Former Oral Roberts University Insider
Reacts to Controversy (Nov 27, 2007)
For Carlton Pearson, the current troubles at Oral Roberts University are disappointing but predictable. A fourth generation Pentecostal preacher, Pearson grew up in a poor family, started preaching at age 15 and was ordained at 18. During his time at ORU in the 1970s, he sang in the Oral Roberts gospel choir and was a regular on Roberts’s television show. Pearson went on to serve on the Board of Regents for fifteen years and also as a Trustee. But after being involved with ORU and as a close friend of Oral Roberts for nearly four decades, his relationship became distant and strained when he experienced a theological split and began preaching what he calls the “Gospel of Inclusion.” He still calls the elder Roberts each year on his birthday, but doesn’t have much other contact with the family. Nowadays, he’s the pastor of New Dimensions Church in Tulsa and has a somewhat unique and nuanced perspective on the controversy.

WEB EXTRAS:
Hear Carlton Pearson discuss the role and importance of Oral Roberts University and the significance of this controversy within the larger, religious landscape: MP3

Listen to an hour-long program about Carlton Pearson that aired in 2005 on the public radio program This American Life

Listen to KGOU's interview with Pearson:

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