Tulsa World: The Rev. Billy Joe Daugherty dies

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The Rev. Billy Joe Daugherty dies

Victory Christian senior pastor Billy Joe Daugherty (right) hugs Itai Lavi of the World Zionist Organization at the Victory Center during A Night to Honor Israel in 2007. STEPHEN HOLMAN/Tulsa World

By BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer
Published: 11/22/2009 10:57 AM
Last Modified: 11/22/2009 1:19 PM

The Rev. Billy Joe Daugherty, founding pastor of Victory Christian Center, died Sunday after a short battle with lymphoma.

He was 57. He died 4:40 a.m. today, church officials announced at morning services.

Daugherty was hospitalized in October with a viral infection in his throat when tests discovered the cancer.

Audible gasps were heard across the congregation near the end of the 9 a.m. service when associate pastor Bruce Edwards announced from the pulpit, “At 4:40 a.m. this morning, pastor graduated into heaven.”

“We don’t sorrow as the world sorrows, as one without hope,” he said. “We celebrate his life, but at the same time there is sorrow, there is grieving.”

Many people sobbed in their seats as son-in-law Adam Sanders talked about Daugherty’s final hours at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

“We miss him, but he’s with Jesus,” he said. “His entire life was about one thing, loving God, and out of that love, he loved people. We will continue in his legacy, loving people.”

Son in law Caleb Wehrli, tears streaming down his face, said the whole family continued to worship right up to the end.

“He fought the good fight and he won. He touched so many people,” he said.

A memorial service is being planned for Nov. 30.

In addition to founding one of Tulsa’s largest churches, he was founder of Victory Christian School, Victory Bible Institute with about 900 campuses in 93 countries, and Victory World Missions Training Center which has sent 1000s of missionaries around the world.

His television show, Victory in Jesus, reached more than 100 million households in North America, in addition to satellite and internet distribution worldwide. He and his wife, Victory co-pastor Sharon Daugherty, have written more than a dozen books.

Daugherty was one of America’s best-known charismatic pastors, preaching an upbeat and sometimes controversial message that Jesus came to bring spiritual, emotional and physical healing, and blessing and prosperity to mankind. He regularly brought some of the top charismatic preachers in the world to Tulsa for Word Explosion, Victory’s annual summer conference.

Originally from Magnolia, Ark., he attended Oral Roberts University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Christian education.

He was a youth minister in the 1970s at Sheridan Christian Center, and became senior pastor at the church in 1976 when the pastor retired.

By 1980, attendance had grown from 300 to 2,000. Daugherty sought to relocate the church. When church leaders decided not to move, he started what is now Victory Christian Center, meeting briefly in a former car dealership at 4400 S. Sheridan Road, and moving in 1984 to the vacant Thoreau Junior High School.

Four years later, when Tulsa Public Schools sold the school building, the church moved to its present site at 7700 S. Lewis Ave. and held worship services in the Mabee Center across the street.

In 2007, the church moved into its state of the art, $32 million, 5,000-seat worship center, built without borrowing money. It was the first time the church had its own worship center. Daugherty made the news in 1991 when he was hospitalized with minor burns he suffered rescuing two of his children from a fire that heavily damaged their home.

In 2005, he made national news when a man came forward at an altar call on a Sunday morning and slugged him in the face, opening a cut over his eye that required two stitches. Daugherty went to the Tulsa jail to forgive the man, did not press assault charges, and later wrote a book about the experience: “Knocked Down But Not Out.”

In October, 2007, Daugherty was named interim president of Oral Roberts University after ORU president Richard Roberts stepped down in the wake of allegations that he misused university funds.

In addition to his wife, Sharon Daugherty, he is survived his mother, Iru Daugherty. Among other survivors are his four children, all of them involved in the ministry. They are daughters Ruthie Sanders and Sarah Wehrli, and sons Paul and John.

By BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer

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Reader comments for this story have been moved to the most updated version of the story, now under the headline "Billy Joe Daugherty dead at 57," which was published on 11/23/2009. So far, 159 comments have been made.