THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 23, 1995 TAG: 9509230299
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ESTHER DISKIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 160 lines
Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network is bringing some of the nation's best-known evangelists to preach for free in a weeklong tent revival, its kickoff to a worldwide campaign to convert millions to Christianity.
``Revivalfest '95,'' which starts Sunday under a tent with room for 5,000 people, will feature a different minister each night, including the 77-year-old Oral Roberts, a pioneer in religious broadcasting, and Benny Hinn, who packs stadiums around the country with his flamboyant faith-healing services.
Robert Schuller, who broadcasts from the all-glass Crystal Cathedral in California, will speak at a Wednesday prayer breakfast.
The revival coincides with Virginia Beach's Neptune Festival, so CBN was able to get only 3,500 chairs to set up under its tent. People will be allowed to sit on the grass or bring lawn chairs, and an overflow area with a television monitor will be set up at the Founder's Inn.
The revival marks the start of the network ministry's five-year campaign to bring the Gospel message to countries around the world through a combination of television broadcasting, films, distribution of videos and pamphlets, and door-to-door evangelizing. The network intends to expose 3 billion people to its material, hoping to attain 500 million converts to Christianity.
The campaign is timed for the year 2000, which Robertson said he considers a historic period for religious rebirth.
``There is a great spiritual hunger all over the world,'' Robertson said. ``It's unprecedented. There has never been anything, I don't believe, in the history of mankind to equal what we're seeing now.''
The revival is remarkable for the prominence and diversity of ministers it brings under one tent and is a sign of Robertson's centrality in American evangelism, according to scholars on religious broadcasting.
``It does reflect that he plays an important role,'' said Corwin Smidt, a professor of political science at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. ``There aren't many other people who would be able to do it.''
Others suggest that Robertson, who has faced some criticism for his heavy involvement in politics, may be seeking to modify his image. Robertson ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 1988 and has been outspoken about his intent to influence the Republican party through his grass-roots political organization, the Christian Coalition.
``I wonder if part of the motivation of this is to blunt criticism that he has abandoned evangelism for politics,'' said Randall Balmer, a professor of religion at Columbia University.
Revivals, often conducted in tents, are considered a kind of miraculous season in the Protestant tradition when vast numbers of people convert to Christianity or rededicate themselves spiritually.
But the long-term effects of the spiritual uplift are difficult to gauge, and often can only be judged historically, says Vinson Synan, dean of Regent University's Divinity School. While some American revivals - such as the Cane Ridge camp meeting near Lexington, Ky., in 1801 - started an explosion of evangelical fervor, others are less dramatic.
Robertson said an important aspect of this revival is a demonstration of unity among churches and pastors whose worship styles are dramatically different. He said that in a time marked by worldwide signs of crisis - including wars, natural disasters and new diseases - religious people must come together in new partnerships.
``We don't have the leisure to fight any longer. We must come together in various types of alliances,'' he said, adding, ``We all realize that there is an enormous spiritual burden in the world.''
The Hampton Roads churches participating in the revival, with religious messages and nightly choir music, exemplify some of that bridging of differences in religious practices.
Congregations like Rock Church in Virginia Beach and Bethel Temple in Hampton emphasize charismatic worship, such as a belief in sudden, miraculous healing through prayer and prophetic visions. Churches in the Southern Baptist Convention, such as First Baptist Church of Norfolk and London Bridge Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, believe that these practices were part of Christianity shortly after Christ's death, but that they are not valid today.
All will join in the CBN revival. ``We hold that salvation comes by faith alone and that Christ was the incarnate son of God,'' said the Rev. Robert Reccord of First Baptist Church of Norfolk, who will speak along with Schuller at Wednesday's prayer breakfast.
``We need to focus on what we agree on and not nitpick on points we don't.'' MEMO: ABOUT "REVIVALFEST '95"
``Revivalfest '95,'' a week of preaching and music under a big tent
at the Christian Broadcasting Network on Centerville Turnpike in
Virginia Beach, starts Sunday.
Worship starts each night at 6:30 with an array of nationally known
singers accompanied by choirs from Hampton Roads churches, including
Rock Church, London Bridge Baptist Church, Parkway Temple and Kempsville
Presbyterian Church. Evening events are free. Preaching starts at 8 p.m.
Here is a list of speakers:
SUNDAY
PAT ROBERTSON started CBN in 1961, a tax-exempt religious
organization that has grown into the umbrella for an expanding business
empire. One well-known spinoff is the Family Channel of International
Family Entertainment Inc., a commercial, publicly traded cable
television company led by Robertson and his son, Tim. Robertson, 65, is
the founder of Regent University in Virginia Beach and Operation
Blessing, a relief organization.
MONDAY
ORAL ROBERTS is a pioneer in religious broadcasting who put tent
revivals on television. In the 1950s, he drew up to 20,000 people to
televised crusades in his ``tent cathedral.'' In 1967, he founded Oral
Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla. He drew widespread criticism in the
late 1980s for announcing to his television viewers that the Lord would
``call him home'' if he could not raise $4.5 million for his university.
Some television stations refused to air his program.
Now 77, he has written more than 50 books and recently published his
autobiography, ``Expect a Miracle.''
TUESDAY
T.D. JAKES is the founder of The Temple of Faith Ministries in
Charleston, W.Va. He travels throughout the world with a message
focusing on healing and reconciliation and hosts a cable television
program.
WEDNESDAY
MARIO MURILLO grew up on the inner city streets of San Francisco, and
he often takes his preaching into urban neighborhoods around the U.S. He
conducts 45 crusades annually in arenas and convention centers and has
called himself ``one of the few evangelists in the world who doesn't
raise money on television.''
THURSDAY
JAMES ROBISON operates a television ministry based in the Dallas-Fort
Worth area. His television program, ``Life Today,'' focuses on
strengthening marriages and families. Robison was once one of the most
popular speakers in the Southern Baptist Convention, but he was shunned
by many Baptist churches in 1982, when he publicly discussed his
deliverance from spiritual demons and expressed support for charismatic
worship practices.
FRIDAY
BENNY HINN, born in Israel of Greek and Armenian parents, draws
thousands to his action-packed, faith-healing crusades. During his
services, hundreds are ``slain in the Spirit,'' meaning they fall to the
floor as Hinn touches or points toward them. His ministry receives $17
million in donations annually, but he has drawn criticism for claims
about healing and for his lavish lifestyle. Southern Baptist Convention
bookstores refused to carry his 1992 book, ``Good Morning, Holy
Spirit,'' because of theological disagreements.
SEPT. 30
T.L. OSBORN conducts crusades with his wife and associate minister,
Daisy, in more than 70 nations. His ministry sponsors thousands of
missionaries, publishes gospel literature in 132 languages and produces
films.
NOTE: Prayer breakfasts will be held at 7 a.m. Monday to Friday at the
Founders Inn. Robert Schuller, well-known for his broadcasts from the
Crystal Cathedral in California, will speak Wednesday. Cost is $8.95.
For reservations or more information, call 1-800-677-1155. Evening
events will be taped for the following day's telecast of ``The 700
Club,'' Pat Robertson's weekday news and spiritual program. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Tent
Photos
Robison
Roberts
Hinn
by CNB