BEAM ME UP, CERULLO

Jane Thynne talks to the American

preacher who is about to become Britain's first tele-evangelist

IT WAS THE kind of invitation that's hard to resist. 'Shall we call on God to help you with this interview?' asked Morris Cerullo, the tiny American preacher who is about to become Britain's first tele-evan- gelist. Grasping my hand, and that of his press aide, he fixed his gaze on the ceiling of the suite in the Conrad Hotel, Chelsea Harbour.

Jewish-Italian by birth, and resembling a jocular delicatessen owner, 60-year-old Dr Morris Cerullo is a big name in the world of televised religion. The 'Inspirational Network' in America, which he bought from the disgraced Jimmy Swaggart, has been running three years now and broad- casts Cerullo's miracle healing sessions to 6 million homes. From .August, the Astra satellite, which has just gained Premier League football, will beam Morris Cerul- lo's own channel to more than 2 million homes in Britain — an audience swollen by all those Arsenal and Tottenham fans now obliged to invest in a dish.

But Morris Cerullo's aim to bring a bil- lion souls to Christ by the year 2000 began long before he got into television. Orphaned at the age of two and brought up in an Orthodox Jewish orphanage, the 14-year-old Morris received, he says, a vision from God in which he was taken to heaven from where he looked down on the souls burning in hell. Now, leaving his son to run the family channel back home in San Diego, Dr Cerullo travels the world with his wife. Over the past 40 years he has signed up more than half a million people to preach on his behalf worldwide, the most recent successes coming in Rus- sia. When I went to see him he was preparing for his grandly styled Mission to London at Earls Court next week (21-28 June), held in co-operation with 400 local churches. London is a city for which, like many Americans, he has 'a special place' in his heart.

Because his speciality is miracle healing, the London mission has been advertised with posters depicting wheelchairs, deaf aids and white sticks abandoned by their owners after a session with Morris Cerul- lo. (The Advertising Standards Council rejected a complaint against these adver- tisements because, it argued, no one would take them literally. That would dis- appoint. Dr Cerullo.) But despite these arresting tactics, his recognition factor in Britain still lags behind that of other visit- ing preachers, such as Billy Graham and Louis Palau. Dr Cerullo aims to change all that.

Author of a book called God's Chosen Warrior, Morris Cerullo describes himself as an 'evangelist and media innovator'. He doesn't like being called a tele-evangelist, but it's a felicitous title, and one the press seems unlikely to relinquish in the run-up to the launch of the satellite channel, the European Family Network. Transmitted alongside British Sky Broadcasting, the EFN channel will start with daytime pro- gramming and build up to round-the-clock broadcasting within months. It aims to pro- vide a kind of one-stop shopping for the evangelical Christian viewer.

The way Dr Cerullo describes it, it sounds almost varied. 'We will have family entertainment, an incredible Christian pop music programme, Christian concerts, and a uniquely Christian talent programme, to which all the churches will send their kids. We will also have sports programmes fea- turing hundreds of sports personalities at prayer and in their locker rooms. Christian sportsmen that is, not the kind of guys who run around with a thousand girls and get Aids,' he adds, meaningfully.

The high spot of the schedule, though, is Victory With Morris Cerullo, his flagship miracle healing show. The small minority of Britons who have seen this programme on SuperChannel cable television will know it was suspended by the Independent Tele- vision Commission last year over the sticky issue of the provability of miracles. But that's all sorted out now, and the pro- gramme runs with a health warning that 'Morris Cerullo World Evangelism cannot substantiate the claims made by partici- pants featured in this programme'. The claims continue to be made, however, as much by people receiving miracle healing power via the television screen as by those in the sessions themselves.

On the cover of the European Family

Network promotional press pack is an illustration of the Astra satellite hovering above the earth and a quote from Revela- tion: 'Behold, I saw another messenger fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlast- ing gospel to preach unto them that dwell in the earth.' I had never thought of the Astra satellite in that light, but Dr Cerullo is anxious to answer those Christian groups in Britain — and there are several — who have voiced doubts about his satel- lite venture.

'We have a right to promote and to preach and evangelise through the media. It's not sacred to the secular or the com- mercial world — it belongs to the people. This may be new to Britain, but I say life is a progression. In America, for example, we wouldn't allow some of the incredible things you have on television here — the loose pornography on your main channels is embarrassing to a person of good moral standards.' Here he gives a dismissive wave in the direction of the hotel television.

Whether or not its launch was foretold in Revelation, the European Family Net- work is no small enterprise. The channel will reach not only 2 million homes in Britain, but around 32 million homes throughout Europe. It has already cost the California-based Morris Cerullo World Evangelism Inc. £3 million, and is estimat- ed to cost a further few million a year to run.

The issue of expense is a knotty one. Religious programmers are forbidden by British law to ask for money on screen. But the Morris Cerullo World Evangelism Inc. is largely funded by what are quaintly termed 'love gifts' sent in by people receiv- ing literature, prayers, miracles etc. In America these are openly and indeed heavily solicited on television. Sometimes as many as three collections are held in his rallies because the congregation has not given enough. Dr Cerullo has made £12 million for his ministry in this way over the last two years and is not ashamed to say he would like to be able to appeal for love gifts on the European Family Network.

'We're not going to lobby about it but we sure hope others will, and we will be the beneficiaries. Until then, in fact, that rule actually helps us, because we can say if you really believe in your message, then you Christians are really going to have to support this channel.'

Britain may have a special place in Mor- ris Cerullo's heart, but will his feelings be reciprocated? To a nation brought up on the stately sight of Harry Secombe singing 'Amazing Grace' on Highway, exposure to Morris Cerullo attempting 'to give the devil a heart attack' could come as a shock. Though he has his admirers, said to include the Archbishop of Canterbury, other evangelical Christians, like Harvey Thomas, Mrs Thatcher's former image maker, and chairman of the Fellowship of European Broadcasters, have their doubts. One concern is that Morris Cerullo's appeal seems specifically directed, at the poorer, ethnic minorities. His Mission to London is aimed at 'the multifaceted eth- nic groupings that make up the 10 million person mission field of London'. Another worry is the emphasis on money raising.

'You can't fault his theology, but I am worried that Morris Cerullo is everything the Broadcasting Act was trying to prevent — rich American evangelists running their own channels here,' says Harvey Thomas, who has been told by the Independent Television Commission that in law they could not refuse Dr Cerullo his satellite licence.

Morris Cerullo thinks the concerns stem from British reserve and an understand- able embarrassment that it has taken an American to set up this country's first Christian satellite channel. He doesn't want to offend. 'I want to say this is not a discredit to the British people. It some- times takes an evangelist from another country to stir up that country. But we are burdened to raise up British ministers to reach Britain. There may be a lot of sleep- ing giants here and it takes someone else to come along and help them break through. I believe there is a great under- current here for tapping into the reality of God. Why aren't the young kids in our so-

called established churches? Because they're out there where there's more free- dom and expression in the meetings. I think you will see extreme changes here. If revival hits Great Britain, the way it has happened in America and the way it's hap- pening in Russia, look out.'

Jane Thynne is media correspondent of the Daily Telegraph.