The Miracle Lady by Amy Collier Artman

Author:Amy Collier Artman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

CHAPTER 6

Filming a Miracle

Despite her enthusiasm for all media, especially television, Kuhlman did not record a miracle service in its entirety until very late in her career. Filmed May 3, 1975, the syndicated special Dry Land, Living Water was a rare glimpse into the workings of Kuhlman’s trademark meetings. When those who knew Kuhlman only from her talk show tuned in for her special, they saw a markedly different vision of Kathryn Kuhlman and charismatic Christianity. On I Believe in Miracles, Kuhlman and her guests shared stories in calm and casual conversation of experiences such as being “slain in the Spirit” and divine healing. In Las Vegas, cameras captured the same events with all their attendant chaos and emotion. Kuhlman also presented a much more melodramatic image of herself inside the convention center in Las Vegas, a persona strikingly similar to that of Your Faith and Mine. Kuhlman herself had not changed, and her miracle services were not new; from the days of Your Faith and Mine, both remained remarkably consistent. What changed in the Vegas film was Kuhlman’s presentation of herself and charismatic Christianity. She removed the mediating presence of testimony and gave audiences access to the complete miracle service experience. In the Vegas film, Kuhlman revealed aspects of her ministry to the public eye that threatened her gentrified image. This last production captured Kuhlman in all her glory, for better or for worse.

Greetings and Introductions

Dry Land, Living Water was a major media production. Guided by producer Dick Ross, it was much more than a glorified home video of a Kuhlman service. The opening scene contained a collage of images of arid scenery, with music underscoring the viewer’s first glimpse of the Vegas environment. Cutting to the Las Vegas airport, the film rolled as a jet touched down. Next were scenes of Kuhlman arriving, followed closely by a young female assistant. Kuhlman was professionally attired in a red suit dress, with fashionably large round sunglasses and long swinging earrings. A purse dangled over her arm as she reached out to shake the hand of a man and woman waiting to greet her. Over these images, Kuhlman’s own voice narrated the segment. Her first words were a quote from the man in the clip with her: “I want you to know, if it were Elvis Presley arriving, I wouldn’t have taken the time to meet him.”1 The voice-over identified the Kuhlman enthusiast as Jerry Gordon, the general manager of Caesars Palace, as he grasped Kuhlman’s hand in warm welcome. The narration continued as the film interspersed images of Kuhlman riding in Gordon’s limo with footage of the Vegas Strip. Kuhlman nodded, pointed, smiled, and gestured at the scenery going by, determinedly avoiding the camera, which must have been a hulking presence inside the limousine. “Nine million visitors a year, spending billions of dollars on round-the-clock entertainment,” Kuhlman’s disembodied voice intoned. “Was it sheer presumption to think there might also be a spiritual appetite?” The screen was filled with footage of gamblers playing slot machines, roulette, and blackjack as Kuhlman continued.

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