Kenneth E. Hagin

== Biography ==
=== Personal life ===
Kenneth E. Hagin was born August 20, 1917, in [[McKinney, Texas]], the son of Lillie Viola Drake Hagin and Jess Hagin.{{Citation needed|date=August 2017}} According to Hagin's testimony, he was born with a [[Congenital heart defect|deformed heart]] and what was believed to be an incurable [[blood disease]]. He was not expected to live and at age 15 he became paralyzed and bedridden.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.rhema.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=291&Itemid=224|title=Kenneth Hagin Ministries|access-date=May 14, 2016}}</ref> In April 1933 he converted to Christianity. During a dramatic [[religious conversion|conversion]] [[religious experience|experience]], he reported dying, due to the deformed heart, three times in 10 minutes, each time seeing the horrors of [[hell]] and then returning to life.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url= http://www.rhema.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8&Itemid=137|title=Founder's Memorial |website=Kenneth Hagin Ministries|language=en-US|access-date= 2017-08-04}}</ref> He remained paralyzed after his conversion.<ref name=":1" />

On August 8, 1934, he says he was raised from his deathbed by a revelation of "faith in God's Word" after reading Mark 11:23–24.<ref name= ":0" /> He was also healed of his paralysis and never struggled with walking. His dramatic healing is detailed in Roberts Liardon's book ''God's Generals''.

{{Bibleverse || Mark|11:23–24|KJV}} defined his ministry and was his most frequently quoted verse:<ref name=":1" />{{blockquote |For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.}}

=== Start of ministry ===
In 1936, he founded his first non-denominational church.<ref name=":1" /> He preached his first sermon as the pastor of a small, community Baptist church in Roland, Texas.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url= http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/septemberweb-only/9-22-11.0.html|title=Weblog: Kenneth Hagin, 'Word of Faith' Preacher, Dies at 86 |work=Christianity Today |access-date= 2017-08-04}}</ref> In 1937, he became an Assemblies of God minister.<ref name=":2" /> During the next twelve years he pastored five [[Assemblies of God]] churches in Texas: in the cities of [[Tom Bean, Texas|Tom Bean]], [[Farmersville, Texas|Farmersville]] (twice), [[Talco, Texas|Talco]], [[Greggton, Texas|Greggton]], and [[Van, Texas|Van]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url= http://www.rhema.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9:..&showall=1|title=History of the Ministry|website=Kenneth Hagin Ministries|language=en-US|access-date=2017-08-04}}</ref> Van, Texas was the last church he pastored before starting to travel.

On November 25, 1938, he married Oretha Rooker.<ref name= ":0" /> They had two children. Their first child Kenneth Wayne Hagin, known as Kenneth Hagin Jr., was born on September 3, 1939.<ref name=":3" /> A daughter, Patricia (Hagin) Harrison, was born 19 months later on March 27, 1941.<ref name=":3" /> His son Kenneth Wayne Hagin is currently the pastor of Rhema Bible Church and President of Kenneth Hagin Ministries.<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www.rhema.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=100&Itemid=135|title=The Founder and Leaders of Rhema Christian Faith Ministry |website= Kenneth Hagin Ministries|language= en-US|access-date=2017-08-04}}</ref>

Hagin began an [[Itinerant preacher|itinerant]] ministry as a Bible teacher and [[Evangelism|evangelist]] in 1949 after an appearance by Jesus.<ref name=":2" /> He joined the Voice of Healing Revival in the U.S. with [[Oral Roberts]], [[Gordon Lindsay]] and [[T. L. Osborn]] between 1947 and 1958.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" />

Hagin was given full admission to the [[Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International]] (also known as the FGBMFI) which had been established in 1951.{{Citation needed|date=August 2017}}

=== Evangelistic Association ===
On January 23, 1963, he formed the Kenneth E. Hagin Evangelistic Association (now Kenneth Hagin Ministries) in Garland, Texas.<ref name=":3" /> In September 1966, the ministry offices were moved to [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]] into a space previously used by T.L. Osborn.<ref name=":3" /> He started selling his sermons on [[Reel-to-reel audio tape recording|reel-to-reel]] tape in 1966. In November of that year, he taught for the first time on radio on [[KSKY (AM)|KSKY]] in [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]].<ref name=":3" />

The North Texas District Council of the Assemblies of God ordained him a minister in 1967.<ref name=":3" />

In 1967, he began a regular radio broadcast that still continues as "Faith Seminar of the Air." Teaching by his son, Rev. Kenneth Hagin Jr, is heard on the program.{{Citation needed|date=August 2017}}

Since Hagin's incorporation 1963, his organization grew to include numerous [[Mass media|media]] outreaches and ministries. These are:
* Faith Library Publications – with 65 million book copies in circulation<ref name=":2" />
* "q Praise" – a weekly television program on the [[Trinity Broadcasting Network]]
* "Faith Seminar of the Air" – a radio program heard on many stations nationwide and on the Internet
* "The Word of Faith" – a free monthly magazine with roughly 600,000 subscribers
* Crusades conducted throughout the nation
* Rhema Correspondence Bible School
* Rhema Prayer and Healing Center, located on the Rhema campus in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

At a camp meeting in 1973, Hagin announced the creation of a "bible training center." In 1974, Hagin opened RHEMA Bible Training College, in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, which now has training centers in fourteen different countries, planted over 1,500 congregations worldwide, and has 25,000 [[alumni]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite news|url= http://www.tulsaworld.com/archives/rev-kenneth-e-hagin-founder-of-international-ministries-dies/article_28e06541-2943-545c-ac3a-9b4bd3d673a7.html |title=Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin, founder of international ministries dies| agency = Associated Press|first= Kelly | last = Kurt |work=Tulsa World |access-date=2017-08-04}}</ref><ref>R.G. Robins (2010), ''Pentecostalism in America'', Praeger.  {{ISBN |978-0-313-35295-9}} p. 25</ref>

In 1979, he founded the Prayer and Healing Center to provide a place for the sick to come and "have the opportunity to build their faith." Its Healing School continues to be held free of charge twice a day on the Rhema campus.<ref name=":3" />

On May 20, 1994, Hagin received an Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree from Faith Theological Seminary in Tampa, Florida.<ref name=":3" />

=== Death ===
Hagin went to bed on Saturday September 13 feeling well, according to a news release from his ministry. He sat at the breakfast table on Sunday morning and smiled at his wife, Oretha, then sighed and his head fell to his chest. He died on Friday, September 19, 2003, at the age of 86.<ref name=":4" />