Tulsa World: ORU calm pledged

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ORU calm pledged

Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts addresses the student body Wednesday morning in the university chapel. During the gathering, George Pearsons, chairman of ORUs board of regents, apologized to students for the commotion on campus over a recent lawsuit filed by three former professors. KELLY KERR / Tulsa World

By APRIL MARCISZEWSKI World Staff Writer
Published: 10/11/2007 1:20 AM
Last Modified: 10/11/2007 12:50 PM

For more: Read the latest stories, view the lawsuit and other documents and watch slide shows and video.

Regent vows to make any needed remedies

The chairman of Oral Roberts University's board of regents told students in a chapel service on Wednesday that any corrections that need to be made at the university will be made.

Chairman George Pearsons, co-pastor of Eagle Mountain International Church in Newark, Texas, said regents have approved of an independent investigation into allegations made against ORU last week in a lawsuit.

"Honestly, every organization has problems," Pearsons said after the chapel service on campus. "If there's something that needs to be fixed, let's fix it."

Pearsons personally apologized to students for the tumult they have gone through over the lawsuit. The suit, filed by three former professors, included unsubstantiated allegations that ORU President Richard Roberts and his family misspent ORU and Oral Roberts Ministries money -- claims that Roberts and his wife, Lindsay, have denied.

Pearsons prayed for peace at ORU, and he asked students, "Will you forgive us?"

They answered loudly, without hesitation, "Yes!"

"Together, we're going to get through this," Pearsons said.

After the service, sophomore Jenise Davis said the sermon by the Rev. Billy Joe Daugherty of Victory Christian Center in Tulsa was "the starting point to our healing process."

Students have grown disillusioned, concerned and mistrustful of ORU administrators since the lawsuit's allegations went public Oct. 2, she said. Now that they have heard administrators' responses to the lawsuit, students need a chance to give healthy feedback to administrators and restore communication and understanding, she said.

Daugherty encouraged the university and students to recenter their focus on ORU's original mission: to evangelize and "present the love of Jesus" "where the light is dim, where (God's) power is not known, where (God's) voice is heard small."

Most people in the world concentrate on what is immediately before them, Daugherty said, but he told the students to have a broader perspective and look instead to the "harvest."

Daugherty told students that after leaving ORU's board of regents in mid-June, he had accepted an offer this week to rejoin the board because "my heart has always been here at ORU since the time I first came" as a student.

"We know we have some difficult days to walk through at ORU," he said. "Jesus wants you to know he is going to speak to you. Get your eyes on why you are here."

At the end of the service, students surged to the front of the auditorium as Daugherty offered to pray for them, and they raised their hands and turned their faces upward, singing to God, "All I am is yours."

April Marciszewski 581-8475
april.marciszewski@tulsaworld.com

By APRIL MARCISZEWSKI World Staff Writer

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	Report Comment E, Pryor (10/11/2007 3:35:43 AM) The Roberts' appearance on Larry King Live was the most hilarious thing that I have ever seen. They acted like a couple of little kids trying to convince their parents that they did nothing wrong. I spent a few days at ORU for a school function about 10 years ago...the place did seem creepy to me. I was not asked to donate any money though...
	Report Comment ORU Grad, Tulsa (10/11/2007 4:54:48 AM) ORU alums have grown disillusioned, concerned and mistrustful of ORU administrators and especially Richard from day one. That's why very few contribute.
	Report Comment Q, (10/11/2007 5:47:11 AM) I'm so tired of scandals in word of faith, prosperity teaching, and charismatic churches, or schools in this case. And it's not just an "attack of the enemy" so to speak. Of course there are scandals in other denominations and every organization, but there's something wrong with these doctrines. They just open the door for this stuff when they are constantly having to justify their lavish lifestyles. Pastors Billy Joe and Sharon, to their credit, have always lived and presented themselves modestly. I honestly don't know if the board at ORU deserves their name at this time, though, the university will benefit from their involvement.
	Report Comment Ralph Casteel, Tulsa,Ok (10/11/2007 6:16:44 AM) #4 A Double "Amen" in reference to Billy Joe And Sharon.! Your first paragraph is concise and correct and I thank you for writing the truth without malice.
	Report Comment Sheppard Salter, Greenville (10/11/2007 6:22:55 AM) As a graduate of the seminary ('91) I'm not at all surprized by these allegations. They have a 'ring of truth' to them that is all too paifully familiar. The Robert's conducted themslves like royalty and the students were unimportant prolls when I attended. They are just caught up in the 'cult of personality' of protestantism. So sad.
	Report Comment Incredulous in Michigan, Troy (10/11/2007 6:54:06 AM) This is from the New York Times this morning: Gary L. Richardson of Tulsa, a lawyer for the professors, said he tried to call to the King show but was not put through, unlike Oral Roberts, now 89 and retired in California, who defended his son on the air.
	Report Comment K. J. Presley, Bryan, Texas (10/11/2007 6:56:13 AM) Anyone who is surprised by these allegations should read ASHES TO GOLD by Roberts' first wife, Patti. The seeds of this tragedy were sown decades ago--only another sad chapter in the story of gifted people derailed by power and greed.
	Report Comment Incredulous in Michigan, Troy (10/11/2007 6:56:39 AM) This also from the New York Times today: Tax law strictly limits the political activities of nonprofit groups, as well as the use of a charity’s assets by insiders like the Roberts family. The university’s reported ownership of a plane might also raise questions, lawyers said. Harvard, the nation’s wealthiest nonprofit institution, does not own a plane. In the 1960s, the I.R.S. ruled that a college could require students to work on political campaigns as part of a class assignment. But the agency did not address whether a nonprofit group could direct students to work on a specific campaign in the way the suit contends that Oral Roberts students were managed.
	Report Comment Carl Robbins, San Jose (10/11/2007 6:58:40 AM) You have no idea how weird this all looks, sounds and is is to average, normal Americans outside the incestuous world of those involved in this in any capacity. You will find out when you enter the real world with anything with Oral Roberts on it -- degree, resume, whatever.
	Report Comment Jo, OHIO (10/11/2007 7:04:36 AM) I've been reading about this since it's hit the national news. #4 is 100% correct. There are several here in OHIO that are smaller versions of what is now Oral Roberts Ministry & ORU. It is sad to see "self professed" preachers / ministers acting & living like royalty while they badger and bully their congrations to give more and more money. I personally attended one such "church" a few years ago. The "minister" preyed on peoples minds & hearts with "give more to the Lord and you'll be blessed". After listening to this for more than a year I started looking around and that's when I noticed that the only people who were living the life style that we were told was "ours to have after we give" was the minister, his family, and a few of his top people. Everyone else was either living pay check to pay check or just below poverty level. It discussed me. This same minister wouldn't even do a hospital visit. I had heard him preach that it wasn't his place to go to the hospitals; it was his staffs place, his church members should be able to pray for themselves & others. Talk about cold. Where was the "love of Christ" in any of that, or in any of what has been happening with the leaders at ORU ? One other thing, where is the accountablity ? Jesus never said we aren't to be accountable for our actions !
	Report Comment Incredulous in Michigan, Troy (10/11/2007 7:08:34 AM) As I posted yesterday on another thread, the numbers don't add up to Terri Copeland Pearsons being born during Kenneth and Gloria Copeland's marriage, yet in the bios, there is no mention of any other marriage for each of them. George Pearsons, the head of the crony ORU board said recently he and Terri have been married 30 years, which would have made her 15 when she got married, as the Copelands have been married 45 years. Does anyone know the story here? It looks like another thing that has been covered up.
	Report Comment Former ORU student, (10/11/2007 7:33:33 AM) I attended ORU in the 70's and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Especially the chapels with Bob Stamps and the Holy Spirit with Dr. Oral Roberts. I felt in those days that the school was there for the students and that ORU was the best University of it's kind in the world. Now what I am reading causes concern that this may no longer be the case and honestly; I will trust and pray for things to be restored to their original intent and that the school become like it was when I was a student there. After all, it's all about those kids, the school should be for the students, period.
	Report Comment Bob 1, (10/11/2007 7:40:28 AM) It looks like the guys filing the law suit could use a diet, kinda think they went on an eating benge..
	Report Comment Informed, Land of Nod (10/11/2007 7:50:30 AM) To #4, I applaud your comments. Somewhere back in the 60's and 70's (yes I was alive at that time - from the early 50's), I saw the prosperity syndrome kick into gear. People like Kenneth Hagen and others jumped on the bandwagon of the "Name It and Claim It" group. Just name it and God was obligated to give it to you - if you had enough faith. So, pink Cadillacs and $100,000 - $500,000 houses were the fare of the day, and if you didn't get it, your faith wasn't there. However, I don't ever recall Jesus teaching that kind of doctrine. In fact, the Son of God who could have anything He wanted, and could even CREATE it if it didn't exist, more times than not did WITHOUT, rather than WITH. It's called discipline. It's called denying yourself so OTHERS can have. What EVER happened to that teaching. The Properity Kick was so "me" centered instead of God centered. I'm not saying these preachers weren't sincere. What I am saying is that they were sincerely WRONG. Good comments #4.
	Report Comment art, (10/11/2007 7:56:57 AM) People getting their pockets picked with tears of joy running down their cheeks and a song on their lips. "All I am is yours..." Amen, brother... I love it...
	Report Comment Informed, Land of Nod (10/11/2007 8:01:18 AM) I also remember in the 50's and 60's when the mail was so much the Tulsa post office couldn't deliver it all, so ORU had to send their own trucks to get it. Support and checks were flowing in almost as much as Las Vegas. Oral didn't know what to do with all the money, so they began an aggresive building campaign with EXCULSIVE architecture that would "dazzle" the partners when they came to see the campus. I have no doubt that ORU was founded on solid principles and doctrine. But that doesn't mean God's servants can't get the BIG HEAD and let all this prosperity affect them. Oral and Evelyn had humble, poor beginnings. That is the tragedy of most evangelists is that their riches increase, and then get diverted to them instead of the ministry. I don't think ORU EVER needed to be in debt with the kind of support they were getting. It was when Oral and subsequently Richard over-extended the University to get into the Medical Business that did them in. I know it's own opinion and I take full responsibility for it, but I saw a "change" in Oral after he announced that "God" told him to build the City of Faith, for there he would find the cure for cancer. I don't think God told him to do that. I think everyone ELSE who was desperate told him to do that. JMO (Just My Opinion). A 900-foot Jesus doesn't have to appear to do that. And God's resources don't rest on whether Oral would live or die. I'm sorry, but in the whole scheme of things, Oral just isn't that important that God would take him or spare him if the $$$$ didn't come in. I can find absolutely NO scriptual grounds for that, and if you CAN'T substantiate it from the WORD, you don't really have to believe it. Sorry Oral, but better people than you God took home, and it wasn't dependent on what they raised for a pet project. JMO.
	Report Comment Incredulous in Michigan, Troy (10/11/2007 8:05:00 AM) Any kind of "vision" of a 900 foot tall Jesus, or saying God was extorting your very life for a specified amount of money, is pure fraud or outright delusions.
	Report Comment Informed, Land of Nod (10/11/2007 8:10:52 AM) Sometimes when we want something SO BAD we MAKE it the will of God whether it really is or not. So many things are done in "God spoke to me" or "Thus saith the Lord." We have to be very careful when talking for God. Please don't misunderstand me, I believe that God does speak through people and to people, but it keeps within the guidelines of the Word of God. The Bible says that we have the right as Christians to do 2 very important things: Inspect someone's fruit and discern the spirit of which they are speaking from. Those are "safeguards" God has put in the body of Christ to alert them to frauds and those "ministers of Satan who would appear as angels of light." I'm not marking anyone and certainly not applying this to Oral or Richard, but what I am saying is that there is sometimes a spiritual deception that creeps into Christian circles and if we're not prayed up and filled with the Holy Spirit to DISCERN these things, we can get taken in by them and suffer for them. And when God's servants take a wrong turn, they MUST be held accountable for their ACTIONS. The scripture says, "If riches increase, set not your heart upon them." That is a direct instruction that Richard and Lindsay violated. They did set their hearts upon it and then like a disease, they needed more and more to satisfy the FLESH. Such a stupid exchange for the here and now, for the THERE and THEN of eternal rewards. (My opinion).
	Report Comment dee, (10/11/2007 8:13:22 AM) And the ignorant sheep rushed the stage chanting "all I am is yours". Every corrupt Evangelist's dream. Follow me blindly and don't forget your "Love" offering. Fools...........
	Report Comment Pam P., Bartlesville (10/11/2007 8:14:30 AM) We were homeless in Tulsa once. I was allowed to use Oral Roberts personal prayer room in the prayer tower. It was humble with older furniture and shag carpet. The anointing was strong from many of prayers. Another time we sat in during a TV show; Richard and Lindsay personally took time to pray. I hear Lindsay preach about shopping only when there are 75% off sells or good sells. Richards daughter from his first marriage once said he bought suits at Good WIll. That's humble. The devil will attack ministries especially when they are believing for millions of souls to be saved. HA HA devil; Jesus is Lord and He said touch not His anointed. I believe Richard and Lindsay are one of the most anointed couples I've listened to. They love those students and the Lord. I wouldn't want to be in the shoes of those persecuting them when it comes judgement day.
	Report Comment Jean, Tulsa (10/11/2007 8:15:20 AM) This is to Bob (#14). Speaking of going on a diet. What about Lindsay Roberts? She sure isn't slim and trim. And her hair has got to go.
	Report Comment Law Un2 Himself, (10/11/2007 8:19:24 AM) What did the president know ...and when did he know it?
	Report Comment Informed, Land of Nod (10/11/2007 8:26:32 AM) One more note - as I said before, if anyone deserved to live in a rich lifestyle, Jesus did. He WAS and IS the King of Kings. But the Bible tells us He laid his glory and "kingship" aside to become man, to dwell among us. HE DENIED himself, not lavished everything upon Himself. He lived simply and didn't even own hardly anything but the clothes on His back. He gave to people, he didn't TAKE and amass great riches. I don't think it is wrong to be blessed by God. But, we're just a CHANNEL that his blessing is to flow THROUGH, not get get dammed up as a big reservoir for our own purposes. I truly believe that is why God doesn't trust people with more than they have. They would dirvert it to their own purposes. Richard could live on $200,000 instead of $800,000. Think how many people that would help. And if they had plowed the money BACK into the ministry to help students, develop curriculums, hire more class-A faculty and advance the Kingdom of God - [the ORIGINAL purpose for ORU], think how much more effective it would be in keeping with Jesus' vision for the World. You can't oompare a ministry-based operation to a commercial, profit making operation because the fundamental core of existence is different. One is to accomplish a mission, the other is to make a profit. Two very different directions. Instead of doing that, they fire and dismiss professors who don't agree with them and expose their excess. Now those departments and subsequently the students suffer because their concentration of study is gone. That is just plain wrong.(Sorry for hogging the blog and comments). JMO
	Report Comment xxx, (10/11/2007 8:27:47 AM) Pam, Just the type of person they love to prey on.
	Report Comment Incredulous in Michigan, Troy (10/11/2007 8:32:22 AM) Hearing Oral on Larry King Live the other night, he doesn't sound senile to me. Therefore, he wasn't senile 20 years ago when he said God was going to take his life if he didn't raise X amount of dollars. THINK ABOUT IT. It's fraud pure and simple, probably the sorriest, most pathetic excuse to get big money FAST.

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