Growing Rich from Ministry: Apostle Chuck Pierce and Family Receive $4 Million Compensation

On Friday, ProPublica published a large batch of Form 990s, the informational return non-profits file with the IRS. Some of the latest 990s show a disturbing trend of excessive compensation at large media ministries. For example, Glory of Zion International’s 990 reveals more than $4 million were paid to the Pierce family. Trinity Foundation will disclose more examples in future articles.

During Covid, the IRS fell far behind in processing the 990s which disclose total revenue, total expenses, compensation for non-profit executives, and other information helpful for donors analyzing the effectiveness of American charities.

When MinistryWatch published its latest Highly Compensated Ministry Executives list in January, Apostle Chuck Pierce was ranked 4th due to receiving $1,774,051 in compensation during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021. Pierce would rank 3rd based on the new 990 which discloses $2,084,437 in compensation.

(Screenshot: Charles “Chuck” Pierce preaching.)

Congress created a tax penalty for non-profit organizations that provide excessive compensation to employees. Pierce exploits a loophole in the law which exempts clergy from the excise tax. Page 5 line 15 of the 990 shows the ministry is not subject to the 4960 excise tax on excessive compensation which is defined as compensation of more than $1 million.


(Spreadsheet: Pierce family compensation compiled from 990 for fiscal year ending March 31, 2022.)

Trinity Foundation encourages donors to boycott non-profit organizations paying exorbitant salaries to executives.

Lawsuit: Religious TV Executive Owes Almost $18 Million in Taxes; Media Misses Bigger Picture


(Photo: The Word Network appeals primarily to African American audiences.)

The United States has filed a lawsuit in federal court, attempting to seize  Word Network president Kevin Adell’s $4.4 million Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-home, alleging the radio and TV broadcaster owes almost $18 million in estate and gift taxes, following the death of his father, Franklin Adell in 2006.

The case has received little news coverage outside of Michigan. The Detroit Free Press and Crain’s Detroit Business have covered the story. Journalists reporting on Adell’s legal problems have missed a bigger story: Adell has exploited a loophole in the law, crafted for churches, to avoid disclosing millions of dollars in compensation.

Who is Kevin Adell?


(Screenshot: Kevin Adell being interviewed following Novi city council approval to build the Adell Center.)

Kevin Adell is a broadcaster and serial entrepreneur involved in commercial real estate development. In addition to operating The Word Network, Adell owns talk radio station WFDF and WADL-TV, but not for much longer, as the pending sale of the TV station was announced May 17th  and Wikipedia reports the sale price at $75 million.

Adell constructed the $125 million Adell Center, a business complex in Novi, Michigan, featuring restaurants, shops and indoor skydiving.

Adell also owns a massive car collection. In 2019, Hagerty Media revealed that Adell had a “fleet of 100 or so automobiles—plus one special tractor.”  Adell is reportedly the only American owner of a Lamborghini Nitro 130 T4i tractor.

Adell’s collection features iconic vehicles from TV shows and movies. According to Hagerty, Adell “owns one Batmobile, one Bat motorcycle, the General Lee Dodge Charger from ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ (minus its rebel flag), Burt Reynolds’ Trans Am from ‘Smokey and the Bandit,’ and the faux Ferrari 250GT California Spyder launched off a balcony in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.'”

The Lawsuit

The case United States of America v. Adell et al was filed on April 24th. According to the complaint, when Franklin Adell died, he left a “gross estate valued at $32,930,891.”

The lawsuit alleges that Kevin Adell owes $9,775,326.65 in unpaid estate taxes and $8,178,714.47 in unpaid gift taxes. The lawsuit claims, “Kevin Adell dissipated the Adell Estate’s assets and knowingly and willfully failed to pay the estate tax liabilities the Adell Estate owed to the United States.”

Continue reading “Lawsuit: Religious TV Executive Owes Almost $18 Million in Taxes; Media Misses Bigger Picture”

The Walls Came Tumbling Down: Holy Land Theme Park Demolished After TBN Spent $130 Million on Pet Project

The Holy Land Experience, one of America’s largest biblical theme parks, lies in ruins, after Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) spent more than $130 million on the project.

AdventHealth purchased the Orlando property from TBN in 2021 for $32 million. According to Orlando TV station WESH, AdventHealth submitted plans to build a hospital on the site.


(Photo: Theme Park before demolition began. Screenshot from video by Steve Ronin.)

Demolition is currently underway.  Adam, host of TheDailyWoo YouTube channel, recently visited Holy Land Experience, and documented the theme park’s destruction.

Expenses from Purchasing and Operating Holy Land Theme Park

Religion News Blog reported in 2007 that TBN spent $37 million to acquire Holy Land Experience. The purchase involved three financial transactions: TBN paid off an $8 million loan from Grace Foundation to Holy Land Ministries, spent $12 million to acquire land from Sola Scriptura and donated $17 million to Master’s Gate Foundation.

According to Trinity Foundation informants, The Holy Land Experience became TBN co-founder Jan Crouch’s pet project. Jan oversaw remodels and new exhibits as the theme park produced Broadway-style musicals.

Continue reading “The Walls Came Tumbling Down: Holy Land Theme Park Demolished After TBN Spent $130 Million on Pet Project”

Church Defense Strategy: Hillsong Responds to Allegations and Government Investigation

Australian megachurch Hillsong, facing leadership scandals and allegations of financial misdeeds, has embraced a defense strategy remarkably like American televangelists facing investigations and court challenges.

Hillsong’s responses to allegations can be summarized as …

  1. Deny problems exist.
  2. Create churches as limited liability companies as part of a risk containment strategy. Individual churches are overseen by managers.
  3. Threaten to sue critics.
  4. After indisputable evidence emerges, confess, or admit that mistakes have been made.
  5. Request prayer for fallen leaders.
  6. Acquire expert legal advice.
  7. Make personnel and board changes.
  8. Experts release a report denying systemic problems exist.

Hillsong History

In 1983, Brian Houston founded Hills Christian Life Centre. The church would become Hillsong.

Actions taken by Houston more than twenty years ago still haunt the organization. In 1999, Houston learned his father Frank Houston had committed sexual abuse of children but failed to report the criminal behavior to law enforcement. Houston is currently on trial for the failure to report, with a decision expected this year.

In 2019, Hillsong threatened to sue news media for publishing articles critical of Houston:

“Much of this commentary is factually incorrect and highly defamatory, and we call on the media and others to immediately stop making these spurious claims. We have directed our lawyers to review several articles that have published untrue and defamatory claims that smear Pastor Brian’s reputation as a Christian leader. Furthermore, we remind those who seek to spread rumours and baseless information via social media that these comments may also be subject to a defamation action.”

Houston embraced the prosperity gospel and in 2000 he authored the book You Need More Money.

Hillsong began to expand internationally. In 2010, Hillsong Ministries USA, Inc. was incorporated. The articles of incorporation stated, “The Corporation shall have no members.”

On the advice of attorneys such as Stephen Lentz, the father of Carl Lentz, Hillsong would form affiliated churches in America as limited liability companies (LLCs).  Stephen Lentz is a leading advocate for churches to use LLCs as part of a risk containment strategy and describes this strategy in his book The Business of Church.

In 2020, Hillsong fired celebrity pastor Carl Lentz who led the church’s New York City congregation. After the firing, Houston responded, “I’m acknowledging that mistakes have been made and that there are things where we need to get far better, much better. I’m not shrinking back from that.”

Continue reading “Church Defense Strategy: Hillsong Responds to Allegations and Government Investigation”

Updated Tax Rates on Televangelists Making Personal Flights on Church Aircraft


(Photo: Trinity Broadcasting Network’s Bombardier Global Express)

Twice per year the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) updates the tax rate charged on “non-commercial flights on employer-provided aircraft” which includes personal flights taken on ministry aircraft.

The latest tax update was announced in the April 10, 2023 edition of the Internal Revenue Bulletin and covers personal flights taken between January 1, 2023 and June 30, 2023.

The tax is comprised of a terminal charge of $52.35 along with an additional tax based on miles of the trip known as Standard Industry Fare Level (SIFL).

SIFL Mileage Rates for the first six months of 2023:

Up to 500 miles = $0.2864 per mile
501-1500 miles = $0.2183 per mile
Over 1500 miles = $0.2099 per mile

Only a handful of televangelists disclose their use of private jets on the IRS Form 990, a financial disclosure document which reveals total revenue, total expenses, and compensation of executives. However, most TV preachers claim a church exemption from this disclosure.  This fringe benefit would need to be reported on the televangelist’s personal income tax form 1040 each year.

Schedule J includes a box to checkmark for the use of first-class or charter travel.

Trinity Broadcasting Network Jet Depreciates $20 Million in Three Years

(Photo: Trinity Broadcasting Network jet at Fort Worth Alliance airport.)

(Correction: The headline has been changed from “Trinity Broadcasting Network Jet’s Value Drops $20 Million in Three Years” to “Trinity Broadcasting Network Jet Depreciates $20 Million in Three Years.” Also, a paragraph has been added providing an IRS definition for depreciation.)

IRS form 990s and audited financial statements prove that churches and ministries waste millions of dollars annually by purchasing business-class jets.

In 2017, Trinity Broadcasting of Florida (TBF), a non-profit affiliate of Trinity Broadcasting Network, replaced its older Bombardier Global Express jet with a newer 2010 model. On its 2017 form 990, TBF reported $8,814,590 in depreciation but did not disclose how much of the depreciation was for aircraft.

For 2018, TBF reported $6,780,942 in airplane depreciation expense. For 2019, TBF reported total $6,846,838 in total airplane depreciation and $6,929,106 for 2020.

In three years the TBF jet depreciated by $20,556,886.

Depreciation totals are not available for 2021 or 2022 as 990s for these years are not yet available.

According to the IRS, “Depreciation is an annual income tax deduction that allows you to recover the cost or other basis of certain property over the time you use the property. It is an allowance for the wear and tear, deterioration, or obsolescence of the property.”

Organizations with lower-priced aircraft also report large losses for aircraft. LIFE Outreach International, the ministry led by James Robison, is the parent organization of Zoe Aviation which owns a Cessna 560XL jet manufactured in 2000.

Zoe Aviation had net operating losses of $782,292 in 2021 and $745,207 in 2020.

 

Foreign Financial Reporting: When Church and Ministry Money Travels to Foreign Countries

Researchers at the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, writing for the International Bulletin of Mission Research, estimate that $55 billion will be spent on foreign missions in 2023. That may seem like a lot, but the same researchers also estimate that Christian religious leaders will embezzle $62 billion in 2023.

Foreign mission organizations are notorious for their lack of transparency. Gospel for Asia, which raises millions of dollars to support missionaries,  doesn’t disclose to donors important financial information such as total annual revenue, total annual expenses or compensation for highly paid executives.

Compounding the problem, American tax laws are poorly understood and poorly enforced, often resulting in noncompliance. If a church operates a mission project in a foreign nation with a foreign bank account and the foreign account exceeds $10,000, the church is required by the Bank Secrecy Act to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR).

To make matters worse, if a church or ministry reports a foreign bank account, the report is confidential and cannot be revealed to church or ministry donors. Corrupt religious leaders can engage in international money laundering and the existence of their foreign bank accounts are shielded by privacy laws.

Australian Charity Rules

Some countries such as Australia have stricter laws regarding foreign reporting and foreign expenditures for churches.

In 2022, Hillsong Church employee Natalie Moses turned whistleblower. Moses served as Fundraising & Governance Coordinator for Hillsong Global Corporate Group.

According to Moses’ statement of claim, Brian Houston, the founder and former senior pastor of Hillsong “announced that $10,000 would be given to persons who were his former interns and who had sought to start a ‘Hillsong’ Church in Bucharest, Romania.”

Moses responded by informing a supervisor the direct cash payments to individuals in Romania by Australian non-profit organizations was prohibited.

To avoid violating Australian law, Hillsong Global LLC (an American non-profit limited liability company) transferred the funds. Meanwhile, Hillsong Global does not file a Form 990 disclosing its foreign spending because American churches and church integrated auxiliaries are exempted from filing the non-profit information return.

Moses raised additional concerns that Hillsong was failing to comply with Australian laws.

Australia has adopted Four External Standards which regulate foreign non-profit spending and reporting. Australian churches are not exempt from these standards.

The Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission requires foreign financial records to be “complete, accurate and legible.” Australian churches and ministries should compile a list of all foreign third-party organizations they collaborate with. Non-profit organizations are expected to document criminal and illegal activities committed by employees after misconduct is discovered.

Unfortunately for Australian Christians, these complete records are not available for church donors. Instead, they must be made available to government officials that request them.

The Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission provides basic financial information for Australian churches and ministries, but good luck finding Hillsong Church’s foreign missions expenditures.

(Photo: Hillsong Church Ltd. reporting no foreign expenditures for 2021.)

Continue reading “Foreign Financial Reporting: When Church and Ministry Money Travels to Foreign Countries”

Caller Beware: The Prayer Line Business

Prayer lines are the secret ingredient driving the financial success of televangelism.

In a recent Form 990, Christian Broadcasting Network reported, “In 2020, the prayer center department handled 184,859 outbound and 1,935,522 inbound phone calls. A total of 4,488 people prayed the prayer of salvation with our prayer center employees and 6,677 people rededicated their life to Christ.”

When viewers call the prayer lines, call center employees and volunteers manning phones collect donations and say prayers after obtaining names and addresses.

The harvesting of contact information is a critical component of fundraising. Once a viewer is added to a ministry’s mailing list, solicitation letters are soon to follow.

When a viewer requests prayer for a job or health problem, their prayer need is listed in a database which is later used for generating personalized solicitation letters.

In 1991, ABC Primetime Live broadcast an investigative report featuring a secretly recorded meeting between Jim Moore, head of Response Media, and Trinity Foundation founder Ole Anthony.

The goal of the meeting was to learn the techniques televangelists used to grow their media empires. Moore told Anthony, “Give them something free. You know, we ought to mail you the latest copy of X and get their name and address. New names is the key, new names.”

Continue reading “Caller Beware: The Prayer Line Business”

Trinity Broadcasting Network Embraces Advertising Business Model

After taking the helm of Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) in 2015, Matthew Crouch discontinued TBN’s annual beg-a-thons,  restructured the network’s organization and made programming changes to appeal to younger audiences. The TV programs of Benny Hinn and Kenneth Copeland were removed from the network and TBN’s flagship program Praise the Lord was renamed to one word: Praise.

In 2018, TBN’s two largest non-profit organizations Trinity Broadcasting of Texas and Trinity Christian Center of Santa Ana reported no advertising revenue. In 2019, the TBN organizations reported a total of $3,368,490 in advertising revenue. In 2020, advertising revenue more than doubled to a total of $7,252,771.


(Photo: TBN advertising revenue spreadsheet compiled by Trinity Foundation)

In 2020, all TBN advertising revenue was reported as unrelated business income which is subject to possible taxation.

TBN advertisers include My Pillow and Vinia.

Donor Beware: Gospel for Asia’s Fine Print

Almost four years have passed since Gospel for Asia (GFA), the global promoter of native missionaries, settled a class action lawsuit for $37 million

GFA has finished paying back $37 million to former donors.

The settlement agreement also required GFA to “publish annual reports of all work accomplished with donated funds.”

While the 2022 annual report is not yet available, we can review the 2021 annual report.

If the annual report is accurate, GFA provided water for 39 million people, sponsored 142,000 children and taught 27,000 women to read. While the reports of charitable activities are impressive, there is no disclosure of how much these activities cost.

The GFA annual report doesn’t disclose total assets, travel costs, legal expenses or other financial numbers that cautious donors may wish to review before giving.

By claiming to be a church or association of churches, GFA also avoids filing the IRS Form 990 which discloses salaries of top ministry executives and features an itemized statement of expenses. *

Understanding Restricted Donations

GFA collects money for constructing church buildings, drilling water wells, supporting missionaries, child sponsorship and livestock. But does the money reach its intended recipient?

As required by the settlement, GFA’s website features a disclaimer which says, “Regardless of particular designations, moneys are raised for ministry purposes, and GFA retains discretion to use donated funds in any manner that serves our charitable objectives.”

Continue reading “Donor Beware: Gospel for Asia’s Fine Print”