Senator probes financial dealings of TV evangelists
Toolbox
By Deirdre Shesgreen St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Published: November 8, 2007
WASHINGTON — The top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee has launched a wide-ranging investigation into the financial dealings of six TV evangelists, including Joyce Meyer, the popular preacher who has built a $124-million-a-year empire.
On Monday, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, asked Meyer to provide his staff with documents detailing the finances of the Fenton, Mo.-based Joyce Meyer Ministries, including the religious group's compensation to Meyer, her husband, and other family members, as well as an accounting of their housing allowances, gifts, and credit card statements for the last several years.
Many of the requests track information about the ministry revealed by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in a 2003 series.
In his five-page letter, Grassley also asked Meyer for:
The letter was one of six the Republican senator sent Monday to media-oriented ministers around the country.
"I'm following up on complaints from the public and news coverage regarding certain practices at six ministries," Grassley said in a statement. "The allegations involve governing boards that aren't independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces.
"I don't want to conclude that there's a problem, but I have an obligation to donors and the taxpayers to find out more. People who donated should have their money spent as intended and in adherence with the tax code."
In response to Grassley's letter, Meyer's attorney, Thomas Winters, said in a statement to the Post-Dispatch: "JMM is committed to conducting itself with excellence and integrity, choosing to go above and beyond the level of accountability required by law."
He said JMM has undergone a voluntary independent financial audit each year. In 2006, he said, 82 percent of JMM's expenses were used for outreach and program services "directed toward reaching people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
Winters also said the IRS recently conducted an inquiry of JMM and determined that the ministry continues to qualify for tax-exempt status.
Federal law grants churches tax-exempt status and excludes them from reporting requirements, but prohibits leaders and founders of such ministries from dipping into the organizations' accounts for their own personal use. Expenses of any tax-exempt organization are supposed to further the cause or goals of that entity.
Meyer, one of America's wealthiest and most powerful TV preachers, was the focus of a 2003 Post-Dispatch series that detailed her lavish lifestyle and blunt fundraising pitches. The stories outlined Meyer's transformation from an abused child to a one-time bookkeeper trapped in a failed marriage to a religious powerhouse whose folksy preachings have world-wide reach.
Meyer and her second husband David Meyer started her nonprofit ministry in 1985; by 1999, they had moved into a $20 million headquarters in Fenton.
Now, her "Enjoying Everyday Life" TV show airs in 46 states and reaches two-thirds of the world, according to her Web site. Meyer has written more than 70 books. She sells videotapes, audiotapes, and gives about 15 conferences a year. JMM employs more than 600 people at the Fenton office.
Meyer has never apologized for her financial success. In the 2003 series, Meyer said everything she has — the $10 million corporate jet, her $2 million home, her family's fleet of fancy cars — were blessings straight from God.
Meyer preaches the "prosperity gospel" and uses blunt pitches to get her followers to open their wallets.
In its 2006 annual report, posted on JMM's Web site, the group reports $124 million in revenue and other support. Among the services provided in 2006, according to the report: 11.5 million meals served, 41 orphanages "fully supported," and 174,538 gift bags delivered to prisoners.
In his statement, JMM attorney Winters said the ministry "is honored to be a small part of spreading God's love and His Word to millions of people around the world. The ministry strives to conduct all activities with excellence and integrity, just as it has for more than 20 years."
Grassley's letters to Meyer and the other preachers makes it clear that he intends a thorough vetting of their ministries. The letters ask the ministers to provide the information by Dec. 6.
The ranking Republican on the finance panel, which oversees tax issues, Grassley is an independent-minded lawmaker who has led other high-profile investigations.
Although his letters don't have the power of a committee subpoena, the panel's staff said they expect Meyer and the others to cooperate. Grassley would need the backing of the committee chair, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and the majority of the panel to authorize subpoenas or call for hearings.
Grassley's staff and other ministry watchdogs said that media-oriented ministries, once known simply as televangelists, have changed dramatically over the last two decades. Now a billion-dollar industry, they get little to no oversight from an over-burdened Internal Revenue Service.
Other ministries targeted by Grassley inquiry:
Benny Hinn (Grapevine, Texas)
His daily television program "This is Your Day!" is seen in more than 100 countries. Hinn also conducts a miracle crusade each month. Hinn provides "healing" to people by touching them, claiming they are "slain in the Spirit."
Eddie Long (Lithonia, Ga.)
A politically active African-American pastor for more than 20 years, Long has a congregation of over 25,000. Long preaches anti-gay themes and has programs to help gays "convert" to heterosexuality. Says God blesses people financially as well as spiritually.
Creflo and Taffi Dollar (College Park, Ga.)
Dollars' "Changing Your World" broadcasts are seen in more than 150 countries. Creflo Dollar Ministries oversees the ministry. Dollar owns two Rolls Royces, multiple private jets, a $2.5 million apartment in Manhattan and a mansion in Atlanta.
Kenneth and Gloria Copeland (Newark, Texas)
Copeland publishes the "Believer's Voice of Victory," a monthly magazine. Since 1989, has broadcast the "Believer's Voice of Victory" television program. He is a practitioner of the Word of Faith movement, whose belief is that if a person has enough faith he or she will be rewarded spiritually and financially.
Randy and Paula White (Tampa, Fla.)
Started the South Tampa Christian Center in 1991, renamed the Without Walls International Church in 1997. Among their possessions were a $1.9 million jet and a $3.5 million condo in New York. In August 2007, Randy and Paula White announced their divorce.
Compiled by Mark Learman and Bethany Prange, Post-Dispatch News Resource Center.
Sources: ministry Web sites, Tampa Tribune, New York Times, Southern Poverty Law Center.
———
(c) 2007, St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Visit the Post-Dispatch on the World Wide Web at http://www.stltoday.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
—————
ARCHIVE PHOTOS on MCT Direct (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): Joyce Meyer
42