Harald Bredesen, 88; helped shape ministry of Pat Robertson

Harald Bredesen, 88, a Lutheran minister who helped shape the ministry of evangelist Pat Robertson and spread a form of evangelical praise known as “speaking in tongues,” died Friday at Palomar Hospital in Escondido, Calif., from complications after a fall at his home earlier in the week, said Tom Gilbreath, Bredesen’s longtime assistant.

Bredesen befriended Robertson while both were living in New York in the late 1950s. Robertson credits Bredesen with leading him into a charismatic Christian experience known as “Baptism in the Holy Spirit,” after which Robertson began to speak in the exuberant prayer language popular among Pentecostal Christians.

“He served the Lord in a global ministry leading many into the fullness of the Holy Spirit and set an example for us all in his boldness and perpetual joy,” Robertson said in a statement Friday. “He was a dear friend and beloved brother in Christ.”

Bredesen was a founding board member of Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network and was the host of its long-running program “Charisma.”

He is credited with helping to spread the charismatic movement, which today has millions of adherents across several Christian denominations.

Bredesen also was friends with singer Pat Boone and helped with the founding of the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

He also wrote several influential books, including “Yes, Lord” and “Need a Miracle?”