Granville Oral Roberts (1918-2009) was an American Charismatic Christian televangelist, ordained in both the Pentecostal Holiness and United Methodist churches. As one of the most well-known American religious leaders of the 20th century, his preaching emphasized seed-faith. His ministries reached millions of followers worldwide and spanned a period of over six decades. Born Granville Oral Roberts on January 24, 1918 in Bebee, Oklahoma, he was the fifth and last child of the Rev. Ellis Melvin Roberts and Claudia Priscilla Irwin. After finishing high school in Oklahoma, Roberts attended Phillips University for two years. In 1938, he married Evelyn Lutman Fahnestock (1917-2005), the daughter of a preacher, and the couple had four children: Rebecca, Ronald, Richard and Roberta. After leaving college, Roberts became a traveling faith healer, erecting a large tent and seating up to 3,000 listeners on folding chairs. He established the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association (OREA), travelling across the United States and later around the world, conducting faith healing meetings and conventions. In 1954, he began to broadcast his revivals on the new medium of television, and over the years, attracted a large viewership. By the 1980s, he was the leader of an organization employing 2,300 people and earning $120 million annually. In 1963, he founded Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. From 1968-1987, he was a member of the United Methodist Church’s ministry. He constructed the City of Faith and Medical Research Center, which opened in 1981. Roberts died in Newport Beach, California on December 15, 2009, aged 91, and was buried Tulsa, Oklahoma.