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ChurchWatch 11/23/09

Tulsa Megachurch Pastor, Billy Joe Daugherty Dies

Audible gasps were heard across the Victory Christian Center congregation in Tulsa, Oklahoma, near the end of the 9 a.m. service when associate pastor Bruce Edwards announced from the pulpit, “At 4:40 a.m. this morning, pastor graduated into heaven.” The Tulsa World reported the passing of Pastor Billy Joe Daugherty, the popular pastor of the Tulsa mega-church.

“We don’t sorrow as the world sorrows, as one without hope,” the associate pastor said. “We celebrate his life, but at the same time there is sorrow, there is grieving.”

Daugherty, who was the founding pastor of Victory Christian Center, died Sunday after a short battle with lymphoma. He was 57.

Church leaders made this announcement on the Victory Christian Center Web site:

With honor and yet remorse, the leaders of Victory Christian Center announce the passing of Pastor Billy Joe Daugherty from this life into the next. We are sad to lose the presence of our pastor, shepherd, father, and brother. We are thankful, however, for his life, love, and influence on the individuals and ministries he inspired for the last 30 years.

In the midst of the prayers from thousands around the world, Pastor Billy Joe Daugherty experienced his ultimate healing by entering into the presence of God. Pastor Billy Joe Daugherty’s body succumbed to Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma this morning just after 4 am, November 22, 2009 at MD Anderson Medical Center in Houston. It was a peaceful passing with his family and loved ones by his side. Born on April 23rd, 1952, he was 57 years old.

Daugherty was hospitalized in October with a viral infection in his throat when tests discovered the cancer.

The Tulsa World reported that many people sobbed in their seats as son-in-law Adam Sanders talked about Daugherty’s final hours at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. “We miss him, but he’s with Jesus,” he said. “His entire life was about one thing, loving God, and out of that love, he loved people. We will continue in his legacy, loving people.”

Another son-in-law, Caleb Wehrli, added with tears streaming down his face, that the whole family continued to worship right up to the end. “He fought the good fight and he won. He touched so many people,” he said.

In addition to founding one of Tulsa’s largest churches, he was founder of Victory Christian School, Victory Bible Institute with approximately 900 campuses in 93 countries, and Victory World Missions Training Center which has sent thousands of missionaries around the world.

Daugherty also founded the Tulsa Dream Center, an outreach to the poor and destitute in Tulsa. The church Web site states, "From inner city families, to single parents, to troubled teens, Tulsa has benefited from his influence beyond the walls of his church."

According to the Tulsa World article, Daugherty's television show, Victory in Jesus, reached more than 100 million households in North America, in addition to satellite and Internet distribution worldwide. He and his wife, Victory co-pastor Sharon Daugherty, have written more than a dozen books.

"Daugherty was one of America’s best-known charismatic pastors, preaching an upbeat and sometimes controversial message that Jesus came to bring spiritual, emotional and physical healing, and blessing and prosperity to mankind. He regularly brought some of the top charismatic preachers in the world to Tulsa for Word Explosion, Victory’s annual summer conference."

The World reports that Daugherty was originally from Magnolia, Arkansas, he attended Oral Roberts University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Christian education. He was a youth minister in the 1970s at Sheridan Christian Center, and became senior pastor at the church in 1976 when the pastor retired. By 1980, attendance had grown from 300 to 2,000. Daugherty sought to relocate the church. When church leaders decided not to move, he started what is now Victory Christian Center, meeting briefly in a former car dealership.

Four years later, when Tulsa Public Schools sold the school building, the church moved to its present site, but held worship services in the ORU Mabee Center across the street. In 2007, the church moved into its state of the art, $32 million, 5,000-seat worship center, built without borrowing money. It was the first time the church had its own worship center.

In 2005, Daugherty made national news when a man came forward at an altar call on a Sunday morning and slugged him in the face, opening a cut over his eye that required two stitches. Daugherty went to the Tulsa jail to forgive the man, did not press assault charges, and later wrote a book about the experience: “Knocked Down But Not Out.”

Then in October, 2007, Daugherty was named interim president of Oral Roberts University after ORU president Richard Roberts stepped down in the wake of allegations that he misused university funds.

In addition to his wife, Sharon Daugherty, he is survived his mother, Iru Daugherty. Among other survivors are his four children, all of them involved in the ministry, daughters Ruthie Sanders and Sarah Wehrli, and sons Paul and John.

In lieu of flowers, his family requests donations to Victory Christian Center Missions to continue advancing the vision and ministry of Pastor Billy Joe Daugherty. A memorial service will be held on Monday, November 30th. You can visit the church's Web site, http://www.victory.com/, in the coming days for time and location information.

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