(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.
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.)
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.”
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.
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.”
Each January MinistryWatch publishes a list of highly compensated religious non-profit executives. The compensation for 100 employees on the 2023 list ranges from $370,890 to $7,319,371 (David Cerullo of INSP !!).
Seven million plus dollars!!!
America needs to have a serious conversation about excessive compensation in the non-profit world. Many of the highest paid televangelists fail to make the MinistryWatch list because their compensation is secret.
The compensation data is compiled from Form 990s submitted to the IRS. Churches, synagogues and mosques are exempt from filing a Form 990.
In December, ProPublica reported the IRS had a backlog of half a million 990s to release.
Because of the IRS backlog, MinistryWatch’s list features 15 people with 2019 compensation information.
The IRS backlog also affects Trinity Foundation’s investigations adversely. Some of our investigative reports are delayed by lack of current financial data.
The MinistryWatch list provides compelling examples of nepotism in Christian ministry. The Inspirational Network and Glory of Zion International both include three family members working as highly paid executives.
In addition to compensation of executives, the Form 990 also provides a statement of expenses, which helps conscientious donors evaluate the effectiveness of the charities they support.
One of the key metrics for concerned donors is program services. This is the money spent on the mission of the non-profit organization. Program services is determined by subtracting management and fundraising expenses from total expenses.
Storyglass, a UK-based studio, has produced an 8-part podcast series about Hillsong, the well-known megachurch that originated in Australia. The first episode of False Profits: Hillsong drops on February 2nd, which is better known as Groundhog Day.
In the first episode Noemi Uribe, a former member of Hillsong, describes the charismatic appeal of Hillsong. In the series, Uribe’s personal stories along with expert commentary from journalist Elle Harding will explain the rapid growth of Hillsong and character flaws of church leaders resulting in scandals.
Episode three will feature a conversation with Trinity Foundation investigator Barry Bowen on the topics of church governance, whistleblower accusations and financial reporting of overseas spending.
Besides shining a spotlight on the bad behavior of religious leaders, court cases often bring unique attention to church and ministry governance issues. Cross examination frequently provides answers to questions church members have long sought.
The finances of churches and ministries which are often secret may become a matter of public record during litigation.
For organizations filing a Form 990, legal expenses are disclosed on the Statement of Expenses page.
* Evan and Joshua Edwards – Evan and his son are accused of using their non-profit organization ASLAN International Ministry to fraudulently obtain a Paycheck Protection Program loan. According to ProPublica, the ministry received a loan of $8,417,200 in 2020 to retain 486 employees during COVID. USA Today reported the family used part of the money toward purchasing a $3.7 million home in Orlando among other misdeeds.
A trial date has not yet been set. The court docket is available on PACER.
(Photo: Pastor Planes tracked 13 aircraft on November 20, 2022.)
For eighteen months Pastor Planes, a project of Trinity Foundation, has published daily tracking maps of televangelist, ministry and Christian university jet flights to bring transparency to religious non-profit use of private aircraft.
Private jets are often examples of poor stewardship and a waste of donor funds.
And then it happened! Twitter suspended Celebrity Jets, a popular account well known for real-time tracking of jets owned by Hollywood celebrities. Celebrity Jets was accused of “doxing” — which is a word that typically refers to revealing the address of a person’s home. In this new context it refers to posting real-time location of an aircraft.
When retired Catholic priest Louis Robert Gigante died in October at 90 years of age, the news of his death was missed by most of America’s religion reporters, yet there are important lessons to learn from examining Gigante’s life story.
Gigante served at St. Athanasius Church in New York City, launched the South East Bronx Community Organization (SEBCO), a large developer of affordable housing, and was famous for being the brother of mafia boss Vincent Gigante, who headed the Genovese Crime Family for more than 20 years.
By serving as a secular, non-order priest, Gigante avoided taking a vow of poverty. Gigante preached the weddings and funerals of mafia associates and spoke in favor of lenient sentences after mafia members were convicted of crimes.
In 1989, The Village Voice newspaper published an incredible expose of Gigante’s business practices: “A four-month Voice investigation of Gigante and SEBCO has revealed that the priest and his publicly financed developments have been a $50 million opportunity for the Mafia.”
In addition to operating the non-profit SEBCO, Gigante owned the for-profit SEBCO Management company which did business with the non-profit. This kind of business relationship is described as self-dealing and is illegal when a non-profit executive excessively profits off the non-profit organization.
Self-dealing creates conflicts of interest and opportunities for financial abuse. The Village Voice reported, “It should come as no surprise that the priest’s company has gotten every SEBCO contract.”
