1. THE BEGINNINGS
Kathryn Johanna Kuhlman was born on May 9, 1907, in Concordia, Missouri, United States. She was born to German parents, Joseph Adolph and Emma Walkenhorst Kuhlman; She was the third of four children: Myrtle, Earl, Kathryn and Geneva. Kathryn converted to Christianity in 1921, at a revival meeting held in a Methodist Church, where a Baptist evangelist, the Reverend Hummel, preached.
In 1923, Kathryn completed the tenth grade of high school, which was the public education grade available in the city of Concordia. Her sister Myrtle had married an itinerant Moody Bible Institute evangelist, Everette B. Parrott, and asked her parents to allow Kathryn to accompany them during the summer. Kathryn helped in the services by sharing her testimony at the revival meetings.
She continued with the Parrot Evangelists for five years, during which they were influenced by Dr. Price, a Canadian evangelist, who taught them about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and as a result they began a healing ministry.
2. THE FIRST PART OF THE MINISTRY
In 1928, in Boise, Idaho, Kathryn had her first opportunity to preach. The work team at that time was made up of: the Parrots, Kathryn Kuhlman, and the pianist Helen Gulliford. Later, Kathryn and Helen accepted the invitation of the pastor of a small church in Boise to stay and work there. Kathryn led the preaching and Helen led the music. They traveled throughout the State of Idaho and other parts of the country for the next five years.
In 1933, Kathryn and Helen moved to the city of Pueblo, Colorado, where they held meetings in a Montgomery Ward warehouse for six months. Urged on by this businessman, she went to Denver and began holding meetings in another of his warehouses. Shortly thereafter she moved to the Monitor Paper Company warehouse, and in 1935 they moved to an abandoned garage which they called “The Denver Revival Tabernacle.” There, the ministry’s various programs began to grow: Sunday school, ladies’ society, and a fifteen-minute radio program called “Smiling Despite…” on the KVOD station.
Kathryn Kuhlman shared her preaching ministry in Denver with many visiting evangelists, and it was through those visits that she met Evangelist Phil Kerr, who among other topics preached on divine healing and whose influence later became very significant.
3. THE DIFFICULT TIME
In 1937, she met evangelist Burroughs A. Waltrip whom she would marry some time later, with devastating effects for the ministry because Waltrip had left his wife and children in Texas, and his wife had recently obtained a divorce. Despite the pleas of friends, Kuhlman and Waltrip married in 1938, beginning a period in which both lost their ministries. After six years of marriage, Kathryn finally left Waltrip in 1944, and in 1948 Waltrip divorced her.
The first place Kathryn Kuhlman went after their separation was the city of Franklin, Pennsylvania, where she worked hard to reestablish her preaching ministry.
4. THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH
The turning point came in 1946 when she was invited by Matthew J. Maloney of the Gospel Tabernacle in Franklin, Pennsylvania to again conduct a series of preaching meetings, and she also began preaching on the station’s radio broadcasts. WKRZ in nearby Oil City. Within a few months, her show had been included in the schedule of WPGH, a Pittsburgh radio station. In 1948, Kuhlman began holding meetings in neighboring cities, including Pittsburgh.
In the earlier phase of her ministry, Kathryn was an evangelist whose preaching was limited to the message of salvation; but now she preached about healing, and she called people to the front not only to receive Christ but also to be healed.
In 1947, Katrhyn Kuhlman preached her first series on the Holy Spirit. During the first meeting a woman was healed of a tumor while she was listening to the preaching and later a man was also healed. These events marked the beginning of her healing ministry.
In 1943 he moved to Pittsburgh, initially for a six-week series of preaching. There she met Maggie Hartner, who would later become her secretary and close friend. It was through Maggie’s influence that, in 1948, Kathryn Kuhlman decided to hold a series of meetings at Carnegie Hall in Pittsburgh. The services were very successful and finally in 1950 the ministry moved to Pittsburgh, where she continued until 1971.
Despite the good press she received and the affection lavished upon her by many people in the city, some local pastors were jealous, thinking that she would take away members of their congregations. She survived all the attacks, including debates with a Minister who did not believe in the validity of healing and who considered it inappropriate for a woman to be a preacher. (Kathryn Kuhlman was ordained in 1968 by the Alliance of Evangelical Churches.)
In 1965, encouraged by Pastors Ralph and Elaine Wilkersson, Kathryn Kulhman expanded her ministry to California, beginning with a meeting in Pasadena. Shortly afterward she began holding meetings at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, where she ministered until 1975.
In 1973, she held her first service in Ottawa, Canada, at the insistence of Maudie Phillips, who had traveled to Pittsburgh for Katheryn’s services since early 1969. From 1973 Maudie coordinated Kathryn Kuhlman’s services in a number of cities. around the United States.
Kathryn Kuhlman’s services were characterized by:
• Inspirational songs of praise and hymns
• A message about the need “to be born again”
• The power of the Holy Spirit flowing in a healing anointing throughout the entire auditorium
• People who came forward to give testimony of their healing during the service
• Kathryn Kuhlman laying hands on sick people, who fell to the floor under the power of God
• She never took credit for the healings but testified that only God heals.
She was a great promoter of the charismatic movement, was a guest preacher at Full Gospel Businessmen events, conducted Charismatic Conventions at Melodyland, the largest charismatic center in California, led by Pastor Ralph Wilkersson, and everywhere encouraged people to seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues.
He became famous due to the amazing healings that occurred in his services; to the television programs that she began to broadcast since 1965 on CBS; to articles published in CHRISTIANITY TODAY and TIME magazines; and to television interviews with Johnny Carson and Mike Douglas, among others.
Kathryn Kuhlman was honored at the 25th. celebrating the anniversary of her work in Pittsburgh; Oral Roberts University awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in 1972; she was given the keys to the cities of Pittsburgh and St. Louis; she was named an honorary member in the New York chapter of the Full Gospel Businessmen; and she made a profound spiritual and healing impact on the lives of thousands of people.
Kathryn Kuhlman’s health problemsrelated to his enlarged heart, were first diagnosed in 1955, but became more severe in the last years of his life.
Contributing to this ailment was the strain of a heavy schedule, particularly in the 1970s, when his itinerary expanded and he was conducting services in Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, and visiting many other cities as well. She also continued with her television ministry, with visits to institutions supported by the Kuhlman Foundation, and also had to face a serious conflict with two former collaborators in 1975.
Kathryn Kuhlman’s health declined dramatically, she was hospitalized first in Tulsa during the summer of 1975 and then in Los Angeles at the end of that same year; She died on February 20, 1976 in Tulsa, after open heart surgery.
Although she died, her legacy continued to live on through the Kuhlman Foundation by supporting different missionaries and Christian works, even until 1982 the Foundation continued to broadcast its radio programs in the United States; and to this day Kathryn Kuhlman’s ministry continues to inspire many servants of God around the world.
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