Mega Church Senate probe findings

[Dellas]

Evangelical Finance Probe Concluded By Senator

Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa has concluded a three-year probe into alleged lavish spending at six major broadcast ministries, and asked a prominent evangelical group to study ways to spur "self-reform" among religious groups. Since 2007, Grassley, the outgoing top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, has pursued allegations of high salaries and the use of private jets and Rolls Royces by some of the nation's most prominent TV ministers.
On Thursday (Jan. 6), he released a final 61-page review that said evangelists Benny Hinn of Texas and Joyce Meyer of Missouri had made "significant reforms" to their operations, but four others provided incomplete or no responses.


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Among the issues they will consider are:

• whether there should be limits on clergy housing allowances
• whether tax rules about "love offerings" received by clergy should be clarified
• whether current laws that prohibit partisan politicking in churches should be changed
• whether the IRS should create an advisory committee of churches and other religious organizations.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State criticized the report's recommendation of repealing the prohibition of church electioneering.
"If these multimillion-dollar ministries are already misusing their donations for personal gain, imagine how much more dangerous they would be operating in the world of partisan politics," said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United.


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Among their findings:

• Insiders in Kenneth Copeland Ministries in Fort Worth, Texas, said they were intimidated from speaking with committee staff, with one former employee saying they were told "God will blight our finances" if they talked.
• Georgia pastor Creflo Dollar's ministry was called the "least cooperative," with staffers unable to determine the names of board members.
• The majority of questions asked by Grassley staffers of Bishop Eddie Long's megachurch in Lithonia, Ga., remained unanswered, including the amount of his salary.
• Several former staffers at Paula White's megachurch in Tampa, Fla., wanted to speak with staffers but "were afraid of being sued by the church," and at least one was reminded by a church lawyer of a previously signed confidentiality agreement.

 

[Keen]

Sound like that was a waste of time and effort.

 

[GloriousPraise]

I always suspected that this was just political posturing...

 

[Guitarhero]

I applaud his efforts, actually. Some of these are fronting big business and dipping into monies they shouldn't be and not paying taxes on them when such mega organizations are money-making schemes. If the congregations themselves and the larger church organizations they are supposedly under do not curb this greed, then congress has to step in an bust up the party. I believe in separation of church and state, totally...but this is corruption where govt. has little sayso. Something has to be done to prevent it.

 

[Raspberry]

Is there a place where we can see the entire document? Of course an article in the media will glean the most controversial statements or findings and comment ad nauseum on 4 paragraphs but lets not fall for the okey doke and forget about the rest of the 61 pages.

 

[Prudent1]

It is interesting to know that no evidence to prove misconduct was actually found during his investigation. It is interesting that he didn't issue any apologies for his accusations. It is interesting that he didn't have reporters and others present in the same manner as when he decided to reign in the alleged practices of the organizations in question.

I applaud his efforts, actually. Some of these are fronting big business and dipping into monies they shouldn't be and not paying taxes on them when such mega organizations are money-making schemes. If the congregations themselves and the larger church organizations they are supposedly under do not curb this greed, then congress has to step in an bust up the party. I believe in separation of church and state, totally...but this is corruption where govt. has little sayso. Something has to be done to prevent it.

Who then can 'bust up the party' of congress? If a church or any organization for that matter is engaged in illegal activities then that is not ok. However, to have politicians who pretty much all leave their home states as 6 figure income earners to return a few years later as multi-millionaires (who can scarcely remember to pay their taxes a la Charles Rangel and many others on both sides of the "wings") but very little is done to investigate how they all manage to acquire such vast riches in 4 years or so, is very interesting to say the least. That is putting the proverbial fox in charge of the hen house, IMO.

Is there a place where we can see the entire document? Of course an article in the media will glean the most controversial statements or findings and comment ad nauseum on 4 paragraphs but lets not fall for the okey doke and forget about the rest of the 61 pages.

I don't know if they are still as easy to find but, when this 'story' originally broke a few years back many of the organizations being acused responded to Sen. Grassley appropriately. Several of the accused belong to ECFA and also voluntarily undergo independent 3rd party auditing to ensure ethical practices. You may be able to google some things but also placing phone calls to ECFA or the churches themselves may yield valid information if you are seeking especially if you are currently partnered with any of them. Hopefully you will be able to make an informed choice when deciding who to support.
ECFA

 

[Shimmie]

Wasn't this thing intiated like ... 3 years ago or so? If correct, then why so long with the findings? erplexed

 

[Prudent1]

Wasn't this thing intiated like ... 3 years ago or so? If correct, then why so long with the findings? erplexed

I think it was simply b/c there were no real findings of misconduct in this case. I remember seeing Pastor Dollar's (WCCI's) response to the senator's inquiry. It was pretty matter of fact. It informed the senator and his office to take a look at the several years of filling on record with the US government in regards to the church's records, taxes, etc. It also stated if at any time the government officially requested additional information from them they would be happy to comply but that they were not obligated to submit material to the senator's office simply b/c he thought something may have been amiss. To the best of my knowledge the government at large, never requested info b/c they didn't have a reason to. I have searched for the letter the church originally sent but cannot find it online at this time.

 

[Shimmie]

I think it was simply b/c there were no real findings of misconduct in this case. I remember seeing Pastor Dollar's (WCCI's) response to the senator's inquiry.

It was pretty matter of fact. It informed the senator and his office to take a look at the several years of filling on record with the US government in regards to the church's records, taxes, etc.

It also stated if at any time the government officially requested additional information from them they would be happy to comply but that they were not obligated to submit material to the senator's office simply b/c he thought something may have been amiss. To the best of my knowledge the government at large, never requested info b/c they didn't have a reason to.

I have searched for the letter the church originally sent but cannot find it online at this time.

Thanks love...

To be perfectly honest, I had forgotten about this. I remember a thread a while back when this 'probe' was first initiated. I also remember seeing this on the news and Kenneth Copeland's reaction. He was not happy to be spotlighted.

I think what concerns me is the staff response from Paula white. Her staff was told that they could be sued ??? Or did I read this wrong?

I have a tendency to read these threads while multi-tasking...

I better hush before they try to 'probe' my actions. But I'm innocent. I'm on LHCF / CF.

Love to you darlin'. Thaks for your reply.

 

[Prudent1]

I didn't go to all of the ministries that were accused b/c at that time I wasn't overly familiar with many of them. What I do know is that he accused, did not find anything, and did not ever apologize. Those were serious accusations. There really are many organizations who take advantage of the poor and ignorant. Ppl need to be careful who they accuse though and take the appropriate steps if they are proven to be incorrect. We need to continue to be prayerful concerning all things including who to support and who not to.