and reached the highest enrollment in its history.[citation needed]

Numerous other awards and commendations were granted to Oral Roberts University during Roberts’ tenure as President.

In 2004, Roberts was honored as one of “10 Who Cared and Made A Difference” at the 100 Black Men of Tulsa Inc.’s 10th anniversary gala. The organization is dedicated to positive youth development, mentorship, gang intervention and violence prevention, educational scholarship, youth team building activities, and support of the positive reintegration of incarcerated individuals back into the community.[7]

Roberts has served on the board of directors of the Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce and on the Tulsa Sports Commission. He has been listed in Who’s Who Among University Presidents and honored by the ORU Alumni Association with the “Alumnus of the Year” award for Distinguished Service to the Alma Mater. Roberts resigned from ORU in 2007.

He has written several books, including When It Seems All Hope Is Gone, The Good News Is the Bad News Is Wrong, and his autobiography, He’s the God of a Second Chance. His newest book, He’s A Healing Jesus, will be in print in the spring of 2010.

Family

Roberts married his first wife, Patti, in 1968; they divorced in 1979. They had two daughters, Christi and Juli. Roberts is currently married to Lindsay. They reside in Tulsa, Oklahoma with their three daughters Jordan, Olivia and Chloe.[8][9] Richard and Lindsay had a son, Richard Oral Roberts, who died of medical complications 36 hours after being born.[10]

ORU lawsuit and scandal

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In October 2007 three former professors filed a lawsuit in Tulsa County, claiming to have been wrongfully terminated. They also alleged Roberts misused university assets and illegally ordered the university to participate in Republican candidate Randi Miller's political campaign for Tulsa mayor. Roberts claimed that this occurred while the tax-exempt university was working lawfully with the Republican National Committee on out-of-state projects as part of a long-standing, pre-approved curriculum which had been in place for several years.[11][12]

Other allegations against Roberts include claims he used university funds to pay for his daughter's trip to The Bahamas by providing the university jet and billing other costs to the school, maintained a stable of horses on campus and at university expense for the exclusive use of his children, regularly summoned university and ministry staff to the Roberts house to do his daughters’ homework, remodeled his house at university expense 11 times in the past 14 years, allowed the university to be billed both for damage done by his daughters to university-owned golf carts and acquired a red Mercedes convertible and a white Lexus SUV for his wife Lindsay through ministry donors.[13][14] Roberts responded by saying, "This lawsuit ...is about intimidation, blackmail and extortion."[13]

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On October 12, 2007 the plaintiffs filed an amended version of the lawsuit alleging three days after the original lawsuit was filed, Roberts fired the university's financial comptroller (who had been employed by ORU for 26 years) and "witnesses have reported voluminous materials and documents were shredded and destroyed, constituting spoliation of evidence." In a written statement the university denied "purposely or improperly" destroying documents. Upon review it was discovered that the shredded documents had nothing to do with any allegations and were a part of normal policy, required by law for the privacy and protection of students and ministry donors .[15][16]

Resignation

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On October 17, 2007 Roberts asked for and was granted an indefinite leave of absence from the school by the university's board of regents, citing the "toll" the lawsuit and attendant allegations have taken on him and his family.[17] In a statement Roberts said, "I don't know how long this leave of absence will last... I pray and believe that in God's timing, and when the Board feels that it is appropriate, I will be back at my post as President."[17] Billy Joe Daugherty of Victory Christian Center was named executive regent of the board of regents and interim president.[18] Chairman of the board of regents George Pearsons noted the temporary resignation was not an admission of guilt.[18]

On November 13 the tenured faculty of Oral Roberts University approved a nonbinding vote of no confidence in Roberts.[19] The vote was nearly unanimous according to a professor in attendance.[20]

In a wrongful termination lawsuit filed against the university on November 21, former ORU accountant Trent Huddleston claimed he had been ordered to help Roberts and his wife "cook the books" by misclassifying nearly $123,000 in funds allegedly spent by the university on remodeling the Roberts' home. Huddleston had been an employee for less than one year. The lawsuit was eventually thrown out due to a lack of evidence. ORU claimed he was nothing more than a disgruntled employee.[21] Roberts tendered his resignation to the university's board of regents on November 23, 2007, effective immediately. In an emailed statement he said, "I love ORU with all my heart. I love the students, faculty, staff and administration and I want to see God's best for all of them."[22]

On January 14, 2008 the outgoing ORU board of regents voted unanimously to name Richard Roberts president emeritus in honor of his work during 15 years as president.[23]

By the spring of 2009 all of the lawsuits had been settled or dismissed.[24]

Current teaching

Roberts carries on his father's Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association wealth-and-health Prosperity Theology teachings about "Seed Faith", Abundant Life, "Expect A Miracle" and "Point Of Contact Prayer Cloths".[25]

Disclosed earnings

According to Charity Navigator, in the year ending in April 2010 Richard earned $250,093 a year as President and CEO of Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association and $123,650 from affiliated organizations.[26] He also received $202,402 in compensation from Oral Roberts University, which listed him as "former president."[27]

2012 arrest and guilty plea

On January 24, 2012, the birthday of his deceased father [28], Roberts was stopped in Tulsa, Oklahoma on U.S. Route 169 going 93 mph in a 65-mph zone in his Mercedes S430.[29] After failing two field sobriety tests, he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and for driving more than 15 miles per hour over the speed limit.[29] He agreed to take a breath test, which measured his blood alcohol content was reported at .11, above the legal limit of .08.[30] On January 30, 2012 Roberts was charged with two misdemeanor counts, including driving under the influence of alcohol.[31]

At a May 2012 hearing, Roberts pled guilty to a Tulsa County misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence of alcohol and speeding, and received an 18-month probation, no jail time, and paid pay $1,532 in fees, assessments and court costs.[32] He was also ordered to complete 56 hours of community service, undergo a drug and alcohol assessment, and attend DUI classes, which can be completed in California, his place of residence.[32] If he successfully completes probation his record will be wiped clean.[32]

Writings

  • Claim Your Inheritance (Tulsa, 2002)
  • If You’re Going Through Hell, Don’t Stop
  • If You Catch Hell, Don’t Hold It
  • He's the God of a Second Chance (Tulsa, Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association, 1985)
  • The Good News Is the Bad News Is Wrong!

References

  1. ^ a b c d He’s the God of a Second Chance, 1985
  2. ^ OREA-ORU Travel and Ministry Log, 1980–2010
  3. ^ Claim Your Inheritance, 2002
  4. ^ a b c Tulsa World, “ORU’s Richard Roberts brings evangelistic rally to Muslim nation,”2-17-2007
  5. ^ Operation World
  6. ^ a b OREA Press Release, 1-2010
  7. ^ Tulsa World, “100 Black Men of Tulsa to mark anniversary with gala,” 3-30-2004
  8. ^ Captioned family portrait in ORU alumni magazine, Summer 1991, retrieved 5 October 2007[dead link]
  9. ^ "Digging in the Walls", Timothy magazine, Vol. 7, Issue 3 "The Life and Ministry of Oral Roberts", 1990, retrieved from Christian News and Views, October 8, 2007
  10. ^ Marciszewski, April (2007-10-14). "Robertses steel selves for crisis with prayer". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2010-10-01. The couple's daughters are now 18, 20 and 22, but before them was a baby boy, Richard Oral, who lived 36 hours.
  11. ^ "3 Former Professors Sue Oral Roberts U." The Chronicle of Higher Education. October 4, 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-24.[dead link]
  12. ^ Tulsa World (2007). "Swails, Brooker, Brooker v. Oral Roberts University, et al" (PDF). United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  13. ^ a b "Oral Roberts president faces corruption lawsuit". MSNBC. October 5, 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  14. ^ Justin Juozapavicius, Associated Press, "Scandal Brewing at Oral Roberts U.", October 5, 2007[dead link]
  15. ^ Online copy of revised Swails lawsuit against ORU, October 12, 2007
  16. ^ Tulsa World, "Lindsay Roberts, ORU deny latest claims", October 13, 2007
  17. ^ a b Blumenthal, Ralph (2007-11-18). "President of Oral Roberts to Take Leave of Absence". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
  18. ^ a b Marciszewski, April (2007-10-18). "Roberts takes ORU leave". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
  19. ^ "Faculty Opposes Oral Roberts President". Associated Press. The New York Times. 2007-11-14. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
  20. ^ Marciszewski, April (2007-11-15). "ORU faculty gives vote of no confidence". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
  21. ^ Justin Juozapavicius, November 21, 2007, "Oral Roberts Accountant Sues Over Firing"[dead link]
  22. ^ "Embattled Oral Roberts President Resigns"[dead link]
  23. ^ Marciszewski, April (2008-01-15). "$62 million for ORU". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2010-10-01. On Monday, regents voted unanimously to name Richard Roberts president emeritus to honor his work during 15 years as president, Pearsons said.
  24. ^ "OCIS Case Summary for CJ-2007-6543- SWAILS, DR JOHN v. ORAL ROBERTS UNIVERSITY (Tulsa County District Court):". The Oklahoma State Courts Network. Retrieved 2010-10-01.
  25. ^ ""Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association Home Page"". Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  26. ^ "Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association". Charity Navigator. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
  27. ^ "Oral Roberts University". GuideStar. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
  28. ^ January 24, 1918 – December 15, 2009
  29. ^ a b "Richard Roberts, ORU's former president, arrested on DUI complaint". Tulsa World. Jan 25, 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
  30. ^ "Oral Roberts' son arrested on suspicion of DUI - CNN.com". CNN. 2012-01-24.
  31. ^ "DUI, speeding charges filed against Richard Roberts, former Oral Roberts president". Tulsa World. Jan 31, 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
  32. ^ a b c "Richard Roberts gets probation in DUI case; former ORU president pleaded guilty, serves no jail time". Tulsa World. May 2, 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
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