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Kenneth Copeland (b. Dec. 6, 1936 in Lubbock, Texas) is an American charismatic (neo-pentecostal) teacher, preacher, singer, televangelist, and author.
Kenneth Copeland was a successful pop singer before turning his life over to ministry work following his conversion on Nov. 2, 1962. In the 1960s, he was a pilot for the controversial Pentecostal evangelist and educator Oral Roberts. Copeland attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but later left and bought tapes of another Pentecostal evangelist, Kenneth E. Hagin. Copeland memorized the tapes and preached verbatim from them. His ministry grew through the 1970s, and in 1979, "Believer's Voice of Victory" first appeared on the airwaves.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries has its headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. For a quarter of a century Copeland has been holding annual week-long "Believers' Conventions" both Anaheim, California, and Fort Worth. In the last few years, his regular preaching partners at these events have been Creflo A. Dollar, Jesse Duplantis, and Jerry Savelle, along with his wife Gloria.
Copeland has been embroiled in controversy in recent years over several areas of Christian doctrine including his teaching of a born again Jesus, man as a 'little god,' and the notion that God was 'the biggest failure in the whole Bible.' He also is a proponent of the word of faith theological framework first taught by Hagin.
External link
Kenneth Copeland Ministries homepage (http://www.kcm.org/)
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