Larry Lea
Encyclopedia
Early years
He attended and graduated from Dallas Baptist UniversityDallas Baptist University
Dallas Baptist University , formerly known as Dallas Baptist College, is a Christian liberal arts university located in Dallas, Texas. The main campus is located approximately fifteen miles southwest of downtown Dallas overlooking Mountain Creek Lake...
where he met his first wife, Melva. He completed his graduate work at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is a private, non-profit institution of higher education, associated with the Southern Baptist Convention...
in Fort Worth. Larry and Melva married in 1972, and together they have 3 children. He became the youth pastor of Beverly Hills Baptist Church in Dallas, where the youth department shot up from 40 to 1,000. While pastoring Church on the Rock in Rockwall, Texas, He also served as Dean of Theological and Spiritual Affairs at Oral Roberts University
Oral Roberts University
Oral Roberts University , based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the United States, is an interdenominational, Charismatic Christian, comprehensive university with an enrollment of about 3,790 students from 49 U.S. states along with a significant number of international students from 70 countries...
.
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, TexasRockwall, Texas
Rockwall is a city in Rockwall County, Texas, United States, and a suburb of Dallas. It is part of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. The population was 37,490 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Rockwall County. Rockwall County is the second wealthiest county in the state of Texas in terms...
, a suburb of Dallas. Within 5 years, the church had shot up 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. 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- International
Church on the Rock- International
Church on the Rock-International, also known as the Church on the Rock or COTRI, is a neocharismatic evangelical Christian denomination...
, which was a group of churches that was called a "virtual denomination" according to Christianity Today
Christianity Today
Christianity Today is an Evangelical Christian periodical based in Carol Stream, Illinois. It is the flagship publication of its parent company Christianity Today International, claiming circulation figures of 140,000 and readership of 290,000...
. (The successor of this organization, still named COTRI, is led by former Church on the Rock assistant pastor Dr. Lawrence Kennedy. Under Lea COTRI had 45 churches nationwide; now the number includes over 350 in the U.S. and thousands worldwide.)
Controversies
Lea found himself in some controversy later that year, when Lea and several ministers met at the Civic AuditoriumBill Graham Civic Auditorium
The Bill Graham Civic Auditorium is a multi-purpose arena in San Francisco, California, currently named after promoter Bill Graham...
in San Francisco. Lea's ministry was heavily criticized by an assortment of gay-rights activists, pro-choice activists, and Wiccans 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.
A year later, ABC's PrimeTime Live
Primetime (TV series)
Primetime is an American news magazine show which debuted on ABC in 1989 with co-hosts Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer and originally had the title Primetime Live.-Early history:...
aired an exposé involving Lea and fellow Dallas-area televangelists W.V. Grant
W.V. Grant
Walter Vinson Grant, Jr., who goes by W. V. Grant, is an American televangelist whose ministry has been based in the Dallas, Texas, area...
and Robert Tilton
Robert Tilton
Robert Tilton is an American televangelist who achieved notoriety in the 1980s and early 1990s through his infomercial-styled religious television program Success-N-Life, which at its peak in 1991 aired in all 235 American TV markets , brought in nearly $80 million per year, and was described as...
. The incident involving Lea came as a result of his fundraising appeals, questions as to how much money was going to mentioned projects, and accusations that Lea implied a fire at one of his homes left his family almost destitute even though they still had the home in the Dallas area.
Aftermath
Lea's organization had grown so quickly, he made the decision to allow the National Religious BroadcastersNational Religious Broadcasters
National Religious Broadcasters is an American organization that represents Christian religious broadcasters on American television and radio, including several high-profile televangelists and Christian radio show hosts. It claims a membership of more than 1700 organizations...
financial integrity arm, EFICOM (Ethics and Financial Integrity Commission), to audit his ministry to look into the charges.
His credibility and prominence in the charismatic community evaporated (though not as quickly as Tilton's), as he traveled with Morris Cerullo
Morris Cerullo
Morris Cerullo is an American pentecostal televangelist.-Early life and ministry:Cerullo, whose evangelistic ministry is based in San Diego, California, was born in Passaic, New Jersey to a Russo Jewish/Italian family. His parents died in an automobile accident when he was only two years old...
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. His wife then attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is a private, non-profit institution of higher education, associated with the Southern Baptist Convention...
. Lea's son John started the Life Church in Rockwall, Texas
Rockwall, Texas
Rockwall is a city in Rockwall County, Texas, United States, and a suburb of Dallas. It is part of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. The population was 37,490 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Rockwall County. Rockwall County is the second wealthiest county in the state of Texas in terms...
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 megachurch
Megachurch
A megachurch is a church having 2,000 or more in average weekend attendance. The Hartford Institute's database lists more than 1,300 such Protestant churches in the United States. According to that data, approximately 50 churches on the list have attendance ranging from 10,000 to 47,000...
in the Rockwall area which relocated to the site and renamed itself Lake Pointe Church.