Bishop Carlton D. Pearson Dies At 70 After Battle With Cancer

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Bishop Carlton D. Pearson died Sunday night at the age of 70 after a battle with cancer.

The news was posted on his Facebook account.

“We are saddened to inform you that Bishop Carlton D’Metrius Pearson, one of the most popular and influential preachers in America and around the world, who sacrificed everything for a message of unconditional love and acceptance by God, died peacefully the night of November 19, 2023, at the age of 70, after a brief battle with cancer that had returned after first defeating it 20 years ago,” the post said.

Pearson moved to Tulsa in 1971 and studied at Oral Roberts University. Oral Roberts later invited Pearson to join the World Action Singers on his nationally aired TV specials.

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In 1977, Pearson launched his own ministry called Higher Dimensions, Inc allowing him to travel the country and In 1981, with the help of his college roommate, Gary McIntosh, Pearson started Higher Dimensions Evangelistic Center, with 75 people attending the first service in Jenks. The church grew to a congregation of over 5,000 members.

Pearson reached national crowds in the mid-1980s with the TV show, “Everything’s Gonna Be All Right.” He also founded the AZUSA conference to give national exposure to gospel singers and preachers. The conference grew to bring 70,000 people to Tulsa annually.

Around this time, Pearson had a shift in his beliefs. He preached a sermon that no one goes to hell. This became known as “The Gospel of Inclusion. ” After this shift, churches closed doors to Pearson, his annual conference ended, and his church denomination shrank to only dozens of people.

In 2018, a film about Pearson’s rise and fall in the Christian world called “Come Sunday” came out on Netflix.