Carlton Pearson, megachurch founder who supported gay rights and rejected hell, dies aged 70

Pearson’s church once had 6,000 members, and his story was chronicled on This American Life and later became a Netflix film

The founder of a former megachurch in Oklahoma who was branded a heretic and lost one audience – but gained a new one – after he rejected the idea of hell and supported gay rights has died, his agent said on Monday.

Bishop Carlton Pearson died on Sunday night in hospice care in Tulsa due to cancer, said his agent, Will Bogle. Pearson was 70.