Televangelist's family prospers from ministry
- Texas religious empire under scrutiny over its tangle of kinship

Kelly Kerr / AP file
updated 11:42 p.m. ET, Sat., July. 26, 2008

NEWARK, Texas - Here in the gentle hills of north Texas, televangelist Kenneth Copeland has built a religious empire teaching that God wants his followers to prosper.

Over the years, a circle of Copeland's relatives and friends have done just that, The Associated Press has found. They include the brother-in-law with a lucrative deal to broker Copeland's television time, the son who acquired church-owned land for his ranching business and saw it more than quadruple in value, and board members who together have been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for speaking at church events.

Church officials say no one improperly benefits through ties to Copeland's vast evangelical ministry, which claims more than 600,000 subscribers in 134 countries to its flagship "Believer's Voice of Victory" magazine. The board of directors signs off on important matters, they say. Yet church bylaws give Copeland veto power over board decisions.

While Copeland insists that his ministry complies with the law, independent tax experts who reviewed information obtained by the AP through interviews, church documents and public records have their doubts. The web of companies and non-profits tied to the televangelist calls the ministry's integrity into question, they say.

"There are far too many relatives here," said Frances Hill, a University of Miami law professor who specializes in nonprofit tax law. "There's too much money sloshing around and too much of it sloshing around with people with overlapping affiliations and allegiances by either blood or friendship or just ties over the years. There are red flags all over these relationships."

Neither Kenneth Copeland nor John Copeland, Kenneth's son and the ministry's executive director, responded to interview requests.

Prosperity gospel
Kenneth Copeland, 71, is a pioneer of the prosperity gospel, which teaches that believers are destined to flourish spiritually, physically and financially — and share the wealth with others.

His ministry's 1,500-acre campus outside Fort Worth is testament to his success. It includes a church, private airstrip, a hangar for the ministry's aircraft and a $6 million, church-owned mansion.

Already a well-known figure, Copeland has come under greater scrutiny in recent months. He is one target of a Senate Finance Committee investigation into allegations of questionable spending and lax financial accountability at six large televangelist organizations that preach health-and-wealth theology.

All have denied wrongdoing, but Copeland has fought back the hardest, refusing to answer most questions from the inquiry's architect, Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa.

The Senate committee didn't set out to determine whether Copeland or the others broke the law, although it could provide information to the Internal Revenue Service if something seems flagrantly wrong, a committee aide said. The main goal, Grassley has said, is to figure out whether existing tax laws governing churches are adequate, which could carry sweeping implications for all religious organizations.

The committee could subpoena Copeland if he remains uncooperative. Neither he nor John Copeland, his son and the ministry's chief executive officer, responded to interview requests.

Ever since Senate Finance Committee started its investgations into financial matter of several independently-run US churches last year, this matter continues to capture media attention.

WHAT IS THE TRUE MOTIVATION?

It would seem that certain churches/ministries have leaders whose lifsetyles of materialsm (two and three multi-million dollar houses, two and three luxury cars, leer jets, middle to high six figure salaries and a few in the seven figure range) exceed the norms of most congregants and financial supporters, and this imbalance is what is causing the feds and media houses to question whether the churches/ministries are being used by their leaders for self-aggrandizement when they should be helping the poor of the church.

Compared with the times when Jesus, THEIR GREATEST EXAMPLE, these ministers/pastors need to live comfortably and secure, but who determines this kind of zone? Jesus owned nothing - no donkey, no boat, no house, no finances - but His followers/leaders today own so much that it either means God has blessed them abundantly or they have used the Gospel to con members/supporters.

So what is responsible for the economic and financial disparity between the haves and the have-nots in the churches/ministries?

Of the many churches/ministries sent letters by the Senate Finance Committee, only Joyce Meyers has responded with all financial documents. The others, Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn, Eddie Long, etc., have not. They are citing the IRS law that treats them as non-taxable entities.

But there is a problem. Most of these churches do not have financial accountability systems in which the members and supporters can participate. The board of these entities are the only ones who knows what finances are taken in by tithes and collections, and what are the expenses. Is it fair for pastors and board members to be paid hefty sums of the Lord's tithes and the people's offerings while the people are left languishing or holding on to promises of their time of blessing?

Will the Senate Finance Committee recommend amending laws to ensure greater financial scrutiny or oversight of churches and ministries?

Already, the IRS is known to have sent letters to certain churches which opened their pulpits for politicians to make political speeches as they canvass for votes at elections time. The IRS tax laws that prevent the IRS from scrutinizing their financial operations are now in jeopardy for such churches. They have to explain why theu shouldn't be subjected like other entities.

Are the feds and the US media doing the right thing? Or is this a case of unnecessary interference?