Religion Is Big Business

Discussion in 'Faith & Religion' started by Bob Kirk, Dec 25, 2019.

  1. Bob Kirk

    Bob Kirk Veteran Member
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    Church: Kenneth Copeland Ministries
    On-Air Ministry: The Believer’s Voice
    Net Worth: $760 million*

    Copeland’s sermons air on God TV, as well as Daystar TV Network every week. He also streams his sermons live on kcm.org, his organization’s website. Copeland also owns his own private airport, from which he flies several private jets, including a Cessna 750 and Beech 18.

    Church: Lakewood Church
    On-Air Ministry: Joel Osteen Live
    Net Worth: $40 million*


    Church: Covenant Church
    On-Air Ministry: Jesse Duplantis Ministries
    Net Worth: $50 million*

    Hagee introduced him as “The Apostle of Joy,” and that has since become his professional slogan. He became a full-time televangelist in 1978, and he has also published several books. His Jesse Duplantis Ministries company has headquarters in America, Australia, and the UK.

    Pat Robertson
    Church: N/A
    On-Air Ministry: The 700 Club
    Net Worth: $100 million*

    Church: World Changers Church International
    On-Air Ministry: Creflo Dollar Ministries
    Net Worth: $27 million*

    Over the past few years, his church has collected nearly $70 million in donations. Creflo’s church has 30,000 members and counting. Creflo, in addition to owning a house in Atlanta, also owns a house in New Jersey, a private Gulfstream jet, and two Rolls Royce cars.

    Billy Graham
    Church: United Gospel Tabernacle
    On-Air Ministry: Hour of Decision
    Net Worth: $25 million*

    Chris Oyakhilome
    Church: Christ Embassy
    On-Air Ministry: LoveWorld Inc.
    Net Worth: $50 million*
    In 2005, he made history by hosting the largest event ever in Nigeria, which got 3.5 million people to attend. He is also the host of the Ministers’ Network Conference, which brings in 5,000 ministers from 145 different countries. The Conference takes place in Johannesburg.

    https://news.education.investing.com/the-richest-televangelists-in-history/2/?ref=next

    There are more but just in case there was a fear of missing a sermon by traveling there is always TV
     
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  2. Bess Barber

    Bess Barber Veteran Member
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    Unless you plan on giving them some of your money, why would you care? :D
     
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  3. Cody Fousnaugh

    Cody Fousnaugh Supreme Member
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    Think he's just making a point, like I might, as to how much money certain Preachers, and their Ministries, make. It can be very ridiculous, but people in the congregations keep filling the Offering Plates full each and every Sunday.
     
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  4. Cody Fousnaugh

    Cody Fousnaugh Supreme Member
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    The Pastor of the church we went to in Jacksonville, FL was making a million dollars a year. How did we know? The upcoming years budget was laying on the pews one Sunday we attended and showed that. One Senior member of the church, that we talked to, voted against the budget, but it was passed anyway. The young folks actually ran this church, not the Seniors.

    John Hagee, and his son, who is also a Pastor, are mighty rich and the inside of Cornerstone Church shows it. Their families have very nice lifestyles and, through an interview with John, he stated that his books, etc. pay for their lifestyle, not the offering plates. "I don't think so, John", I told my wife.

    Joyce Meyers has a mighty nice lifestyle as well. Is it because of her books or the people that go to see her?
     
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  5. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    You seemed to have left out a whole lot of churches (I believe the majority), whose pastors are paid very little or even nothing. I think what you meant to say was that some big businesses are registered as churches, which doesn't mean that they are necessarily entirely useless as churches, although I wouldn't join a mega-church. Churches are what they are, and some of them get very big, while the majority don't. Are we supposed to hate hardware stores because Lowes has a net worth in excess of $50 billion and Home Depot has a net worth of almost $90 billion? By comparison, these mega-churches are pikers.
     
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  6. Hedi Mitchell

    Hedi Mitchell Supreme Member
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    Um are you comparing hardware stores to churches here or did I miss something so early of morning?
     
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  7. Al Amoling

    Al Amoling Veteran Member
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    More coffee please
     
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  8. Hedi Mitchell

    Hedi Mitchell Supreme Member
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    @Bob Kirk ...Excatly- why so many turn from churches- It has become money based not God based.
    To me the richer the church the more illogical the minister can become - Not all churches or minsters but many. I at one times Liked Joyce Meyers- but over time her biblical rhetoric changed along with her face lifts. The reasons minsters have given over the years as to Why they allow themselves certain luxuries is what turned me off ....Because I have been faithful to the Lord...God wants to provide me with these gold water facuets because I am obedient...blah blah...
    :eek::rolleyes:
     
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  9. Cody Fousnaugh

    Cody Fousnaugh Supreme Member
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    Now, have to agree with Ken that not all churches and pastors are rich and make a bundle of money.

    My wife likes John Hagee because he is so "straight-forward" with what he believes and isn't afraid to say so. Like President Trump, John isn't the most well liked man/pastor on earth, but he does have an enormous following. I seriously doubt I could handle a minister yelling at me from the pulpit, like John and his son does, but there are those that have to be yelled at to understand.

    I like Joyce Meyers because she combines religion with psychology. She has heard complaints, just like other tv evangelists, about her and husbands lavish lifestyle, but states that their money comes primarily from her book, DVD, etc. sales.
     
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  10. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    I Dunno, don’t care. I really can’t tell other people how to spend their money or what to spend it on.
    Perhaps if I had some dealings with and my money invested in a church that had a few million sitting dormant in the coffers, I’d feel differently.
    I might even have the same feeling I get when I think of someone being legally paid 174K a year and somehow becoming a multimillionaire within a couple of years in office.......
     
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  11. Al Amoling

    Al Amoling Veteran Member
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    Now Now @Bobby Cole just because they're able to accumulate wealth at a fantastic rate is no reason to pick on them,:):):)
     
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  12. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    Ya see, it’s kind of like this with me.
    Some people worry so much about what someone else makes when it has very little if anything to do with them and has nil effect on their own lives.
    I don’t care what anyone makes or how much money they have whether it’s a preacher or the owner of Amazon. It doesn’t affect me or my wife one way or the other and even if it did, there’s nothing I can do about it. To me, it’s wealth envy and I just do not rent out that kind of space in my head.

    Now, congresspeople are a different story. I help pay them and if they’re making a gazillion bucks on the side and still don’t do what I help pay them for, it bugs me.

    It all falls in line with:
    God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
    courage to change the things I can,
    and the wisdom to know the difference.
     
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  13. Bob Kirk

    Bob Kirk Veteran Member
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    This was placed in the off topic discussions for a reason. This isn't about religion per se it's about the wealth that is generated and spent by those successful in promoting religion. I thought the fact that some realize a fantastic lifestyle from what essentially is a business was interesting.

    Since Home Depot & Lowe's that are businesses were compared then compare the salaries of the CEO's not the business.
     
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  14. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    I'm not going to waste a lot of time researching churches I don't attend, pastored by people who I don't listen to, and to whom I don't donate. Whatever the subject, some people are going to make money from it. My point is that the title - Religion is Big Business - is not supported by a list of churches that take in a lot of money, or whose pastors are well-paid television celebrities. You'll find countless non-profits that take in huge amounts of money, and whose CEOs or directors have huge net worths, living lavish lifestyles, just as you can find non-profits whose directors actually contribute to the cause, rather than benefiting from it. Most people attend churches that sometimes have trouble paying their bills, and listen to sermons preached by people who aren't well-paid, so the wealth of the few doesn't represent the whole.

    For that matter, although it's not my taste, there is a place for the megachurches and the mega-bucks pastors. Some people want to be able to sit at home listening to polished speakers preaching sermons prepared by professional sermon-writers. If that feeds them, in some way, then I don't know that it's any of my business.

    I'd rather have a pastor who may not be as polished, but to whom I can speak back to, but others prefer well-groomed, professional speakers, and all the pomp that comes with the productions that are put out by the megachurches. I don't know that I'm any better than they are, or that my preferences are holier or even preferable.

    Some people would rather attend a Little League baseball game where they know the kids and the parents of the kids who are playing, while others are willing to travel and to pay the money required to attend a Major League baseball game. Is Major League Baseball evil because it takes in a lot of money and pays fortunes to the professional ballplayers, managers, and team owners?

    No, I think there's a place for both.
     
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    Last edited: Dec 26, 2019
  15. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    My issue with the big-business televangelists is that they are often living the high life while actively pressuring (often poor) believers out of their money. Many of their followers can barely afford to survive, but somehow send in donations. I remember the Bakkers and their giant amusement park, mansions, etc.
     
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