Don Wilson Basham (September 17, 1926 – March 27, 1989) was a Bible teacher and author. Born and raised in

Wichita Falls, Texas Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. Accordin ...

, Basham was raised in a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

home but later joined the

Christian Church In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a synonym fo ...

(

Disciples of Christ The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th ...

) whilst at college. He became involved in the

Charismatic renewal The Catholic Charismatic Renewal is a movement within the Catholic Church that is part of the wider charismatic movement across historic Christian churches. The Renewal has been described as a "current of grace". It began in 1967 when Cath ...

in 1963. Basham studied at

Midwestern State University Midwestern State University (MSU Texas) is a public liberal arts university in Wichita Falls, Texas. In 2020 it had 5,141 undergraduate students. It is the state's only public institution focused on the liberal arts. History Founded in 1922 as ...

Phillips University Phillips University was a private university Enid, Oklahoma. It opened in 1906 and closed in 1998. It was affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It included an undergraduate college and a graduate seminary. The university wa ...

(BA) and its graduate

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

Enid, Oklahoma Enid ( ) is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the county seat of Garfield County. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,308. Enid was founded during the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in the Land Run of 1893, a ...

(BD). Following the reported miraculous healing of a close friend, Basham and his wife Alice experienced a

spiritual awakening Used in a religious sense, enlightenment translates several Buddhist terms and concepts, most notably ''bodhi'', '' kensho,'' and ''satori''. Related terms from Asian religions are ''kaivalya'' and ''moksha'' (liberation) in Hinduism, '' Kevala ...

that led him to leave a career in

commercial art Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of promo ...

in 1951 to enter the Christian ministry. He was ordained as a

Minister in 1955.

Family

Whilst at college, he met Alice Roling who was also born and raised in Wichita Falls. They married in 1949 and had five children; Cindi, Shari, Glenn, Lisa and Laura. Cindi, one of his daughters, married Dick Leggatt who later became the President of Derek Prince Ministries.

Pastorates

After a five-year pastorate in suburban

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

, he became pastor of the Hillcrest Christian Church in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada and later pastored East Side church in

Sharon, Pennsylvania Sharon is a city in western Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city, located along the banks of the Shenango River on the state border with Ohio, is about northeast of Youngstown, about southeast of Cleveland and about northwest o ...

Itinerant Ministry

After the publication of his first book, Basham left the pastorate in 1967 to commence a freelance writing and travelling ministry. He travelled extensively in the US and abroad (

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

) Basham, D.W., Beyond Blessing to Obedience, CGM Publishing, 1976 teaching on subjects such as the

Holy Spirit In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...

, deliverance, spiritual authority and

faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people often ...

. Basham's

deliverance ministry In Christianity, deliverance ministry refers to groups that perform practices and rituals to cleanse people of demons and evil spirits. This is done in order to address problems in their life deemed to be manifesting as a result of demonic presenc ...

resulted in some notoriety. In the 1970s, Basham's and Prince's teaching on deliverance and practice of public exorcisms had a significant impact on the charismatic movement.

Christian Growth Ministries

In 1970, Basham, along with Bible teachers

Derek Prince Peter Derek Vaughan Prince (14 August 1915 – 24 September 2003) was a Bible teacher whose daily radio programme, ''Derek Prince Legacy Radio'', is broadcast around the world in various languages. Marriage and the growth of his ministry Derek ...

, Bob Mumford,

Ern Baxter William John Ernest (Ern) Baxter (1914–1993) was a Canadian Pentecostal evangelist. Early life Born in Saskatchewan, Canada, he was baptised into a Presbyterian family. His mother was involved with a holiness church and following his father� ...

and Charles Simpson, began teaching a controversial doctrine of 'spiritual covering' that required individual Christians to be submitted and accountable to a leader. They became the leaders of the Shepherding Movement. Basham submitted himself to

as his personal shepherd. Together with Prince and Mumford, Basham establishe
Good News Church
in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1974. Basham later relocated with the CGM to

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

in 1982 when it adopted the name Integrity Communications. Basham was the editor of CGMs monthly magazine, ''

New Wine New Wine is a not-for-profit Christian evangelical organization based in the United Kingdom, that assists Christian churches with organizational leadership training and fundraising. The organization also holds its own annual summer conferences, ...

'' from 1975 to 1981 and served as chief editorial consultant until it ceased publication in 1986. New Wine at one time was the most widely circulated Charismatic publication in the US.Synan (ed), The Century of the Holy Spirit: 100 Years of Pentecostal and Charismatic Renewal, Nelson, 2001

Books

Basham wrote sixteen books and numerous articles for Christian magazines. * ''A Handbook on Holy Spirit Baptism'' * ''A handbook on tongues, interpretation and prophecy'' * ''A manual for spiritual warfare'' * ''Beyond Blessing to Obedience'', CGM Publishing (1976) * ''Can a Christian have a demon?'' * ''Deliver us from Evil'' * ''Deliver us from Temptation'' * ''Face up with a miracle'' * ''Lead Us Not into Temptation'', Chosen Books (1986) * ''How God guides us'' * ''Spiritual Power: How to Get it, How to Give it'' * ''True and False Prophets'', Manna Books (1973) * ''Miracle of Tongues'' * ''The Most Dangerous Game'' * ''The way I see it'' * ''Willing to Forgive'' Co-author of: * ''Family'', Integrity Publications, (1982) * ''The unseen war'', New Wine Publications (undated) * ''Seed Truth'', Manna Christian Outreach (1975)

Family

Pastorates

Itinerant Ministry

Christian Growth Ministries

Books

References

Related links