To the Reader: This page contains hyper-links to articles and news releases on Senator Charles Grassley's investigation into the "ministries" of Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer, Creflo Dollar, Eddie Long, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, and Paula and Randy White. This page will be updated as new information is made available.
Please report broken links at http://www.erwm.com/contact.htm .
For further information on the Word-Faith Movement, please refer to the following ministries:
Deception in the Church (Sandy Simpson)
Eastern Regional Watch Ministries (Steve Muse)
Let Us Reason (Mike Oppenheimer)
Power To Stand (Steve Mitchell)
Prophezine (Ray & Tracye Gano)
The Other Side of the River (Kevin Reeves)
Spiritual Research Network (Chris Lawson)
Take Heed Ministries (Cecil Andrews, Northern Ireland)
Wall Watchers (Rusty Leonard)
Christian Research Service (Bud Press)
Senator Chuck Grassley's website: http://grassley.senate.gov/public/
Senator Grassley's letters:
Letter to Randy and Paula White 11/5/07
Letter to Pastor Benedictus Hinn (Benny Hinn) 11/5/07
Letter to David and Joyce Meyer 11/5/07
Letter to Bishop Eddie L. Long 11/5/07
November 2007:
December 2007:
Grassley runs into resistance from preachers
January 2008:
Ministries Defy Senate Probe 1/12/08
'Church' and state 1/18/08
Senate urges evangelists to file with accountability agency 1/21/08
Senator Grassley continues to prod TV ministers-what about the mansions, private jets? 1/21/08
February 2008:
Senator Set To Intensify Investigation Of Ministries (according to this news release, "Kenneth Copeland has declared a holy war" and "He has said he will never release the information..." 2/8/08
Investigating Televangelist Finances 2/15/08 ("Rolls-Royces, Dresden vases, vacation homes, jewelry, private jets, a $11,219 clock—the inventory is either admirable or suspicious, depending on your point of view. To adherents of the so-called Prosperity Gospel, the trappings of their ministers are evidence of God's blessings for a life well lived. But to Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, they may be signs of excess—the kind of unreasonable compensation that he says could violate federal tax law.")
Grassley's tax probe draws wrath of televangelists 2/16/08 (If televangelists' aren't accountable to God first, why should anyone expect them to be accountable to the body of Christ, as well as cooperate with Senator Grassley's investigation?)
Minister complies with Sen. probe, second resists 2/25/08 (about Benny Hinn and Kenneth Copeland)
Blunt Iowa Senator Pursues Ministries 2/25/08 ("Grassley said he doesn't want to pick fights, but when organizations seek tax-exempt status, they've got to play by certain rules.")
Televangelists respond differently to
senator's inquiry 2/25/08
3rd Minister Responds To Senator's
Inquiry 2/25/08
Benny Hinn Has "Come To His Senses,"
Says
MinistryWatch.com's Rusty Leonard
2/26/08 (according to this article, "The
other ministries--Creflo Dollar, Paula
and Randy White, and Eddie L. Long--have
not provided any information in response
to Sen. Grassley's Nov. 5, 2007, letter.
Sen. Grassley's investigators are
keeping open the lines of communication
with these ministries, while Sen.
Grassley considers follow-up letters.")
Televangelist: Grassley's inquiry
threatens division of church, state 2/27/08
March 2008:
Some ministries resist cooperation with senator's probe ("Two Atlanta-area ministers, Creflo Dollar and Bishop Eddie Long, have refused to cooperate, while Paula and Randy White of Tampa also have failed to provide any information, Grassley's office said. Copeland, initially reserved, has become increasingly combative toward Grassley.")
Sen. Grassley, Baucus Urge Four Ministries To Cooperate With Information Request 3/12/08 (While reps for Randy and Paula White have indicated cooperation, Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, and Eddie Long have yet to cooperate.)
Senate Chairman Adds Clout To Fight For Ministries' Data 3/12/08 ("Some accountants have grown leery of working for some megaministries, said Ken Behr, president of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, an accrediting group for churches and other religious nonprofit organizations.")
Pressure Added In Ministries Probe 3/13/08 ("Grassley's increased pressure comes at a time of great change for Without Walls. The Tampa and Lakeland churches are on the market for $30 million each.")
Possible subpoenas for Dollar, Long if they don't submit financial documents 3/12/08 ("Atlanta pastors were sent follow-up letters from Senate committee encouraging them to comply by March 31 deadline...Reports of lifestyles of the ministers, including the purchase of private jets, exotic cars, expansive homes and expensive trinkets, attracted Grassley's attention.")
2 senators join forces to seek answers from 'prosperity' preachers 3/12/08 ("Grassley's office also says faith healer Benny Hinn's Grapevine-based ministry has indicated cooperation but has answered just 5 of 28 questions so far.")
Randy and Paula White/NBC News Investigation (YouTube Video, 3min-31sec. According to this report, a 2006 audit of Without Walls church revealed: over $26 million in debt, but brought in over $35 million in 2006; a $2.1 million dollar home in Tampa, Florida; a $3.5 million dollar condo in New York City; salaries reported to exceed $1 million dollars each; a $170,000 Bentley convertible driven by Randy White; Randy and Paula White declined an interview with NBC News. This report also includes a brief testimony of a former supporter.)
Kenneth Copeland vows to 'fight dirty'
TV ministries face March 31 deadline 3/13/08 ("All the televangelists targeted by the committee 'preach the Word of Faith message,' Kenneth Copeland said in a letter posted on his ministry's website. Such 'word of faith' teaching often consists of a so-called 'prosperity gospel'." This article also quotes Kenneth Copeland stating that, "'You wanna get in a faith fight with me?' Copeland said, according to Roll Call. 'Why, just come on. But, I'm gonna warn you. I fight dirty. I got somebody else does my fighting for me. I just sit back and watch.'")
Statement
From Benny
Hinn
Ministries 3/28/08
("In a
continuing
effort to
cooperate
with Senator
Charles
Grassley's
inquiry
regarding
the
financial
accountability
of six
church
ministries,
World
Healing
Center
Church
(Benny
Hinn
Ministries)
delivered
its second
round of
responses to
the
senator's
office on
March 28,
2008.")
Bishop Long to cooperate with Senate inquiry 3/31/08 ("Committee the financial and corporate documents sought by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), said a Grassley spokeswoman...Monday is the deadline for information set by the Iowa senator and ranking member of the committee. If the ministries refuse, the committee could subpoena the documents.")
Creflo Dollar: Atlanta Minister Resists Senate Deadline 3/31/08
April 2008
Hinn cooperating, Copeland not, in probe by Sen. Grassley 4/1/08
May 2008:
Pro-Family Leaders Question Senate Mega-Church Investigation 5/5/08 ("Among those signatories to the letter were Rev. Bill Owens of the Coalition of African American Pastors, Deal Hudson of InsideCatholic.com, Mathew Staver of Liberty University School of Law, Paul Weyrich of Coalitions for America and Donald Wildmon of the American Family Association.")