THESE ARE THE MEN WHO FOUNDED THE WORD OF FAITH MOVEMENT

 

The Word of Faith movement is a gospel message that says God wants his people to be healthy, wealthy and happy on earth. It preaches that with faith, you can claim anything and it will come to pass. When you name it, claim it and believe, then it will come to pass.

Evangelist E.W Kenyon is known by many to be the founder of Word of Faith teachings. He began his career as a Methodist minister but later moved into Pentecostalism. E.W Kenyon died in 1948 influencing Kenneth Hagin. Hagin believed that it is God's will that believers would always be in good health, financially successful and happy.

Hagin died in 2003 influencing Kenneth Copeland who worked briefly as a co-pilot for evangelist Oral Roberts. Kenneth Copeland and his wife Gloria founded Kenneth Copeland ministries in Forth Worth, Texas in 1967. Kenneth Copeland being alive is currently considered to be the leader of the Word of Faith movement. Through him, the movement further spread to TV evangelist and Faith healer Benny Hinn whose ministry is located in Grapevine, Texas. Hinn began preaching in Canada in 1974, starting his daily television broadcast in 1990.

The Word of Faith movement got a major boost starting in 1973 with the founding of the Trinity Broadcasting Network, headquartered in Santa Ana, California. It is the word's largest television network and airs a variety of Christian programs but has embraced Word of Faith. Trinity Broadcasting Network, TBN is carried on over 5000 TV stations, 33 International satellites, the internet, and cable systems all over the world. Everyday, TBN takes Word of Faith broadcasts into the United States, Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, India, South East Asia, South America and other parts of the world.

In Africa too, Word of Faith is sweeping the continent with pastors like David Oyedepo of Living Faith Church and Chris Oyakhilome of Loveworld Ministry propelling the movement within the continent. In the US, the Word of Faith movement have spread like wildfire through the African-American community. Preachers like T.D Jakes and Creflo Dollar pastor Black megachurches and urge their flocks to think right to get their monetary and health needs met.