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Harold Lawrence Lea (born January 30, 1951) is an American pastor and televangelist in Rockwall, Texas.


Early years

Lea graduated from
Dallas Baptist University Dallas Baptist University (DBU) is a Christian liberal arts university in Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1898 as Decatur Baptist College, Dallas Baptist University currently operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Hurst. History Dallas Baptist Uni ...
, where he met his first wife Melva. He completed his graduate work at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in
Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
.Randall Herbert Balmer, ''Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism'', p. 333 Larry and Melva were married in 1972 and had three children. He became the youth pastor of Beverly Hills Baptist Church in Dallas, where the youth department grew from 40 to 1,000 participants. While pastoring Church on the Rock in Rockwall, Texas, Lea also served as Dean of Theological and Spiritual Affairs at
Oral Roberts University Oral Roberts University (ORU) is a private evangelical university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1963, the university is named after its founder, evangelist Oral Roberts. Sitting on a campus, ORU offers over 70 undergraduate degree programs ...
.


Church on the Rock

Following a stint as an itinerant preacher in the late 1970s, Lea was invited to pastor Church on the Rock in 1980 with 12 people in Rockwall, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. Within 5 years, the congregation had increased to over 5,000. In 1986, Lea began to travel again, holding what he called "Prayer Clinics" and later, "Prayer Rallies" or "Prayer Breakthroughs". Also, that year marked the beginning of Lea's television program, called ''Change Your Life''. Also, that year, Lea released his first book, the best-seller ''Could You Not Tarry One Hour?'', which was his teaching on
The Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...
. He also began a partnership group where his partners were referred to as " Prayer Warriors". In June 1990, Lea stepped aside as pastor to oversee Church on the Rock, which was a group of churches that was called a "virtual denomination" according to ''
Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...
''.


Controversies

Lea found himself in some controversy later that year, when Lea and several ministers met at the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Lea's ministry was heavily criticized by an assortment of gay-rights activists, pro-choice activists, and
Wiccans Wicca () is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religion categorise it as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and was ...
led by Eric Pryor (who later converted to Christianity). On Halloween (the first night of the crusade), there was a massive protest leading to many who came to the Civic Auditorium having to come through a very hostile crowd outside and concerns about potential violence forced Lea to drop plans for 5,000 attendees to conduct a prayer march through the city's streets. A year later, ABC's ''
PrimeTime Live ''Primetime'' was an American news magazine television program that debuted on ABC in 1989 with co-hosts Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer and originally had the title ''Primetime Live''. The program's final episode aired May 18, 2012. History E ...
'' aired an exposé involving Lea and fellow Dallas-area televangelists
W.V. Grant Walter Vinson Grant, Jr., who goes by W. V. Grant (born May 25, 1945), is a televangelist whose ministry has been based in the Greater Dallas area. Career Grant began his career in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the mid-1970s with the "Cathedra ...
and Robert Tilton. The incident involving Lea came as a result of his fundraising appeals, questions as to how much money was going to mentioned projects (specifically a program involving helping start churches in Poland),Susan Lockamy, "Ethics Panel Exonerates Lea," ''Charisma'', July 1992 and accusations that Lea implied a fire at one of his homes left his family almost destitute even though they still had a five-million-dollar home in the Dallas area.


Aftermath

Lea's organization had grown so quickly, he made the decision to allow the National Religious Broadcasters financial integrity arm, EFICOM (Ethics and Financial Integrity Commission), to audit his ministry to look into the charges. While EFICOM would determine he had been delinquent in sending his financial information, the group determined that Lea had not misused the funds for the Poland project. The EFICOM committee also accused ABC News of misleading Lea about the interview's purpose and ignoring "significant facts"; such as signed affidavits from Polish church officials that would have confirmed Lea's claims. After ending his ''Change Your Life'' broadcasts in December 1991 following the exposé, Lea had returned to the airwaves by May 1992 with a show titled ''America, Let's Pray''. His credibility and prominence in the charismatic community evaporated (though not as quickly as Tilton's), as he traveled with
Morris Cerullo Morris Cerullo (October 2, 1931 – July 10, 2020) was an American Pentecostal evangelist. He traveled extensively around the world for his ministry. He hosted ''Victory Today'', a daily television program, and published more than 80 books. Cer ...
at the latter's crusades in the mid-1990s. Lea also claimed that he suffered a relapse of bipolar disorder. In 1994, he took a position as a pastor in San Diego. This lasted until 1997. After 27 years of marriage, Larry filed for divorce in April 1999. During the divorce, his wife attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Lea's son John started the Life Church in Rockwall, Texas in the same Dallas suburb where Larry and his ex-wife began Church on the Rock in 1980. Lea has since remarried and has returned to the Rockwall area. The Church on the Rock main campus was later sold to Lake Pointe Baptist Church, a
Southern Baptist The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The word ...
megachurch in the Rockwall area which relocated to the site and renamed itself Lake Pointe Church; while the church itself moved to the nearby
Rowlett Rowlett (, traditionally ) is a city in Dallas County, Texas, Dallas and Rockwall County, Texas, Rockwall counties in the U.S. state of Texas, and an eastern suburb of Dallas. The total population estimate is 73,270 in 2021. It is a growing, upsc ...
area and was renamed Church in the City in January 2007.


References


External links


Larry Lea Ministries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lea, Larry American television evangelists Religious scandals Oral Roberts University people 1951 births Living people People with bipolar disorder People from Rockwall, Texas Dallas Baptist University alumni