Following the reported miraculous healing of a close friend, Basham and his wife Alice experienced a spiritual awakening that led him to leave a career in commercial art in 1951 to enter the Christian ministry.[3] He was ordained as a Disciples of Christ Minister in 1955.
Whilst at college, he met Alice Roling who was also born and raised in Wichita Falls. They married in 1949 and had five children; Cindi, Shari, Glenn, Lisa and Laura. Cindi, one of his daughters, married Dick Leggatt who later became the President of Derek Prince Ministries.[4]
Basham's deliverance ministry resulted in some notoriety. In the 1970s, Basham's and Prince's teaching on deliverance and practice of public exorcisms had a significant impact on the charismatic movement.[6]
In 1970, Basham, along with Bible teachers Derek Prince, Bob Mumford, Ern Baxter and Charles Simpson, began teaching a controversial doctrine of 'spiritual covering' that required individual Christians to be submitted and accountable to a leader. They became the leaders of the Shepherding Movement. Basham submitted himself to Derek Prince as his personal shepherd.[5]
Together with Prince and Mumford, Basham established Good News Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1974.[7] Basham later relocated with the CGM to Mobile, Alabama in 1982 when it adopted the name Integrity Communications.[8]
Basham was the editor of CGMs monthly magazine, New Wine from 1975 to 1981 and served as chief editorial consultant until it ceased publication in 1986. New Wine at one time was the most widely circulated Charismatic publication in the US.[9]
^Moore, S. David (2002). "Basham, Don Wilson". In Stanley M. Burgess (ed.). The new international dictionary of Pentecostal and charismatic movements (Rev. and expanded ed.). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Pub. House. p. 367. ISBN0310224810.
^Basham, D.W., Deliver Us from Temptation. Chosen Books. 1986
^Basham, D.W., Face Up with a Miracle. Whitaker House. 1967
^Basham, D.W., Deliver Us From Evil. Chosen Books. 1972
^ abBasham, D.W., Beyond Blessing to Obedience, CGM Publishing, 1976
^Smail et al., Charismatic Renewal: The Search for a Theology, SPECK, London, 1993
^Balmer, R., Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism, Baylor University Press, 2004
