Carlton Pearson: Biography of a Preacher

Carlton Pearson knew at the age of five that he would be a preacher and he was by the age of 15. He was ordained at 18. After all, he was a fourth-generation Pentecostal minister, and knew nothing but the ways of God.

Later Pearson attended college at Oral Roberts University where he majored in Biblical Literature/English Bible. Min.Oral Roberts developed a mentorship relationship with Pearson. Pearson later served 15 years on the University's Board of Regents.

Soon, Pearson branch into his own ministry by starting his own church named the Higher Dimension Family Church of Tulsa. The church grew so fast that a building was built to hold the 5000 to 6000 that attended weekly. Carlton Pearson even made a recording with his Higher Dimension Choir and other singles, which earned him two Stellar Awards and a Dove Award nomination. He then began the yearly Azusa Revival (name after the popular Azusa Street Revival in early 1900's) held at the Oral Roberts Campus that drew over 40,000 people yearly.

Pearson seemly had it all, along with his blessed ministry, he married, and they had a son and daughter. A wonderful life with everything a man could want, until...

Bishop Pearson still had questions in his mind about Hell. His grandparents both had been ministers and had backslid by way of adultery and alcohol. They had since passed and Pearson wondered how they could be in Hell. One night as he watch starving Ethiopian on television, his thoughts turned to how could people suffer in life and still go to a Hell for a doomed life of forever suffering. In his interview with KOTV, he is quoted as saying, "how can mercy endure forever, and horror endure forever. I can't enjoy Heaven knowing that my brother, or my child, or my parent or my best friend is infinitely tortured.

When he began to preach his new message which he later called Inclusion, his congregation of over 5000 began to fall by the hundreds. For his televised ministry people were spread out a little more and more on Sundays so that the mass amount of the congregation could not be missed as easily by the watching public. Before long with members leaving, the donations were also too. Soon the building was lost due to foreclosure. He was asked to step down from the Oral Roberts board of regents and has since lost the backing of many ministers and his invitations to preside over the popular and spiritual Azusa Revival has ended.

Carlton Pearson is spreading the word that God loves us all unconditionally and that he want us all in Heaven with Him. God not only wants us all in Heaven, but also, now Pearson teaches, preaches and has written a book, The Gospel of Inclusion that tells that we will all be in Heaven anyway, eventually.

Pearson still held on to some of his followers and other curious individuals where they now attended his newly named church, New Dimension, at a borrowed space from an Episcopal for Sunday afternoon service. New Dimensions has a diverse congregation including lesbian, homosexual and atheist.

Pearson does believe that there is a Hell, just not the hell fire eternally burning brimstone described in the bible. In Carlton Pearson's book he tells that through his studies of the Bible, that because God died and made the optimum sacrifice for us all, that we all have been saved because of His death and resurrection and that there is an inclusion for everyone from going to Hell. In his FAQ on Pearson New Dimensions site, the question is asked, "Can a person do anything that they want and still go to heaven and his answer is yes, but that Inclusion is not a license to sin".

His studies go deeper when he questioned how could a loving God condemn His children who He died for, and then send them to everlasting hell and torment. Pearson believes that Hell can be the consequences of the lifestyle that we live now and that we may very well be doing our penance for our sins to the point that we are in torment right here on earth. However, Inclusion does believe that there are some sins that will warrant a punishment, on the contrary, it would mainly be for corrective purpose, and that the sentence for Hell could be 10 minutes or 10 million years. Nevertheless, a person would not forever be doomed to Hell or the heavenly reform school.