Kathryn Kuhlman was an American Christian evangelist and faith healer born on 9 May 1907 in Concordia, Missouri, and died on 20 February 1976 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She became one of the most influential independent deliverance evangelists of the 20th century, drawing thousands to her healing services and reaching millions more through radio and her nationally syndicated television program, I Believe in Miracles.
Who Was Kathryn Kuhlman?
Kathryn Johanna Kuhlman was an American evangelist, preacher, and minister widely referred to by the press as a faith healer, though she personally rejected this label. She maintained throughout her career that she did not heal anyone herself, insisting that healing came directly from God and that her role was simply to recognise and facilitate it.
She became one of the earliest media pioneers in American evangelism, using radio in the 1930s and later television from the 1960s onward to expand her ministry far beyond the physical venues where she preached.
When and Where Was Kathryn Kuhlman Born?
Kathryn Kuhlman was born on 9 May 1907 near Concordia, Missouri, the third of 4 children born to Joseph and Emma Kuhlman. Her father operated a livery stable in Concordia and also served as the town’s mayor.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Kathryn Johanna Kuhlman |
| Date of birth | 9 May 1907 |
| Place of birth | Concordia (Johnson County), Missouri |
| Date of death | 20 February 1976 |
| Place of death | Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Age at death | 68 |
| Occupation | Evangelist, preacher, faith healer |
| Burial site | Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California |
Her father was Baptist and her mother was Methodist and an accomplished Bible teacher, giving Kuhlman a strong grounding in scripture from an early age within her own home.
When Did Kathryn Kuhlman Convert to Christianity?
Kathryn Kuhlman experienced a religious conversion at age 14 during a Baptist revival meeting, an event that set the direction for the rest of her life. This early conversion marked the beginning of what she would later describe as a lifelong, consuming burden for the salvation of souls.
In the summer of 1923, against her parents’ wishes, 16-year-old Kuhlman left Concordia for Oregon to help her older sister Myrtle Parrott and brother-in-law, evangelist Everett Parrott, lead revival meetings. This decision marked her formal entry into evangelistic ministry, beginning a career that would span more than 5 decades.
How Did Kathryn Kuhlman’s Early Ministry Develop?
Kathryn Kuhlman held her first independent evangelistic meeting in 1928 in Boise, Idaho, launching a solo preaching career that would take her across the American West. She travelled with a pianist to assist her services, arranging and conducting her own revival and healing meetings independently of any established denomination.
3 stages defined her early ministry years:
- Traveling evangelist (late 1920s to early 1930s): Conducted a 5-year tour of revival meetings across the western United States following her Boise debut.
- Denver ministry (1933 to 1935): Pioneered one of the earliest religious radio programs, a Denver show titled Smiling Through, in 1933. In 1935, she established an evangelistic ministry in a 2,000-seat Denver auditorium.
- Encounter with Dr. Charles S. Price (1924): While in Oregon, Kuhlman became acquainted with the healing ministry of Dr. Charles S. Price, where she also learned about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, an experience that would shape her later healing ministry.
What Happened During Kathryn Kuhlman’s Marriage?
Kathryn Kuhlman married evangelist Burroughs Allen Waltrip on 18 October 1938, and the marriage ended in divorce approximately 8 years later. She later described this period as one of the most difficult and personally impactful challenges of her life.
From 1938 to 1946, Kuhlman underwent what she called a period of trial, heart-searching, and surrendering to God’s will. She separated from Waltrip in 1944, with the divorce finalised by 1946 or 1948, depending on the source. She never remarried and rarely spoke publicly about the marriage in detail afterward.
When Did Kathryn Kuhlman’s Healing Ministry Begin?
Kathryn Kuhlman’s healing ministry flourished throughout the 1940s and 1950s, initially centred in Franklin and later Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, before expanding nationally. By 1950, she had built a following substantial enough to open her own temple in Pittsburgh, where she continued regular revival and healing meetings until 1971.
Her services became known for a consistent pattern: worship and praise, a strong message of being born again, and healing sessions in which she laid hands on the sick, many of whom reportedly fell to the floor, an occurrence her followers attributed to the power of the Holy Spirit.
Did Kathryn Kuhlman Face Criticism During Her Career?
Yes. Throughout the 1950s, Kathryn Kuhlman faced growing criticism from other prominent evangelists, some of whom had lost congregation members to her services, over the authenticity of her claimed healing powers. Despite this scrutiny, she consistently maintained that she had been chosen by God as an instrument of prayer and healing, and her following continued to grow both in person and through her expanding radio audience.
She was also notable for working to establish leadership space for women within the broader evangelical movement, at a time when women in prominent preaching roles remained uncommon within American Christianity.
When Did Kathryn Kuhlman Expand to California?
Kathryn Kuhlman expanded her ministry to California in 1965, holding her first meeting in Pasadena at the encouragement of Pastors Ralph and Elaine Wilkerson. Shortly afterward, she began holding regular meetings at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, where she continued to minister until 1975.
Her California ministry brought her to some of the largest venues of her career, including Carnegie Hall in New York City, where thousands gathered to attend her healing services.
What Was Kathryn Kuhlman’s Television and Media Career?
Kathryn Kuhlman created the Christian talk-show format with her long-running television series, I Believe in Miracles, which aired on CBS beginning in 1965. She recorded more than 500 nationally syndicated television episodes over the course of the program, each featuring individuals who testified to having been healed through her ministry.
Her signature phrase, “I believe in miracles, because I believe in God,” became closely associated with her public identity throughout this period of her career. In 1973, at the insistence of Maudie Phillips, who had travelled to Pittsburgh for Kuhlman’s services since 1969, she conducted her first service in Ottawa, Canada. Phillips went on to coordinate Kuhlman’s services across numerous cities throughout the United States from 1973 onward.
What Books Did Kathryn Kuhlman Write?
Kathryn Kuhlman authored several best-selling books during her career, including titles focused on her ministry, testimonies of healing, and her theological perspective on the Holy Spirit. Her published work contributed significantly to her national profile alongside her radio and television presence.
Additional written accounts and biographies documenting her life and ministry include Jamie Buckingham’s “Daughter of Destiny: Kathryn Kuhlman, Her Story,” published in 1976, and Amy Collier Artman’s later academic work, “Miracle Lady: Kathryn Kuhlman and the Transformation of Charismatic Christianity,” published in 2019.
How Did Kathryn Kuhlman Die?
Kathryn Kuhlman died on 20 February 1976 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, following complications from open-heart surgery. By the early 1970s, her demanding travel schedule and the physical toll of her exhausting ministry appearances had begun to affect her health significantly.
Diagnosed with a heart condition, she continued preaching actively despite her declining health, until she was hospitalised twice in 1975. She underwent open-heart surgery in Tulsa in February 1976 but died several days later at age 68.
What Happened to Kathryn Kuhlman’s Ministry After Her Death?
Following Kathryn Kuhlman’s death, a significant controversy emerged after it was revealed that she had rewritten her will in 1975, disinheriting both her family and her own ministry. Her followers were surprised to learn that she had not intended for the Kuhlman ministry to continue after her death.
Instead, she left the majority of her substantial personal wealth to 2 friends who had served as her companions during the final year of her life. This decision left many within her organisation and her broader following unprepared for the abrupt end of her formal ministry structure.
What Is Kathryn Kuhlman’s Legacy?
Kathryn Kuhlman is remembered as one of the most influential Christian evangelists of the 20th century and a significant figure in the development of the modern charismatic Christian movement. Her emphasis on the power of the Holy Spirit and her pioneering use of radio and television to reach mass audiences shaped the template later followed by numerous televangelists.
Her insistence that divine healing was secondary to the transformation and salvation of the individual soul remained a consistent theme throughout her public statements, distinguishing her theological emphasis from some of the healing evangelists who followed in her wake. She continues to be studied and referenced within both Pentecostal and broader Christian historical scholarship as a foundational figure in 20th-century American evangelism.