Although she is not often referred to today, Kathryn Kuhlman’s faith healing ministry tremendously impacted a new generation of Pentecostal preachers who followed in her footsteps to form their own healing ministries. To her supporters, she was an inspiration, while her detractors ridiculed her and accused her of being a “cult leader” and a charlatan.
She was born Kathryn Johanna Kuhlman in Concordia, Missouri on May 9, 1907. Her parents, farmer Joseph Adolph and Emma Walkenhorst Kuhlman, were of German extraction and came, respectiely, from a Baptist and Methodist background. In 1921, 14-year-old Kathryn had a conversion experience and accepted Christ at a revival service held at a local Methodist church.
From that point on, she felt a call on her life to minister to others. This was not something easily achieved, for, during that time, it was believed that females were not supposed to be ministers. Still, she joined her older sister Myrtle and Myrtle’s husband, Moody Bible Institute graduate Everett Parrott, as they traveled around the country evangelizing the lost. Kathryn eagerly testified about her “born again” experience, even though her brother-in-law failed to honor his promise to allow her to preach.
The Parrotts were strong advocates of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, due to the influence of a Canadian evangelist who introduced them to this doctrine. Healing is considered to be one of the gifts of the Spirit, so the Parrotts started to add that component to their ministry, praying for the sick attending their revival meetings to get healed. Kathryn finally got the chance she had longed for, to preach, after Everett and Myrtle stopped their traveling ministry and she decided to pursue her own independent ministry when she was 21-years-old. She traveled around the United States for five years.
She preached in places such as pool halls, tents, barns and warehouses and, after moving to Denver, Colorado, opened the Kuhlman Revival Tabernacle, the former Monitor Paper Company warehouse. She later converted an abandoned truck garage into the Denver Revival Tabernacle and started broadcasting a 15-minute religious program on the radio. Her ministry was, by all accounts, flourishing, but a personal detour put a huge dent in its success and almost ruined her reputation completely.
Her association with Iowa-based evangelist Burroughs Waltrip created a gigantic scandal, as he had left his wife and children to reportedly pursue Kathryn, later divorcing his wife and marrying Kathryn in 1938. Both of their ministries suffered because of this and, no longer able to escape the controversy, they reluctantly agreed to divorce in 1944.
In spite of her heartbreak, Kuhlman went on with her life, moving to Franklin, Pennsylvania, where she began to do all she could to reinvent her reputation in light of her personal disgrace. The direction and focus of her ministry began to change.when she started preaching more on the Holy Spirit and manifestations of physical healings occurred. From that point, her meetings were geared towards paying for the sick rather than preaching the message of salvation. She moved to Pittsburgh and held healing services at Carnegie Auditorium for nearly 20 years. She was not necessarily embraced by other ministries in the area, however.
Some were jealous, accusing her of proselytizing some of their members, some questioned her right to preach due to her gender and others were at issue with the validity of the miracles she claimed happened at her services. Frankly, this was Christianity at its nastiest, with territorial preachers doing all they could to publicly discredit her. Whether this was because they sincerely disagreed with her or because they were trying to protect their own personal interests is anybody’s guess. Regardless of their actions, Kathryn Kuhlman still had crowds at every service and her ministry prospered. As things exploded, she started holding meetings at The Shrine Auditorium in Pasadena, California.
Much to the chagrin of more mainstream Christians, she appeared on a number of secular talk shows, such as The Merv Griffin Show and The Mike Douglas Show. She eventually used the medium of television to appear on her own weekly show I Believe in Miracles. She had guests on the program who testified about their healing, in the hopes of encouraging others.
Throughout her life, Kathryn Kuhlman had her staunch defenders and rabid critics, but she persevered and continued to do what she believed was God’s work until her death on February 20, 1976, after open-heart surgery.
