Wish you could sit down to coffee with Kenneth and Gloria Copeland? Find out some of the things only friends and family have known until now!
If you could sit down to have coffee with Kenneth and Gloria Copeland (Kenneth will take tea), what would you ask them? Maybe you’d want to know how to develop unstoppable faith or learn more about their daily spiritual routine. Or perhaps you’d like the chance just to get to know them better personally.
Whether you’re new to Kenneth Copeland Ministries or have been a Partner for 30 years, here’s your chance to get to know the powerhouse couple who have dedicated their lives to ministering the gospel. So grab a cup of coffee, and enjoy these 10 things you didn’t know about Kenneth and Gloria Copeland.
1. Kenneth Has a Gold Record
If you’ve ever heard Kenneth Copeland minister in song or serenade his wife on live television, you know he has serious singing chops. But one thing most people don’t know is that he was almost the next Elvis Presley. He was being groomed by the same circle of people to be the next singing sensation and world-renowned superstar.
His first record reached the Top 10 and sold 300,000 copies—a gold record.
What happened?
Kenneth tells the story himself:
“I started out singing in nightclubs as a teenager. Then, in 1957, when I was 20 years old, I recorded a song called ‘Pledge of Love.’ I knew that song was going to make it and make it big. What I didn’t realise back then was that I couldn’t be a real success at anything in life as long as I was running from God. And I was hoofing it as far from Him as I could get! I was so far from being where God wanted me to be and preaching what He wanted me to preach, that I might as well have been in the belly of a whale just like Jonah.”
Would you like to know what happened the day the record was released?
He got drafted.
He was in the Army, watching that record climb on the charts each day until it turned gold. At the pinnacle of its success, when Kenneth should have been releasing his next recording, he was doing push-ups for Uncle Sam.
By the time he was discharged from the Army, the song had dropped off the charts, and his name had been forgotten. While that record was on the move, instead of being available to accept offers to perform on national TV (The Steve Allen Show) and movie soundtracks, etc., he stood guard duty or some other task assigned him by the government.
At the time, he was frustrated and didn’t understand why it had happened. But today, He thanks Almighty God for protecting him.
“That kind of success would have destroyed me,” Brother Kenneth says.
Two other young men had their first records on the charts at the same time. Their names were Johnny Mathis and Elvis Presley.
Instead of finding worldly fame, the Lord used Kenneth’s talent to glorify Him. Since then, Kenneth has recorded a number of powerful gospel albums that testify to the goodness of God.
2. Gloria Was a Cheerleader
Gloria grew up in Centre Point—a tiny town in Arkansas that hasn’t changed much except, she says, “it may have gotten smaller.” Eventually, she lived in Jacksonville, Ark., where she was a cheerleader in high school.
Gloria has always been positive and encouraging, so it’s no surprise she chose to be a cheerleader. What is ironic, though, is what she was cheering for. She attended Jacksonville High School where the mascot was (and still is) the Red Devils. She wasn’t raised in a church that taught much about the Word of God and the devil.
So, she cheered and cheered for those Red Devils!
She wore a picture of the devil’s head on all her uniforms, sweaters, jackets and class rings. She never thought a thing about it—she just thought it was a good name at the time.
She looks back on how ironic that is now and says, “I learnt to cheer back then, but now I’ve switched teams. Today, I’m cheering for Jesus!”
3. Kenneth Was a Commercial Airline Pilot
Most people know that Kenneth is a pilot, but before he was in ministry, he intended to pursue commercial piloting as a career. He worked for a commercial company in Little Rock, Ark., where they provided pilot services for several large companies and their families, including the Rockefeller family. He even remembers flying Rockefeller children to their dental appointments!
Kenneth became a pilot in 1959, and in 2012 the FAA awarded him for having more than 50 years in aviation without an accident. He has an excellent record, and he is a very talented pilot.
Recently, when flying the Citation X with his co-pilot, Duane Flanagain, they encountered some intense turbulence. Duane described the situation this way: “The turbulence was so rough that I had trouble grabbing the knob to change the frequency on the radio. I heard the sound announcing that [Kenneth] had turned off the autopilot. Nowadays, most pilots would have kept it on. But he’s such an excellent pilot that he hand-flew that plane through the turbulence and maintained his heading and altitude without any deviations.”
4. Gloria Was a Pilot
In the ’70s, Cessna first came out with the Citation 500, the first Cessna jet. Kenneth and Gloria began sowing seed and believing God to have this transportation to travel to their meetings.
But they soon found out it required two pilots to fly it.
Kenneth tried to convince Gloria that she should be the other pilot, but she really wasn’t interested in flying. Finally, she agreed to it. It turns out she was a natural!
On the day of her private pilot check ride, the man who had been her examiner gave Gloria an “Excellent” rating and approved her for a license.
He said, “I’ve been giving check rides for many, many years. I have checked that ‘Excellent’ box fewer times than the fingers on one hand. That young lady can fly an aeroplane.”
After 88 hours of flight time, Gloria decided to hang up her pilot’s cap and let the wonderful pilots around her take care of flying KCM planes. If she needs to, she will come up front and read charts for the pilots, but she’s content just to be a passenger.
5. Kenneth Can Hold a Plank Position for 3 Minutes!
Dr. Don Colbert, M.D., was on a recent BVOV broadcast and recommended that every person, no matter their age, should try to work up to holding a plank position for 1 minute every day. It increases strength, improves posture and has been found to keep people from frailty that often comes from inactivity.
Learn how to do a plank with Dr. Don Colbert here!
At 82 years old, Kenneth Copeland can hold a plank position for an impressive 3 minutes! It is so inspiring that Dr. Colbert has worked his way up to 3 minutes, not to be beaten by 82-year-old Kenneth. Now, Brother Copeland says he is working his way up to 5 minutes per day!
6. Gloria Was Voted Christian Woman of the Year
In 1994, Gloria Copeland was voted “Christian Woman of the Year,” an honour given to women whose example of faith and excellence “exemplify godly character and leadership.”
The Christian Woman of the Year Association chooses one woman annually through nominations and votes of evangelical women in Christian leadership roles. Gloria received the honour from her peers because of her global impact for the kingdom of God through her teaching at conventions, on television and radio, through books, and on audio and video materials.
Over the years, Gloria has also been honoured by government officials, including the president of the United States, the vice president of the United States, the governors of Texas and Georgia, the mayor of Washington, D.C., and the city of Atlanta.
7. Kenneth Has a Special Bedtime Routine
You don’t get to a place of faith like Kenneth and Gloria Copeland have without some serious spiritual work. Though they are generous in sharing everything they know about how you can enjoy victory in every area of your life, it’s fun to learn what they do in private to keep their own faith strong.
For example, Brother Kenneth has a special bedtime routine. Quite often, he will turn on Kenneth Hagin on his iPhone, and he and Gloria will watch Brother Hagin preach and heal just before they go to bed.
Then, when they turn off the lights to go to sleep, Kenneth explains what he does next:
“The last thing that comes out of my mouth, so quiet that Gloria is not able to hear me, is this: ‘I love the Lord my God with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind and with all my strength. I love my neighbour as myself, and I love the brethren even as You love the brethren. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for loving me. Thank You for loving my family and for taking care of us as You have all these years. I love You so. I love You so.’”
He does this because he says, “Faith works by love, and you have to confess the love of God for faith in the love to come out.”
You can get your victory moving, too, with these Top 3 Ways to Jumpstart Your Faith.
Watch Kenneth Copeland teach you why love changes everything.
8. Gloria’s Favourite Letter Ever Received Came From a Prison Inmate
Of the tens of thousands of letters from Partners received by KCM, a large portion has come from our Partners in prisons across the nation. It so happens that Gloria’s favourite letter she has ever received was from a man in prison. The following is an exact excerpt from that letter (grammatical errors and all):
Gloria:
Yo, a note from behind the bars to say hay. Thank you and your ole man. Saved me from hanging in hell, truely a unpayable debt.
Hay, I was lost and way out there too, and I didn’t like where I was. I wanted to hang it up. I quit eating, started fights in hopes I’d git killed, but the spirit came to me and lined me out. I found you and Ken on the tube and between you, Ken and the gost, the three of you pulled me through it (Hay, I don’t mean to space the Boss [God], he put it together). Oh, ya, Jesus too! Hay I thought I was abanded and there ya all were. I’ll never say thank you enuf not to you and Ken.
I’ve just been kicken in my crib and reading the book [the Bible]. Just me, the Boss and the brother; we got a good thing. I haven’t been in a fight or put nothing in my arm. I even give up the ciggarette.
Well, I talked to some bros about the Boss and hay, they hang with him to (it wasn’t quite as easy as it sounded, but you git my drift, I’m sure).
So, thanks once more. You two are good in my book and can hang with me any time. I relly love you guys. There is alot I’d like to share, but don’t have enuf sit down so I bet I’ll see ya on the high way.
Love, K.C. S.
9. Kenneth’s Hair Colour Is Natural
This is a popular question! Kenneth Copeland is 82 years old, and he still has a full head of dark hair. No, he does not dye his hair. Maybe it’s the Cherokee blood from his grandfather, but he believes it’s a conversation he had many years ago with God.
He decided he was going to believe God for his original count of hair because Jesus said the hairs on his head are numbered. He said, “They’re mine. I want all of them!” So he went to the Lord and settled it with Him. Then, he noticed gray hair coming. There’s nothing wrong with that, but he decided to roll the care of his hair over on Jesus.
After that, he would stand in the mirror and say, “Glory to God. Hair, grow dark brown. Thick be, in the Name of Jesus. Bald spots, no!” He doesn’t do that every day, but the few gray hairs that were there disappeared, and he’s had a full head of dark hair ever since!
10. Kenneth and Gloria Laid Hands on Johnny Cash
Long before it was Faith Life Church in Branson, home of Keith Moore’s ministry, the beautiful building was the Remington Theatre, where Johnny Cash performed. One evening, Kenneth and Gloria attended one of his shows, and as they walked in, some of Johnny’s staff approached them and said, “Johnny wants to see you.”
The staff members took them to the back, and the first thing Johnny said to them was, “Will you lay hands on my knees? They are hurting me so badly, and I don’t know if I’ll make it through this show.”
Kenneth and Gloria immediately grabbed hold of his knees and began to pray for healing. Mr. Cash went on to perform a long and successful show. He sat Kenneth and Gloria in the front row for the show, and after the final performance, he pointed to them, tapped his knees and put two thumbs up. He was healed!
Is your coffee gone? This has been a fun time of sharing 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Kenneth and Gloria Copeland. Hopefully, you know the Copelands even better than you did before. If they could tell you something personally, it would be this: They love God with all their hearts, and they love you so very much, and pray for you every day. JESUS IS LORD!
