There is nothing wrong with being rich, of course. But with great wealth comes great responsibility. Regardless of his rung on the income ladder, we must remember that Jesus saw wealth as a gift from God to be used in His service.
The Parable of the Astute Manager teaches us that God must be the most important thing in our lives: “No one can serve two masters. Because you will hate one and love the other, or you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Luke 16:13-31).
Most clergy in the United States earn a meager $45,000 or less per year while working tirelessly to share the gospel. While most seminarians do not pursue a career in preaching expecting to strike it rich, some spiritual leaders have built lucrative empires comparable to the dynasties once enjoyed only by star athletes, leading actors and corporate elites. Who are these pastors and what are their net worths? We are going to meet some of the richest pastors in America.
JOYCE MEYER: A NET WORTH OF $8 MILLION
Joyce Meyer is a charismatic Christian speaker and author who was previously ranked #17 on TIME magazine’s “25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America” list.
In 2003, Meyer and her husband, Dave, launched a television ministry, “Enjoying Everyday Life,” based in the St. Louis suburb of Fenton, MS.
A mother of four children, she has received criticism for her extravagant lifestyle. In 2004, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch detailed her and her husband’s assets, which were reportedly paid for by the ministry: a $10 million jet, several houses costing up to $2 million each, and a $107,000 silver Mercedes Sedan.
The ministry’s $20 million headquarters is outfitted with $5.7 million worth of furniture (including a $23,000 antique marble-topped toilet).
She responds to her critics by saying that she doesn’t have to apologize for being blessed.
RICK WARREN: NET WORTH $25 MILLION
Rick Warren founded Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, in 1980, which today is the eighth largest church in the United States.
Warren is the author of numerous best-selling books and espouses a five-point plan to bring about global harmony in the world, which involves planting churches, helping the needy and sick, and promoting education.
He and his wife consider themselves “inverted.” They live on 10 percent of their income and donate the rest to charity.
“I drive a 12-year-old Ford, I’ve lived in the same house for the last 22 years, I bought my watch at Wal-Mart, and I don’t own a boat or a jet,” Warren once said of her lifestyle. in a media interview.
BILLY GRAHAM: NET WORTH $25 MILLION
William Franklin Graham is a respected Southern Baptist minister and best-selling author who was one of the first pastors to achieve celebrity status in the 20th century. Graham is known for hosting the annual Billy Graham Crusades from 1947-2005. It has been estimated that 3.2 million people have accepted his invitation to “accept Jesus Christ as his personal savior,” and that 2.2 billion people have tuned in to his television and radio programs. It is believed that more people have heard him preach than any other person. Person in the history of Christianity.
Before his death, Graham served as a spiritual adviser to Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon. He was active in the civil rights movement, led integrated crusades, invited Martin Luther King, Jr. to co-preach at a revival, and he even got MLK, Jr. out of jail.
CREFLO DOLLAR: NET WORTH $27 MILLION
Creflo Augustus Dollar, Jr. heads several organizations: Creflo Dollar Ministerial Association, Creflo Dollar Ministries, and Arrow Records.
He is the pastor and founder of the nondenominational World Changers Church International based in College Park, GA, a suburb of Atlanta.
Raised in a Baptist church, Dollar received a bachelor’s degree in education from West Georgia College in Carrollton before delivering his first sermon in an elementary school cafeteria in 1986.
In 2007, he was preaching to a 30,000-member congregation with $69 million in gross cash receipts. Both his prosperity gospel teachings and his lavish lifestyle have been criticized. He owns two Rolls-Royces, a private jet, and three multi-million dollar homes.
JOEL OSTEEN: NET WORTH $40 MILLION
Joel Osteen is a bestselling author and senior pastor of Lakewood Church, the largest Protestant church in the United States, based in Houston, TX.
Osteen spent much of his career behind the scenes. He founded the Lakewood TV show and produced his father’s televised sermons for 17 years, until his father died suddenly of a heart attack.
Although his father always encouraged Osteen to preach, he did not take the stage until two weeks after John Osteen’s death. Since then, Lakewood’s attendance has grown from 5,000 to 43,000.
In his teachings, Osteen says he intends to focus more on God’s goodness and living an obedient life instead of sin.
He says he tries to teach biblical principles in a simple way, emphasizing the power of love and a positive attitude. Sometimes his teachings are characterized as prosperity gospel. He lives with his family in a $10.5 million house.
BENNY HINN: NET WORTH $42 MILLION
Toufik Benedictus “Benny” Hinn is a televangelist originally born in Jaffa, Israel, and raised in the Eastern Orthodox tradition.
He converted to Pentecostalism as a teenager in Toronto and became so immersed in the faith that it really worried his family. Despite dropping out of high school, he founded the Orlando Christian Center in 1983 and began to profess his faith healing skills.
Hinn’s teachings are characterized as charismatic Christianity, with an emphasis on spiritual gifts and the prosperity gospel.
He is best known for hosting “Miracle Crusades,” which are usually held in large stadiums in major cities, which are then broadcast around the world on his “This Is Your Day” television show. the Trinity Broadcasting Network.
Hinn has come under scrutiny for personal use of church-owned luxury items and lack of financial oversight at ministry boards, which are often populated by family and friends of the televangelist.
PAT ROBERTSON: NET WORTH $100 MILLION
Marion Gordon “Pat” Robertson, the son of US Senator A. Willis Robertson, served as a Southern Baptist minister for many years before forging a career as a media mogul and CEO.
Robertson is the host of “The 700 Club,” the Christian Broadcasting Network’s flagship show, which Robertson launched in 1960 in Virginia Beach, VA.
After an unsuccessful presidential bid in 1988, Robertson founded the Christian Coalition, a Christian Rights organization that raises funds for conservative political candidates.
Robertson was instrumental in building several organizations committed to promoting conservative Christian ideals. He is the founder, CEO and chancellor of what we know today as Regent University. He also established the American Center for Law and Justice.
KENNETH COPELAND: A NET WORTH OF $760 MILLION
Kenneth Copeland, who leads the “Believer’s Voice of Victory” TV show and network, is a giant within the Word of Faith branch of Pentecostalism.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries operates on a 1,500-acre campus near Fort Worth, TX, equipped with a church, a private airstrip, and a hangar for the ministry’s $17.5 million plane and other aircraft.
Copeland resides with his wife Gloria in a $6 million lakefront mansion. Copeland, who is of partial Native American descent, converted to Christianity in the 1960s. His first dream was to be a recording artist. His “Pledge of Love” became number 12 in the Top 40 in 1957.
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