Harald Bredesen
Encyclopedia
Harald Bredesen was an American
Lutheran
pastor who was influential in the early days of the American charismatic movement
.
as the Public Relations Secretary for the World Council of Christian Education. However, Harald felt something missing in his life. In 1946, he went to a Pentecostal
camp meeting where he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit
.
He was ordained
in 1944, and in 1946 he received what Pentecostals refer to as the baptism of the Holy Spirit, a religious experience
accompanied by speaking in tongues
. Many other charismatic Christians have credited him with leading them into the same experience, including Pat Boone
and Pat Robertson
. Bredesen became friends with evangelist Robertson while they both lived in New York in the late 1950s. Robertson called his ministry to world leaders “legendary.”
In his introduction to Bredesen's book, Yes, Lord, entertainer Pat Boone
wrote, "Abraham... Moses... Gideon... Elijah... I think I've known a man like these. His name is Harald Bredesen. Miracles trail him wherever he goes."
Bredesen was the founder of the Prince of Peace Prize, given to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat
in 1980, Mother Teresa
in 1989, posthumously to King Hussein of Jordan
(with King Abdullah
receiving in his father's stead) in 1999, and to Billy Graham
in 2004. Sadat called the occasion he received the award “the high point of my entire life, more important to me even than the Nobel Peace Prize
. That was in the political arena. This was spiritual.”
A Lutheran minister, Bredesen became the first ordained clergyman from a mainline denomination to receive the Pentecostal experience of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, openly tell of his experience, and keep his ordination and credentials in a mainline denomination. In a letter to the editor of Eternity Magazine, Harald Bredesen and Jean Stone Willans coined the term “Charismatic Renewal.”
In the late-1950s, he introduced Pat Robertson
to the experience. Robertson went on to found the Christian Broadcasting Network
where Harald was a founding board member. In Pat Robertson: A Personal, Political, and Religious Portrait, historian David Harrell wrote, “In the long run it was a chance encounter with Harald Bredesen that had the most far-reaching effect on the life and career of Pat Robertson.”
In his book Reagan Inside/Out, Bob Slosser called Bredesen “minister to world leaders.” In that role he touched the lives of many of the most influential figures of his time. A call to prayer that Harald wrote and proposed to his friend Anwar Sadat was cabled by Sadat, Jimmy Carter
and Menachem Begin
to leaders around the world on the eve of the Camp David summit
. According to pundits at the time, few summits began with so little going for them. Thirteen days later, President Jimmy Carter
announced the breakthrough by saying, “We began this summit with a call to prayer. The results have exceeded the expectations of any reasonable person. I am a Christian. Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’”
He met and married Genevieve Corrick in 1954. In 1957, he was called to pastor the historic First Reformed Church
of Mount Vernon, New York
and soon invited Robertson to join him as assistant pastor. Together with others who had received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, Harald and Pat hosted Pentecostal style meetings in the old church during off hours. At one of those meetings, they felt the Lord wanted them to go public with their experiences.
Bredesen was often called the father of the charismatic movement whose adherents now number in the hundreds of millions. Bredesen hosted the long-running Christian Broadcasting Network
television program Charisma. He authored the books Yes, Lord and Need A Miracle?, the CD Toolkit for Eternity: A Walk with Harald Bredesen and the video How to Receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
pastor who was influential in the early days of the American charismatic movement
Charismatic movement
The term charismatic movement is used in varying senses to describe 20th century developments in various Christian denominations. It describes an ongoing international, cross-denominational/non-denominational Christian movement in which individual, historically mainstream congregations adopt...
.
Biography
He had professional success immediately out of seminary, having worked for the World Council of ChurchesWorld Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service. It is a Christian ecumenical organization that is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland...
as the Public Relations Secretary for the World Council of Christian Education. However, Harald felt something missing in his life. In 1946, he went to a Pentecostal
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...
camp meeting where he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit
Baptism with the Holy Spirit
Baptism with the Holy Spirit in Christian theology is a term describing baptism in or with the Spirit of God...
.
He was ordained
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
in 1944, and in 1946 he received what Pentecostals refer to as the baptism of the Holy Spirit, a religious experience
Religious experience
Religious experience is a subjective experience in which an individual reports contact with a transcendent reality, an encounter or union with the divine....
accompanied by speaking in tongues
Glossolalia
Glossolalia or speaking in tongues is the fluid vocalizing of speech-like syllables, often as part of religious practice. The significance of glossolalia has varied with time and place, with some considering it a part of a sacred language...
. Many other charismatic Christians have credited him with leading them into the same experience, including Pat Boone
Pat Boone
Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...
and Pat Robertson
Pat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....
. Bredesen became friends with evangelist Robertson while they both lived in New York in the late 1950s. Robertson called his ministry to world leaders “legendary.”
In his introduction to Bredesen's book, Yes, Lord, entertainer Pat Boone
Pat Boone
Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...
wrote, "Abraham... Moses... Gideon... Elijah... I think I've known a man like these. His name is Harald Bredesen. Miracles trail him wherever he goes."
Bredesen was the founder of the Prince of Peace Prize, given to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat
Anwar Sadat
Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat was the third President of Egypt, serving from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 October 1981...
in 1980, Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa , born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu , was a Roman Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, in 1950...
in 1989, posthumously to King Hussein of Jordan
Hussein of Jordan
Hussein bin Talal was the third King of Jordan from the abdication of his father, King Talal, in 1952, until his death. Hussein's rule extended through the Cold War and four decades of Arab-Israeli conflict...
(with King Abdullah
Abdullah II of Jordan
Abdullah II ibn al-Hussein is the reigning King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. He ascended the throne on 7 February 1999 after the death of his father King Hussein. King Abdullah, whose mother is Princess Muna al-Hussein, is a member of the Hashemite family...
receiving in his father's stead) in 1999, and to Billy Graham
Billy Graham
William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for...
in 2004. Sadat called the occasion he received the award “the high point of my entire life, more important to me even than the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
. That was in the political arena. This was spiritual.”
A Lutheran minister, Bredesen became the first ordained clergyman from a mainline denomination to receive the Pentecostal experience of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, openly tell of his experience, and keep his ordination and credentials in a mainline denomination. In a letter to the editor of Eternity Magazine, Harald Bredesen and Jean Stone Willans coined the term “Charismatic Renewal.”
In the late-1950s, he introduced Pat Robertson
Pat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....
to the experience. Robertson went on to found the Christian Broadcasting Network
Christian Broadcasting Network
The Christian Broadcasting Network, or CBN, is a fundamentalist Christian television broadcasting network in the United States. Its headquarters and main studios are in Virginia Beach, Virginia.-Background:...
where Harald was a founding board member. In Pat Robertson: A Personal, Political, and Religious Portrait, historian David Harrell wrote, “In the long run it was a chance encounter with Harald Bredesen that had the most far-reaching effect on the life and career of Pat Robertson.”
In his book Reagan Inside/Out, Bob Slosser called Bredesen “minister to world leaders.” In that role he touched the lives of many of the most influential figures of his time. A call to prayer that Harald wrote and proposed to his friend Anwar Sadat was cabled by Sadat, Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
and Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin
' was a politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before independence, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944,...
to leaders around the world on the eve of the Camp David summit
Camp David Accords
The Camp David Accords were signed by Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on September 17, 1978, following thirteen days of secret negotiations at Camp David. The two framework agreements were signed at the White House, and were witnessed by United States...
. According to pundits at the time, few summits began with so little going for them. Thirteen days later, President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
announced the breakthrough by saying, “We began this summit with a call to prayer. The results have exceeded the expectations of any reasonable person. I am a Christian. Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’”
He met and married Genevieve Corrick in 1954. In 1957, he was called to pastor the historic First Reformed Church
Reformed churches
The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations characterized by Calvinist doctrines. They are descended from the Swiss Reformation inaugurated by Huldrych Zwingli but developed more coherently by Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger and especially John Calvin...
of Mount Vernon, New York
Mount Vernon, New York
Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It lies on the border of the New York City borough of The Bronx.-Overview:...
and soon invited Robertson to join him as assistant pastor. Together with others who had received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, Harald and Pat hosted Pentecostal style meetings in the old church during off hours. At one of those meetings, they felt the Lord wanted them to go public with their experiences.
Bredesen was often called the father of the charismatic movement whose adherents now number in the hundreds of millions. Bredesen hosted the long-running Christian Broadcasting Network
Christian Broadcasting Network
The Christian Broadcasting Network, or CBN, is a fundamentalist Christian television broadcasting network in the United States. Its headquarters and main studios are in Virginia Beach, Virginia.-Background:...
television program Charisma. He authored the books Yes, Lord and Need A Miracle?, the CD Toolkit for Eternity: A Walk with Harald Bredesen and the video How to Receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.