| Leroy Jenkins | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 19, 1937 Greenwood, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Occupation | Evangelist, Television personality |
| Known for | Founder of Leroy Jenkins Ministries, Scottsdale, AZ President, Leroy Jenkins Ministries |
| Title | Rev. Leroy Jenkins |
| Term | $50,000 and up ↑ (?) |
| Religion | Pentecostal (Christian) |
| Spouse | Linda Harkins, ?-? (divorced) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parents | W.M. Jenkins (mother) |
| Website | |
| http://www.leroyjenkins.com | |
Leroy Jenkins (born February 19, 1937 in Greenwood, South Carolina) is an American televangelist and preacher who was popular in the 1960s and 1970s. He was known for his faith healing, through the use of "miracle water". His television program can be seen on television stations across the U.S. and internationally on Christian television networks including as The Word, BET, on its Morning Inspiration segment, and DayStar, as well as internet podcasts. Jenkins, who was once married to Linda Peck, (known as Linda Harkins), was also raised in Tupelo, Mississippi.
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In 1960, while living in suburban Atlanta, the young Jenkins had his left arm badly severed while renovating his house after a plate glass window pane broke and fell down from a window. After being rushed to the hospital immediately after the accident, Jenkins, who had his arm reattached by surgeons by his adamant insistince, was told that he would soon die of gangrene poisoning that was eating away at the limb. Jenkins then claimed that he had an out-of body experience, where God allowed him to see himself being operated on by the surgeons, and that he then cried out for Jesus Christ to save him, and that he was then "placed back in his body" and was then afterwards revived by the surgeons.
There have been also claims by many observers that were in attendance, that he was miraculously healed at an A.A. Allen "miracle crusade" of about 8,000 people which was held at the Atlanta fairgrounds that year. The event, which was also a part of the controversial Allen's televised crusade ministry, has been widely circulated over the years in many Christian media circles, and can also been seen in excerpts over the internet, including Jenkins's official website.
Soon after the miracle healing event, the young Jenkins, who at this point had been a successful young businessman in Atlanta, married to Harkins, with two young children, felt that God had a call on his life for ministry. After becoming an ordained pastor, Jenkins would then begin travelling extensively around the world with the likes of Allen, Don Stewart, and R.W. Schambach, gaining a following as "The Man With The Miracle Arm".
In 1979, Jenkins was indicted in Delaware, Ohio for threatening assault and arson while still married to his former wife Harkins. Jenkins, who wound up getting sentenced to and serving five years in prison for the incident, was then mysteriously pardoned by the State of Ohio later. In 1994, he was arrested for grand theft but the charges were soon dropped when he agreed to pay restitution. In 2001, his marriage to a 77-year old widow who had recently hit the Ohio Lottery jackpot for $6,000,000 USD was annulled by a judge in Delaware, Ohio. The legal guardian of one Eloise Thomas, whose husband had died just three weeks before the marriage to Jenkins, former Ohio State Senator Ben Espy, claimed on behalf of the woman's family that Ms. Thomas was incompetent and therefore incapable of knowing what she was doing when she attempted to marry Jenkins. Jenkins has repeatedly denied accusations that he was attempting to marry the woman for the sake of her net worth, which was estimated at $4,000,000 USD.[1] In 2003, while his ministry was still based in Columbus, Jenkins's "miracle water" was allegedly found to contain coliform bacteria by the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Jenkins claimed that the tests conducted by independent laboratories had found the water safe for drinking and that the state ignored his findings. Jenkins was later fined $200 because he didn't have a license to sell the water.[2] [3]
As of March 2011, Jenkins's ministry is based in Scottsdale, Arizona, as he continues to practice faith healing. In 2002, a film was released about his life, entitled The Calling (a.k.a. Man of Faith), starring Damian Chapa, Faye Dunaway, Robert Wagner and Brad Dourif. The film was executive produced by Robert Wagner, and was written and directed by Damian Chapa.
Also a gifted Christian singer, Jenkins has recorded several Gospel albums over the course of his ministry career and has often sung at various crusades, including his own.
Jenkins's mother, Mrs. W. M. Jenkins, was also a well-known evangelist in Florida during the 1960s and 1970s.