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Unless otherwise specified, all links were accessed in the summer of 2025
Also See Tithing
Index
Introduction - Entertainment - the new way of 'doing church'. Amusing the masses under the guise of 'worship services
Chapter 1: The Investigation: Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Paula White, Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer and Eddie Long
Chapter 2: Joel Osteen, Steven Furtick
Chapter 3: Ed Young, Kevin Gerald, Joseph Prince
Chapter 4: T.D. Jakes, John Hagee, Fred Price, Jesse Duplantis, Juanita Bynum
Chapter 5: Franklin Graham, Rodney Howard-Browne, Marcus and Joni, Lamb, Wendy and Casey Treat
Dean Curry, Chris Hodges, Brian Houston (Hillsong), Tim Timberlake, John Gray, Jentezen Franklin, Johnny Hunt, James MacDonald, Mark Driscoll.
Chapter 6: Jordan and Jordan.
Chapter 7: Others - Here and Abroad
Chapter 8: Conclusion - Where Did The Idea That Ministers Should Live Modestly Come From?
What Should Pastors Make And Should His Salary Be Kept From His Congregation? And more
ON THIS PAGE
Emphasis Mine In Bible Verses
Richard Roberts, Phil Pringle,
Overseas Pastors
Singapore, Brazil, Nigeria, Germany
Yesteryear's Hucksters
Robert Schuller, Oral Roberts, Jim and Tammy Bakker, James Eugene Ewing, Robert Tilton
Richard Roberts
is the chairman and chief executive officer of the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association. He previously served fifteen years as the president of Oral Roberts University.
In 2007 he asked the school's board of regents for a leave of absence Wednesday ami d accusations of lavish spending at donors' expense and illegal involvement in a political campaign... An Oct. 2 lawsuit cites an internal report that says the Roberts allegedly remodeled their home 11 times in 14 years, used the university jet for personal trips, and forced members of the university to play an active role in a political campaign, something that is banned for non-profits such as the university scandal [01]
End Notes - Richard Roberts
[01] Oral Roberts President Exits Amid Scandal. 2007 CBS Interactive Inc.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oral-roberts-president-exits-amid-scandal/
Phil Pringle
a New Zealand-born Australian Christian evangelist is Founder of C3 Church Global that now has 400+ churches that reach over 100,000 people worldwide. He is said to drive "
a luxury car and owns a palatial cliff top mansion overlooking the beach at Sydney's Mona Vale. It comes complete with an infinity pool and cost him $3.4 million seven years ago – it's now valued well above $4 million." [01]
As of 2024 his net worth is estimated to be around $5 million. His income sources include:
Pringle ministers to and occasionally preaches in City Harvest Church in Singapore where he is considered to be an advisory pastor and a long-time friend and mentor of that organisation's leader, Kong Hee. [03]
End Notes - Pringle
[01] A Current Affair’ demonstrates that Phil Pringle is not ‘above reproach’ – Part 1. By Churchwatcher On October 1, 2019. https://churchwatchcentral.com/2019/10/01/a-current-affair-demonstrates-that-phil-pringle-is-not-above-reproach-part-1/
[02] Bakare Sherifdeen, Phil Pringle Biography: Age, Net Worth, Family, Career and Achievements. September 2025. https://pastorsbiography.org/phil-pringle-biography-age-net-worth-family-career-and-achievements
[03] Theresa Tan An Interview With Phil Pringle: CHC Has A Future Of Incredible Blessing.
https://www.citynews.sg/2013/05/22/an-interview-with-phil-pringle-chc-has-a-future-of-incredible-blessing
Overseas Pastors
Kong Hee
Kong Hee is senior pastor of City Harvest Church in Singapore. Once an itinerant preacher he founded the church in 1989 when he was 25 years old. By 2009 the congregation numbered around 32,000 and is now one of the ten largest churches in the world.
Those numbers stood Kong Hee in good stead, Between 2007 and 2012, Kong Hee and five church leaders orchestrated the systematic misappropriation of $50 million through sham bonds to companies they secretly controlled. They were for criminal breach of trust.
However,
“when the six appealed against the verdict and sentences, the Appeal Court found them guilty of basic criminal breach of trust and reduced their sentences. The Court also noted that the six were not motivated by personal gain, and no permanent loss was intended or caused to CHC all the monies were returned to the church with interest”. [01]
Seriously? I have to wonder what motivation besides personal gain would cause them to misappropriate $50 million “ through sham bonds to companies they secretly controlled”. A 9.33 million Sentosa Cove penthouse, doesn’t qualify as ‘personal gain’ ????
Bad as that was an investigation into City Harvest Church's financial scandal reveals something FAR more disturbing than misappropriation: victims who refuse to stop believing.
On August 24, 2019, thousands rose to their feet as Kong Hee walked onto the stage at Suntec Singapore. Forty-eight hours earlier, he'd walked out of Changi Prison after serving two years and four months for orchestrating Singapore's largest misuse of charitable funds - S$50 million (US$37 million) misappropriated from his own congregation...
In 2011, with S$24 million already misappropriated, Kong stood at his pulpit and delivered one of his most memorable sermons:
The congregation erupted in "Amens."
Here's what the congregation probably didn't know: In 2007 - the same year Kong began misappropriating church funds - he bought a $9.33 million Sentosa Cove penthouse, co-owned with Wahju Hanafi, whose company would later be used in the misappropriation scheme. Five thousand two hundred and forty-two square feet. Ocean views. Monthly mortgage payment: S$17,000. [02]
End Notes - Kong Hee
[01] The City Harvest Story. https://www.chc.org.sg/about-us/the-city-harvest-story
[02] Jordan Cooper. The pastor who stole $50 million - and kept his congregation. Sep 2025.
https://vegoutmag.com/news/s-the-pastor-who-stole-50-million-and-kept-his-congregation
And, of course let's not forget about the pastors from other countries many of whom have made their millions off the backs of some of the poorest people on earth
Brazil
Edir Macedo, Brazil's Billionaire Bishop
E dir Macedo is the controversial founder of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God - a replica of Solomon’s Temple. He is reported to have over $1 billion in financial assets. As the picture shows, He sometimes sports a beard and will occasionally don a Jewish looking skullcap and some kind of robe.
... 5-foot-6, slight, and 68 years old. He has deformed fingers, a sparse crown of graying hair, and more than 5 million followers, whose donations over the last 36 years have made him a billionaire. In Brazil, where he was born and raised, he is a major national figure, the subject of dozens of criminal inquiries, and the owner of Rádio & Televiso Record, a media conglomerate that runs the country’s second-largest television network. He is known to most everyone by the title he created for himself: He is O Bispo— "The Bishop.” [01]
TV Record's e foray into telenovelas is reshaping prime-time in the giant South American country. (Note: Telenovelas -- or "novelas," in Brazilian Portuguese -- are a national obsession in Brazil, nearly on par with football.) Macedo has already scored two prime-time hits with soap operas based on the Bible: "The Ten Commandments," in 2015, and "The Promised Land," currently on air.
Spending $230,000 per episode, the network has drawn viewers and advertisers with extravagant biblical sets, costumes and, in the case of "The Ten Commandments," action filmed partly on location in Israel. [03]
And I never thought I would see someone out gaudy Trump. Edir Macedo has. These pictures are stills from a Youtube video [02]
End Notes - Edir Macedo
[01] Alex Cuadros. Cult Education Institute. Edir Macedo, Brazil's Billionaire Bishop. Bloomberg Businessweek/April 25, 2013. https://www.culteducation.com/group/1211-universal-church-kingdom-of-god/21665-edir-macedo-brazils-billionaire-bishop.html
[02] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4WDhFlnqFc
[03] Brazil mega-church scores TV hit with biblical soaps.
https://www.enca.com/life/entertainment/brazil-mega-church-scores-tv-hit-with-biblical-soaps
Nigeria
Chris Oyakhilome
Forbes estimates his net worth to be between $30 and $50 million. Chris Oyakhilome
"... is the founder and lead pastor of the Christ Embassy, a thriving congregation with branches in Nigeria, South Africa, London, Canada and the United States. His publishing company, Loveworld Publications, publishes ‘Rhapsody of Realities,’ a monthly devotional he co-authors with his wife. It sells over 2 million copies every month at $1 apiece. He also owns television stations, newspapers, magazines, a hotel, a fast-food chain, and more.
"Last year, the charismatic preacher was at the center of a $35 million money laundering case in which he was accused of siphoning funds from his church to foreign banks. Pastor Chris pleaded no wrongdoing and the case was eventually dismissed. His church, Christ Embassy, boasts more than 40,000 members several of whom are successful business executives and politicians. Oyakhilome's diversified interests include newspapers, magazines, a local television station, a record label, satellite TV, hotels and extensive real estate. His Loveworld TV Network is the first Christian network to broadcast from Africa to the rest of the world on a 24 hour basis. [01]
David Oyedepo
 This pastor in one of the poorest countries on earth has a net worth of over 150 Million dollars and is believed to be Nigeria's wealthiest preacher. His Living Faith World Outreach Ministry one of Africa's largest congregations.
"The Faith Tabernacle, where he hosts three services every Sunday, is Africa's largest worship center, with a seating capacity of 50,000. Oyedepo owns four private jets and homes in London and the United States. He also owns Dominion Publishing House, a thriving publishing company that publishes all his books. He founded and owns Covenant University, one of Nigeria's leading tertiary institutions, and Faith Academy, an elite high school."
Three others
Temitope Joshua, Matthew Ashimolowo, and Chris Okotie are each said to have a Net worth of $3 -$15 million. 01]]
Germany
The German 'Bishop of Bling'
Catholic Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van managed to spend $43 million renovating his 'palace' in Limburg, Germany. This included LED lights built into floors, the walls, underneath steps, inside handrails and bronze window frames — all at the cost of $894,000. Unfortunately, since disgraced bishops and cardinals are rarely defrocked or lose their titles, Pope Francis accepted his 'resignation'. The Vatican said that "the departing bishop ... will be given another job at an opportune time.” [01]
End Notes - Overseas Pastors
Edir Macedo, Brazil's Billionaire Bishop
[01] Alex Cuadros. Edir Macedo, Brazil's Billionaire Bishop. April 26, 2013, 12:46 PM https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-04-25/edir-macedo-brazils-billionaire-bishop
[02] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc4CClt1MfM
Chris Oyakhilome
[01] Mfonobong Nsehe.The Five Richest Pastors In Nigeria. Forbes Magazine.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2011/06/07/the-five-richest-pastors-in-nigeria/#2a9aa9c56031
David Oyedepo
02] Mfonobong Nsehe.The Five Richest Pastors In Nigeria. Forbes Magazine. https://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2011/06/07/the-five-richest-pastors-in-nigeria/#2a9aa9c56031
Temitope Joshua, Matthew Ashimolowo, and Chris Okotie
[03] Mfonobong Nsehe.The Five Richest Pastors In Nigeria. Forbes Magazine. https://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2011/06/07/the-five-richest-pastors-in-nigeria/#2a9aa9c56031
Franz-Peter Tebartz-van - The German 'Bishop of Bling'
[01] Terrence McCoy. How the ‘Bishop of Bling’ spent $43 million renovating this house. The Washington Post. March 28, 2014. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/03/28/how-the-bishop-of-bling-spent-43-million-renovating-this-house/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a22204431e12
A Random Sprinkling Of Yesteryear's Hucksters
Robert Schuller and The Crystal Cathedral
Although Crystal Cathedral Ministries declared bankruptcy in 2010 and sold its 34-acre campus to the Catholic Diocese of Orange for $57.5 million in 2011, it deserves an 'honorable' mention.
Some years ago, seeing-stars.com, which billed itself as the Ultimate Guide to Celebrities and Hollywood, had this to say about the Crystal Cathedral.... "If ever there was a "Hollywood" church, in the true sense of the word, it is the Community Church in Garden Grove, better known as The Crystal Cathedral". They weren't kidding.
Made almost entirely of glass (and a spiderweb framework of white steel), the star-shaped "cathedral" is something to behold: over 400 feet long and 200 feet across, rising some 12 stories above the ground, with an angular, mirror-like exterior, its transparent, sun-lit interior features a giant television screen, and an altar of rich marble (bearing a natural image that some think resembles Christ on the cross). The cathedral's pipe organ (with 16,000 pipes, it's among the five largest pipe organs in the world), the 100-plus voices of the Hour of Power Choir, or the electric fountain/stream that runs down the middle of the central aisle. The church seats almost 3,000 worshipers for Sunday services. But giant, sliding glass doors on the side of the church allow even more worshipers to watch the services from their cars in the parking lot.
Boasting over 12,000 panes of glass, and a sparkling, contemporary bell tower, the "cathedral " is an Orange County landmark visible for miles around. The new glass tower was added in 1990, and is a stunning edifice in its own right; at the tower's base you will find a tiny, dome-shaped chapel housing an uncommon, cross-shaped crystal. Instead the usual wooden church pews, the "cathedral.” offers soft, theatre-style, individual seats (each bearing a small plaque with the name of a donor). During Sunday services, the church offers a nursery and childcare services. [01]
As said by the Orange County Register
The church's "Hour of Power" television show attracted 1 million viewers nationwide and millions more around the world. The "Glory of Christmas" and "Glory of Easter" pageants, featuring elaborate sets, live animals and flying angels, drew thousands each year to the cathedral. At its peak, the church had 10,000 congregants in Orange County and millions nationwide and around the world. It was sought after by such celebrities as John Wayne, Andy Griffith, pianist Roger Williams, and Evel Knievel.
But, apparently an an $80 million budget wasn't enough
Partly due to extravaganza staged by the church.. (for example "the Cathedral spent between $13 million and $15 million on a lavish production called "Creation." The show not only lost about $5 million, but was never staged again"
When the Cathedral filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy it had to dig itself out of a considerable financial mess - a $36 million mortgage to pay off and a total debt of $48 million. About $7.5 million of that debt was to unsecured creditors – a majority of them vendors and laborers whose bills had gone unpaid. [02]
Note: Robert Schuller, called an extraordinary minister by New Age leader New Age leader Neale Donald Walsch, was the epitome of the wolf that Paul spoke about in Acts 20:29-30. What Schuller believed about the Bible was a redefined, twisted view of it. His repentance was not Bible repentance; his new birth was not Bible regeneration; his Jesus and his salvation was not that of the Bible. By promoting New Agers and their doctrines, Robert Schuller did his part to lead the church further and further away from Biblical doctrine down some very dark paths. Details
End Notes - Robert Schuller
[01] The Crystal Cathedral. http://www.seeing-stars.com/churches/crystalcathedral.shtml. Site no longer exists
[02] Deepa Bharath. Rifts, debt tear at Crystal Cathedral. The Orange County Register. Published: Oct. 23, 2010 https://www.ocregister.com/2010/10/24/rifts-debt-tear-at-crystal-cathedral/
Oral Roberts
The prosperity gospel was popularized by Oral Roberts when one day he randomly opened his Bible to John's third Epistle, and the words "Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. (3 John 1:2 NASB)" jumped out at him. He and his wife were greatly excited by this verse and he claimed that it opened his mind to the fact that it was okay to be rich. Except that the verse does't have anything to do with material wealth. See 3 John 1:2 - The Compliment Paul Paid Gaius
Roberts went on to develop his famous concept of seed faith that has become the cash-cow for many, many other like minded preachers.
It didn't hurt Oral Roberts either. I doubt that most of his followers were aware that he
dresses in Brioni suits that cost $500 to $1000; walks in $100 shoes; lives in a $250,000 house in Tulsa and has a million dollar home in Palm Springs; wears diamond rings and solid gold bracelets employees 'airbrush' out of his publicity photos; drives $25,000 automobiles which are replaced every 6 months; flies around the country in a $2 million fanjet falcon; has membership, as does his son Richard, in 'the most prestigious and elite country club in Tulsa,' the Southern Hills (the membership fee alone was $18,000 for each, with $130 monthly dues) and in 'the ultra-posh Thunderbird Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California' (both father and son joined when memberships were $20,000 each--they are now $25,000); and plays games of financial hanky-panky that have made him and his family members independently wealthy (millionaires) for life. (When his daughter and son-in-law were killed, they left a $10 million estate!)" (Evangelist R.L. Sumner's review of Give Me that Prime- time Religion by Jerry Sholes)
"In addition to his healthy income, derived mostly from book royalties, Oral continued to enjoy generous expense accounts: 'The Robertses wear expensive clothes and jewelry and travel in a company-owned eight-passenger fanjet.' [01].
Jim and Tammy Bakker:
The following is a quote from a 2017 article in the New York Daily
In 1984, after an exhaustive run through luxury stores in Manhattan, they added $24,500 in furs (including a full-length Blackglama) and $27,500 in jewelry (one item was a $6,000 diamond bracelet) to their homeowner's insurance.
While in New York, the couple stayed at a suite in the Waldorf Astoria, complete with a fireplace and baby grand piano. Wherever they traveled, their hotel bills were astronomical.
Later that year, the couple chartered a Gulfstream for a $107,000 flight to Palm Springs. Jim's feet no sooner touched the ground than he raced off to buy three luxury cars, including two antique Rolls-Royces, totaling $170,000.
They shared a secret suite at the Heritage Gold Hotel, with gold-plated bathroom fixtures and a 50-foot walk-in closet. Even the doghouse was air-conditioned. [01]
The couple lost their television ministry after a series of sex and money scandals. Jim Bakker was sentenced to 45 years in prison. The term was reduced to eight, and he was released in 1994. [02]
Peter Popoff
Has the dubious honor of being one of the 20th centuries most successful hucksters.
In 1986, a team of freelance debunkers, including the magician James Randi, took a radio scanner to a Popoff revival, where they overheard Popoff 's wife, Liz, feeding him names and illnesses. Apparently, plants in the audience would chat people up or get them to jot down details, then feed their information to Liz, who passed it on to her husband through an earpiece. Listening through the gizmo in his ear, Popoff would call out to the crowd as if he possessed the omniscience of the Lord. [01]
Article is well worth reading/
Although exposed as a fraud and branded a charlatan more than once, Popoff has managed to rebuild his empire. Here is a more recent example of his mailing fraud. Copy and paste into browser http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/popoffback.html.
Until recently he lived at 430 Long Canyon Road, Bradbury CA., a 5 Bedroom, 8 bath, 7000, sq. foot house on 2.34 acres.
Controversial televangelist and prosperity preacher Peter Popoff, who amassed millions of dollars through his ministry hawking "debt cancellation" and healing "miracle water" advertised as a "powerful biblical point of contact," is now selling his California mansion for $8.1 million.
The listing, first highlighted by Dirt, notes that the custom estate built by Mur-sol features six bedrooms with walk-in closets, approximately nine bathrooms and a library covering over 8,302 square feet of "luxurious living space."
"Situated on 2.27 acres of stunning manicured grounds offering privacy plus stunning mountain & city light views," [02]
James Eugene Ewing
Once a traveling tent-revival preacher, the Rev. James Eugene Ewing built a direct-mail empire from his mansion in Los Angeles that brought millions of dollars flowing into a Tulsa post office box.
Ewing's computerized mailing operation, Saint Matthew's Churches, mails more than 1 million letters per month, many to poor, uneducated people, while Ewing lives in a mansion and drives luxury cars. Note that although Ewing claims it is a church, Saint Matthew's Churches, once called St. Matthew Publishing Inc., has no address other than a Tulsa post office box. It has two listed phone numbers in Tulsa and both are answered by a recorded religious message.
The letters contain an alluring promise of "seed faith": send Saint Matthew's your money and God will reward you with cash, a cure to your illness, a new home and other blessings. They often contain items such as prayer cloths, a "Jesus eyes handkerchief," golden coins, communion wafers and "sackcloth billfolds." Recipients are often warned to open the letters in private and not discuss them with others.
The approach reaped Ewing and his organization a gross income of more than $100 million since 1993, including $26 million in 1999, the last year Saint Matthew's made its tax records public. And while much of the money is spent on postage and salaries, Ewing's company receives nonprofit status and pays no federal taxes.
Ewing's flair for effective, dramatic direct-mail appeals won him jobs writing for evangelists including Tilton (below), Rex Humbard and "Rev. Ike." In many cases, the letters are identical but contain different signatures.
The Trinity Foundation, which obtained copies of the identical letters, has dubbed Ewing "God's Ghostwriter." [01]
Robert Tilton
Robert Tilton (born June 7, 1946 in Dallas, Texas) is an American televangelist who achieved notoriety in the 1980s and early 1990s through his infomercial-styled religious television program Success-N-Life, which at its peak in 1991 aired in all 235 American TV markets (daily in the majority of them), brought in nearly $80 million per year, and was described as "the fastest growing television ministry in America."
However, within two years after ABC's Primetime Live aired an expose into Tilton's fundraising practices, which started a series of investigations into the ministry, Tilton's program was no longer being broadcast. See More about the Undercover investigation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Tilton#Undercover_investigation.
End Notes - A Few Of Yesteryear's Hucksters
Oral Roberts
[01] Oral Roberts: An American Life", by David Edwin Harrell, Jr., Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press 47405
Jim and Tammy Bakker
[01] Sherryl Connelly. The story of televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's fall from grace. New York Daily News | Aug 05, 2017. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/televangelists-jim-tammy-faye-bakker-fall-grace-article-1.3387060
Peter Popoff
[01] Mark Oppenheimer. Peter Popoff, the Born-Again Scoundrel. https://www.gq.com/story/peter-popoff-born-again-scoundrel
[02] Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter. February 2023 Televangelist Peter Popoff is selling his California mansion for $8.1M2. https://www.christianpost.com/news/televangelist-peter-popoff-is-selling-his-california-mansion.html
James Eugene Ewing
[01] Ziva Branstetter. Reaping from faith. Cult Education Institute.
https://culteducation.com/group/1205-tv-and-radio-preachers/21003-reaping-from-faith.html
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