James Robison, Fiery Evangelist Turned Global Humanitarian, Dies At 82
James Robison, the fiery Southern Baptist evangelist who underwent a dramatic spiritual transformation in the 1980s and built several large Christian humanitarian organizations, has died. He was 82.
Robinson’s LIFE Outreach International ministry announced his death Sunday on social media. The ministry mentioned neither the date of his death nor its cause.
“It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of Rev. James Robison, the beloved founder of LIFE Outreach International,” the ministry’s board of directors said in a statement posted on Facebook.
Robison preached to more than 20 million people in over 600 citywide crusades. He recorded more than two million decisions for Christ. LIFE Outreach International, which he founded along with his wife, Betty, fed 350,000 children daily and drilled more than 9,000 wells, providing clean water to millions.
But Robison’s six decades in public ministry were also marked by personal scandal and controversies.
In 1990, several close associates admitted that Robison had had what they called an “affair” with a woman who worked for him and lived in his house. They declined to offer any details but said Robison had repented and dealt with everything “biblically,” while the woman “had some emotional problems.”
In the 2020s, Robison made misleading statements distancing himself from Robert Morris, who was then pastor of Gateway Church in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. Morris was a staff evangelist with Robison’s ministry in the 1980s when Morris was sexually abusing a child.
Born Oct. 9, 1943, in the charity ward of a Houston hospital, Robison was, as he later recounted, the product of a rape. His mother, Myra Wattinger, was a 41-year-old unmarried practical nurse assaulted by the alcoholic son of an elderly patient she was caring for. She sought an abortion, her son later said, but a doctor refused her request.
Wattinger placed a newspaper ad for a Christian couple to raise the boy. H.D. Hale who pastored Memorial Baptist Church in Pasadena, Texas, answered the ad. He and his wife and his wife took Robison in.
Robinson’s mother reclaimed him at age 5. They lived together in Austin for a decade. At 14, the boy had a life-changing encounter with Christ while visiting the Hales.
He met Betty Freeman at Pasadena High School. They married Feb. 23, 1963, both 19 years old. Their partnership would span more than six decades.
At the urging of evangelist Billy Graham, Robison founded the James Robison Evangelistic Association in 1967. He became one of the most popular evangelists in America. He drew 25,000 to a crusade in Mobile, Alabama, and 300,000 to the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
In August 1980, he delivered a landmark address at the National Affairs Briefing in Dallas. Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan used the event to appeal to religious conservatives, telling the gathered ministers and religious leaders that he knew they couldn’t endorse him, but “I want you to know that I endorse you and what you’re doing.”
At that event Robison declared, “I’m sick and tired of hearing about all the radicals and the perverts and the liberals and the leftists and the communists coming out of the closet. It’s time for God’s people to come out of the closet, out of the churches, and change America!”
U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who at the time served as Robison’s communications director, later said that rally was the genesis of the Moral Majority movement.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday, Huckabee said Robison and wife Betty “were huge influences in my life. My middle son’s middle name is ‘James’ after him. His death hits hard. He mentored me in so many ways.”
But behind the public triumphs, Robison was struggling. According to a 1990 Fort Worth Star-Telegram report, Robison had an extramarital affair in the early 1980s with a woman in her early 20s who lived with the Robison family and worked for his ministry.
Pastors John Hagee, Jamie Buckingham and Jack Taylor served as spiritual advisors when the matter surfaced — running interference with the media and assuring the public Robison had been properly restored to ministry. Jim Rogers, then-executive director of Robison’s ministry, told the Star-Telegram that Robison gained victory over his infidelity in 1982. Rogers said Robison was “delivered from demons.”
That deliverance came through a pivotal encounter with Milton Green, a charismatic layman. Green prayed over Robison, who later said he experienced a profound spiritual freedom. The encounter changed the trajectory of his life and ministry, which Robison detailed in a memoir, “Thank God I’m Free!”
Robison withdrew from political activism in the mid-1980s. He left the Southern Baptist Convention and embraced the charismatic movement. His preaching shifted from fiery political denunciations to messages of compassion and church unity.
Robison’s relationship with Robert Morris drew intense scrutiny in 2024. Morris had served as an associate evangelist with Robison’s organization beginning in 1982, as The Roys Report previously reported.
Morris resigned from Gateway Church in June 2024 after allegations that he sexually abused Oklahoma resident Cindy Clemishire from 1982 to 1986, when she was 12 to 16 years old. In 2025, Morris pleaded guilty to abuse charges in Oklahoma, serving six months of a ten-year sentence in jail, with the balance suspended.
In a video statement, Robison said he knew Morris had “moral failure in his past.” But he said he had “no idea it was a crime against a child.” He denied involvement in restoring Morris to ministry.
However, TRR found discrepancies between Robison’s statements and newspaper archives. Robison’s ministry initially said Morris did not join until the “late 80s” and only worked as a call center supervisor. Clippings showed Morris preaching as a “staff evangelist” with JREA from 1982 through at least 1988
After being presented with contradicting evidence, LIFE Outreach issued a revised timeline acknowledging Morris served as an associate evangelist from January to May 1982. There were no further efforts at accountability.
Robison’s charitable legacy was substantial. In 1989, he and Betty traveled to Mozambique and saw devastating hunger. They pledged to feed 5,000 children a day. An outreach called “Mission Feeding” was launched.
The program grew to feed 350,000 children daily. The ministry said it helped save the lives of more than 24 million children.
In 1995, the Robisons launched the daily television program “LIFE Today.” The evangelistic association was renamed LIFE Outreach International to reflect its broadened mission. LIFE Today aired worldwide, reaching a potential audience of 1 billion viewers.
The ministry’s “Water for LIFE” program, launched in 2000, drilled more than 9,000 wells in more than 40 nations. LIFE Outreach also operated medical clinics, orphanages and anti-trafficking programs in more than 50 countries.
In 2014, Robison and fellow north Texas evangelist Kenneth Copeland were prominent members of a largely Protestant delegation that met with Pope Francis in Rome. At a luncheon, Robison exchanged a high-five with Francis, the first pontiff to hail from the Americas.
“This meeting was a miracle,” Robison told the Star-Telegram after the trip. “This is something God has done. God wants his arms around the world. And he wants Christians to put his arms around the world by working together.”
One year later, Robison founded The Stream, a conservative Christian news and commentary website. Though ambitious, the project never achieved the scale achieved by other faith-friendly, conservative outlets such as the Daily Wire. The website has archived its articles and commentary and is now billed as offering “the ultimate Christian TV app.”
Robison authored multiple books, including the New York Times bestseller “Indivisible,” co-written with Jay W. Richards, a Catholic philosopher.
The Robisons’ daughter Robin died of throat cancer in 2012.
He is survived by his wife, Betty; two children, Rhonda and Randy; and 11 grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are pending.
This article was originally published by The Roys Report.
Mark A. Kellner is a reporter based in Mesquite, Nevada. He most recently covered statewide elections for the New York Post and was for three years the Faith & Family Reporter for The Washington Times. Mark is a graduate of the University of the Cumberlands and also attended Boston University’s College of Communication.