Harald Bredesen
| Harald Bredesen | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 18, 1918 Rugby, ND |
| Died | December 29, 2006 (aged 88) Escondido, CA |
Harald Bredesen (August 18, 1918 – December 29, 2006) was an American Lutheran pastor who was influential in the early days of the American charismatic movement.
Elmer Harald Bredesen was born in Rugby, North Dakota to Alfred Bredesen and Dagny (Knutson) Bredesen. His father was the pastor of the Lutheran Church. He attended Luther College in Decorah, Iowa and was ordained into the ministry during 1945.
He had professional success immediately out of seminary, having worked for the World Council of Churches as the Public Relations Secretary for the World Council of Christian Education. However, Harald felt something missing in his life. In 1946, he went to a Pentecostal camp meeting where he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
He was ordained in 1944, and in 1946 he received what Pentecostals refer to as the baptism of the Holy Spirit, a religious experience accompanied by speaking in tongues. Many other charismatic Christians have credited him with leading them into the same experience, including Pat Boone and Pat Robertson. Bredesen became friends with evangelist Robertson while they both lived in New York in the late 1950s. Robertson called his ministry to world leaders “legendary.”
In his introduction to Bredesen's book, Yes, Lord, entertainer Pat Boone wrote, "Abraham... Moses... Gideon... Elijah... I think I've known a man like these. His name is Harald Bredesen. Miracles trail him wherever he goes."
Bredesen was the founder of the Prince of Peace Prize, given to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1980, Mother Teresa in 1989, posthumously to King Hussein of Jordan (with King Abdullah receiving in his father's stead) in 1999, and to Billy Graham in 2004. Sadat called the occasion he received the award “the high point of my entire life, more important to me even than the Nobel Peace Prize. That was in the political arena. This was spiritual.”
...
Wikipedia