Bishop Carlton Pearson: Pentecostalism, Radical Inclusion, Black Theology, and the Study of Religion

The late Bishop Carlton Pearson was an extraordinary religious figure by almost any measure. Megachurch pastor, televangelist, scholar, musical performer, heretic, liberal Protestant, universalist, metaphysician, and sacred activist are all words that aptly describe the journey, which makes Pearson such a compelling and controversial figure. Though reared in the African American Holiness-Pentecostal tradition, Pearson was also exposed to the predominantly white Pentecostal-Charismatic movement, including being mentored by some of its leading figures, including Kathryn Kuhlman and Oral Roberts. Pearson’s relationship with these leading white figures helped launch and expand his own ministry. But Pearson would go on to return to his Black Pentecostal roots, with his Azusa conference, from the late 1980s until the early 2000s. This annual gathering brought together tens of thousands, and helped expand the ministries of some of the most influential Black descended figures in the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement: T.D. Jakes, Paul Morton, Jackie McCullough, Donnie McClurkin, Juanita Bynum and so many others. Pearson appeared to give up all of the success and fame of his largely Evangelical ministry when he began to espouse the gospel of inclusion. The gospel of inclusion, for Pearson, meant that everyone was reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, whether or not they knew it, or even believed it. But what is more, Pearson went further than what is commonly referred to as universal salvation or reconciliation to reject the idea of hell and the Devil. This radical change in Pearson’s beliefs led to a swift and dramatic loss of almost everything he accumulated as a widely regarded, respected, and well received preacher, teacher and pastor in multiracial, largely megachurch, Pentecostal-Charismatic circles. Because of Pearson’s 50-year-career in ministry, this period of “radical inclusion” is a second act for Pearson, as he would go on to publish several books, serve as the interim pastor of the one of the largest, predominantly Black New Thought churches in Chicago, Illinois, and embrace, and be embraced by leading Black and white figures of liberal Protestantism and universalism, including Michael Beckwith and Yvette Flunder. This proposed roundtable will allow four scholars of Black religion, who are familiar, broadly, with all the contours of Bishop Pearson’s life and ministry, and some of whom, who knew him personally, to reflect on him as a seminal figure in the study of American religion, Black religion, Black theology and Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. There is still quite a bit of work to do to situate Pearson within the scholarly literature. To date, very little has been written about the multi-racial and global nature of the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement, and the critical role of Black American figures within it. Some important exceptions would include, Marla Frederick’s work: *Between Sundays: Black Women and Everyday Struggles of Faith* (University of California Press, 2003), and *Colored Television: American Religion Gone Global* (Stanford University Press, 2015); Jonathan Walton’s *Watch This!: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Black Televangelism* (New York University Press, 2009); *T.D. Jakes: America's New Preacher* (New York University Press, 2005) by Shayne Lee; and *Righteous Riches: The Word of Faith Movement in Contemporary African American Religion* (Oxford University Press, 2005) by Milmon Harrison. But this would not be the only literature in which to situate Pearson. Other literatures include work on Black New Thought and or Black Metaphysical religion, like *Beyond Christianity: African Americans in a New Thought Church* (New York University Press, 2005) by Darnise Martin, or scholarly articles by Martin and Matthew Harris. Finally, there is the important, growing literature of Black religion, Pentecostalism, and gender and sexuality, which includes work by Alisha Lola Jones, *Flaming?: The Peculiar Theopolitics of Fire and Desire in Black Male Gospel Performance* (Oxford University Press, 2020) and *Ellen Lewin’s Filled with the Spirit: Sexuality, Gender, and Radical Inclusivity in a Black Pentecostal Church Coalition* (University of Chicago Press, 2018). Pearson is actually an important figure in all of these conversations. This roundtable, taking place in Pearson’s hometown of San Diego, is meant to deepen the scholarly conversation about his life and work, and demonstrate his centrality to all of these and other important conversations in the study of religion.