Hickey, Marilyn 1931–

views updated

Hickey, Marilyn 1931–

PERSONAL:

Born July 1, 1931; married Wallace Hickey, 1954; two children. Education: University of Northern Colorado, graduate, 1953. Religion: Evangelical Christian.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Marilyn Hickey Ministries, P.O. Box 6598, Englewood, CO 80155-6598.

CAREER:

Evangelist and author. Marilyn Hickey Ministries, Englewood, CO, founder and president; host of Today with Marilyn television show, broadcast on Trinity Broadcasting Network, Black Entertainment Television, and other television stations; Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, OK, chair of board of regents; Yoido Full Gospel Church, Seoul, South Korea, member of board of directors; Word to the World College (formerly Marilyn Hickey Bible College), Greenwood Village, CO, founder, 1981.

WRITINGS:

Treading with Angels, Laymen's Library (Denver, CO), 1980.

The Bible Can Change You: How the Word of God Heals Your Life, Creation House (Lake Mary, FL), 1989.

Breaking Generational Curses, Harrison House (Tulsa, OK), 2000.

He Will Give You Another Helper: A Complete Understanding of the Holy Spirit's Role in Our Lives, Harrison House (Tulsa, OK), 2001.

Watcher: Are You Ready for His Return?, Harrison House (Tulsa, OK), 2004.

Victorious Spiritual Warfare, Legacy (Denver, CO), 2005.

Enjoy Life! Moving Past Everyday Struggles, Thomas Nelson (Nashville, TN), 2006.

The Power of Prayer and Fasting: 21 Days That Can Change Your Life, Warner Faith (New York, NY), 2006.

Blessing the Next Generation: Create a Lasting Family Legacy with the Help of a Loving God, Faith Words (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Evangelist Marilyn Hickey is a controversial figure. Born in 1931, Hickey identified herself as a Christian during her teenage years, but while in college she became dissatisfied with her mother's extreme Pentecostal absorption and left the church. She graduated from the University of Northern Colorado in 1953 intending to become a Spanish teacher, but her mother had met and introduced her to a Pentecostal Christian named Wallace Hickey. He revived her faith, and they married in 1954. He became an evangelist preacher in 1960 and, with Marilyn, opened the Full Gospel Chapel where he preached and Marilyn taught Sunday school and led Bible study groups in the homes of congregants. Worshipers nicknamed the chapel the Happy Church, and in 1969 the Hickeys transformed it into the Orchard Road Christian Center (ORCC).

Located in an old shopping mall outside of Denver in Englewood, Colorado, the ORCC compound comprises ten acres that include a church, administrative buildings, prayer centers, and Word to the World College, which Marilyn Hickey founded in 1981. It is also the headquarters for Marilyn Hickey Ministries, an organization that is the vehicle for Hickey to spread her version of God's Word internationally. She maintains offices in South Africa, Australia, and England, and she frequently travels, sometimes with her daughter Sarah Bowling, to preach and run workshops and prayer meetings in these and many other countries.

Hickey has a regular weekly television program, Today with Marilyn, that is broadcast on Trinity Broadcasting Network, Black Entertainment Television, and local channels. She also has hosted conferences with evangelical colleagues such as Oral Roberts and Kenneth Copeland.

Hickey preaches about several primary principles in her sermons: that the Word of God as presented in the Bible is precious; that the Holy Spirit is the witness to Christ; that people should live according to the Word as revealed in the Bible; that God answers prayers; that God's blessings come in response to tithes and offerings; that people need to belong to a church fellowship to maintain spiritual focus; and that God loves everyone.

The ORCC has several thousand members who call, write, pray, testify, and support the ministry financially. However, Hickey's religious teachings and methods of fundraising have made her a highly controversial figure within the evangelical community, and she has been severely criticized on both of these fronts. The "Word of Faith" doctrine she preaches has been ridiculed by other evangelical Christians as "Name It and Claim It" and "Blab and Grab" teaching, and Hickey has been accused of being a false prophet and teaching flawed doctrine.

Much of Hickey's differences with the evangelical community concern her doctrinal teachings and personal claims. These include Hickey's claims for prayers of agreement, in which two believers who agree about an issue can bend God's will to their wishes, forcing God to accede to their desire; Hickey's claim to be God's advocate in proclaiming revelations and new interpretations of scripture; Hickey's belief in and advocacy for generational curses; and the validity of speaking in tongues. Many evangelicals believe that her interpretations of the Bible amount to false prophecy.

Hickey is also criticized for her fundraising methods. Aside from selling products such as miracle anointing oil that she has prayed over, she claims the ability to grant special blessings to those who have paid for memberships and given large donations, and she suggests to her followers that the more money they send to her ministry, the more blessings they will receive.

Hickey's followers, however, are devout and loyal. She travels all over the world to preach and has spoken in such far-flung places as Pakistan, Uganda, China, Sudan, Mexico, Israel, Guatemala, Indonesia, Cambodia, Italy, and Russia. Her stated mission is to spread God's word all over the world, helping people to discover the Holy Spirit within themselves.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Africa News Service, January 28, 2008, "Take God at His Word: Marilyn Hickey"; March 6, 2008, "American Evangelist to Visit Country"; March 13, 2008, "Evangelist Warns Youth on Immorality"

Appraisal Journal, September 22, 2007, "Landowner Not Entitled to Compensation for Impairment of Property's Visibility from Highway Caused by State's Construction," p. 310.

Christianity Today, April 1, 2004, "Ponzi Scheme," p. 25; December 1, 2005, "Marilyn Hickey's Happy Church," p. 23.

Houston Chronicle, September 16, 2004, "Religion," p. 3; October 2, 2004, "Collection Plate," p. 2.

Publishers Weekly, November 14, 2005, review of The Power of Prayer and Fasting: 21 Days That Can Change Your Life, p. 64.