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A Kenneth Copeland Ministry jet worth $3.6 million has been denied tax-exempt status by the Tarrant Appraisal District, setting the stage for a battle that could require the minister to reveal his salary if he wants the jet to be tax-free. Jeffery D. Law, Tarrant chief appraiser, said the jet was denied tax exemption because the ministry failed to disclose salaries of directors as an application requires. Law said the ministry, based in Newark, northwest of Fort Worth, will protest the denial at a hearing Monday morning. "The application requires that they submit to us a list of salaries," Law...

The average senior pastor in U.S. churches today makes more than $80,000 a year, a recent national survey shows. Compensation packages, including benefits such as retirement, life insurance, health insurance and continuing education allowances, have increased to $81,113 per year for the average senior pastor. And pastors who hold a higher academic degree are paid up to $30,000 more per year than pastors without any post-secondary education. The statistics come from the 2009 Compensation Handbook for Church Staff, an annual analysis of compensation packages at churches across the country, and at a time when churches begin planning their budget for...

A Culpeper pastor faces a possible 310-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to felony fraud charges. The Rev. Charles Shifflett, pastor of First Baptist Church in Culpeper and former pastor of Calvary Baptist Church there, pleaded guilty to a total of 20 felonies and one misdemeanor, prosecutors announced today. Nine of the charges involving obtaining money by false pretenses from Calvary Baptist Church from 2002-05, while Shifflett was the pastor. He also pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud involving a workers compensation award, and five counts of obtaining money under false pretenses from two separate insurance companies, and three...

Through the years, convicted swindler Val E. Southwick had many things going for him as he convinced investors to part with their money, not the least of which was his standing in the LDS Church. Yes, he was a convincing speaker, had 20 years of investment experience, controlled a web of 150 companies collectively known as VesCor and drove expensive cars to flaunt his wealth. But it was Southwick's ability to tout his faith to the faithful that cleared the way for him to make some of the deals that eventually cheated more than 800 investors out of as much...

It hasn’t generated a lot of headlines, but in the world of religion and politics, it’s a pretty big deal. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, recently asked six high-profile, hyper-wealthy Pentecostal televangelists for their financial records, under the suspicion that they’re using their ministries for personal gain. (Imagine that.) Not surprisingly, most of the televangelists’ ministries have been loath to cooperate with the inquiry. One in particular is pledging a holy war. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has gone after more than a few iconic nonprofits during his tenure atop the Finance Committee, including...

An Atlanta megachurch took in $69 million in 2006, according to a financial statement the church's minister released in response to a Senate investigation into him and five other well-known televangelists. The Rev. Creflo Dollar disclosed the World Changers Church International's financial information to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, but said the money he spends is his own. Dollar said his income comes from personal investments, including businesses and real estate ventures. But the church gave him a Rolls Royce, which he mainly uses for special occasions, he said. "Without a doubt, my life is not average," he said. "But I'd like...

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 headquartered in Fenton. On Monday, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, asked Meyer to provide his staff with documents detailing the finances of the 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.

How to determine when Joel Osteen is speaking heresy:

The “prosperity gospel,” as critics call it, is growing highly prominent megachurches and has blacks divided on the controversial message. 'Prosperity Gospel' is the Greatest Threat to Black Churches, Says Author While the nation's largest African American religious organization – the 7.5 million-member National Baptist Convention – has clearly denounced the prosperity gospel especially with many black communities suffering in poverty, tens of thousands of black Christians flock to services every week to hear the message of wealth and abundance. "God gives us power to get wealth. Does that sound like he wants you to be on welfare? That's in...

Disgraced pastor Ted Haggard won't be fundraising for a Monument nonprofit run by a sex offender, won't be ministering to anyone and needs to get a job, his overseers said in a statement released Wednesday. "Mr. Haggard's solicitation for personal support was inappropriate," his church supervisors said. The statement came one day after the four-member team of ministers responsible for overseeing the spiritual restoration of Haggard met with him in Phoenix.

Popular Pentecostal evangelist Juanita Bynum told police Thursday that she intends to file charges against her estranged husband who allegedly attacked her in a parking lot early Wednesday. A spokesman with the Atlanta Police Department said Thursday that officers were making plans to meet with Bynum to investigate the case. The preacher, whose fiery and frank sermons about women's empowerment have won her a national following, could not be reached for comment Thursday. Authorities said the evangelist, who has a home in the metro Atlanta area, had been whisked away by family as they decide what to do next to...

Round Rock pastor stole at least $500,000, according to arrest report. Donald 'Roddy' Clyde turned himself in Wednesday; he's charged with felony theft. By Isadora Vail AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFFFriday, August 17, 2007A longtime Round Rock pastor was arrested after telling authorities he embezzled at least $500,000 from his church, according to court records.Donald "Roddy" Clyde, 48, turned himself in to authorities Wednesday and was charged with felony theft of more than $200,000 from the Fellowship at Forest Creek Church. Clyde's bail was set at $400,000, and he could face 99 years in prison if convicted.Clyde told police that he used the...

he Rev. Don Armstrong, former Episcopal rector of Grace and St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs, was found guilty on all counts of financial misconduct presented to an Ecclesiastical Court of the Diocese of Colorado. It is now in the hands of Bishop Rob O'Neill as to his punishment. Armstrong expects the bishop to depose him. "This was no surprise to us and frankly of no interest either--this is just all the Episcopal Church has left, with no theology to debate those of us who have made a case for tradition, they have to resort to kangaroo courts ginned...

Pastor Mac Hammond's congregation at Living Word Christian Center in Brooklyn Park reacted strongly Sunday to his appearance in the wake of a watchdog's group complaint to the Internal Revenue Service that he violated federal tax law and a front-page Star Tribune article examining his financial dealings: Worshipers gave him a prolonged, cheer-laced standing ovation. "Y'all better sit down; I'll get too choked up to minister," drawled Hammond, 63, pastor of the nondenominational megachurch, which has almost 10,000 members. He called questions about his financial dealings "a misunderstanding" of his prosperity-gospel ministry, which holds that following God's word leads to...

NEW YORK -- An appeals court said Wednesday it had no reason to find evangelical Christians unusually susceptible to fraud as it ordered a new sentencing for a great-grandmother who received 14 years in prison for duping investors nationwide of nearly $2 million in a religion-laced fraud. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld the convictions of Roberta Dupre, 62, and her accomplice, Beverly Stambaugh, 56, but ordered them resentenced. Dupre last year was given 14 years in prison and Stambaugh nine years. Judge Denise L. Cote in Manhattan imposed the harsh sentences after concluding they manipulated...

REV. JAMES FORBES Gets 510G a year. A group of parishioners at storied Riverside Church has charged that $10 million has "simply disappeared," finances are in disarray, and the church's high-profile minister has received excessive, unauthorized raises. Five parishioners — some of whom once held leadership positions at the soaring, Gothic landmark perched on the Hudson River — are asking a judge to appoint an independent receiver to examine Riverside's books and order a special meeting to discuss church governance. The parishioners say Riverside's leader, the Rev. James Forbes, receives a $280,000 salary and a $240,000 housing allowance, and...

[India News]: Bangalore, Jan 21 : American evangelist Benny Hinn Friday evening began his much-awaited "Festival of Blessings" prayer meeting here, which saw a shutdown call and incidents of stone throwing by protesting Hindu activists earlier in the day. About 8,000-10,000 policemen have been deployed in and around the sprawling venue to regulate crowds. Organisers of the show, being held at the Jakkur airstrip on the outskirts of the city, said earlier that about 400,000 people had already gathered for the event from all parts of the country, especially south India. A few hundred also came from abroad. Speaking to...