Kathryn Kuhlman
Kathryn Johanna Kuhlman (
May 9,
1907 -
February 20,
1976) was a 20th Century American
evangelist. She believed in miracles and deliverance by the power of the
Holy Spirit, and was part of the
Pentecostal arm of
Protestant Christianity. She was born in
Concordia,
Missouri to
German parents and died in
Tulsa, Oklahoma, following open-heart
surgery.
According to Kuhlman, she was
born-again at the age of fourteen in the
Methodist Church of Concordia, Missouri, and began preaching in the West at the age of fifteen.
In the mid-1930's, Kuhlman met evangelist Burroughs A. Waltrip, whom she invited to preach at the Denver Tabernacle where she was the founder and pastor. Waltrip left his wife to form a professional alliance with Kuhlman, and after his divorce was final, married her in October 1938. This resulted in the deterioration of Kuhlman's ministry in Denver and Waltrip's in Mason City, Iowa. They left Mason City and traveled throughout the country, always dogged by news about their past. Kuhlman finally left Waltrip in 1944, and in 1948 Waltrip divorced Kuhlman. Moving to Franklin, Pennsylvania, Kathryn put the marriage behind her and thereafter presented herself as Miss Kuhlman.
Kuhlman traveled extensively around the
United States and in many other countries holding "
healing crusades" between the
1940s and
1970s. She had a weekly
TV program in the
1960s and
1970s which aired nationally called "I Believe In Miracles". A
radio program with her messages also aired for many years.
In 1972, she was granted an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by
Oral Roberts University.
In 1973,
Benny Hinn attended one of her "healing crusades", which was a catalyst for his life as a
charismatic preacher.
Kathryn Kuhlman is interred in the
Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in
Glendale, California.
Kuhlman's critics assert that she purposely deceived her audience because there is no scientific case that has proved faith healing as fact.[
1] Furthermore,
skeptics assert faith healing is nothing more than stage magic with misdirection and showmanship.However, like Aimee Semple Mcpherson, The American Medical Association did not dissprove the healings but regarded them as genuine.
She is survived by her eponymous foundation:
The Kathryn Kuhlman Foundation. The foundation was established in
1957, and its
Canadian branch in
1970. In
1982 the Foundation terminated its nationwide radio broadcasting.
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KathrynKuhlman.com -Audio, video, and books.
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Find A Grave Entry*
TBN page
