Author: Barry Bowen

Daystar Jet Travels to Trump Victory Party

Barry Bowen

Correction: This headline was corrected on November 9th. Original headline said televangelist Joni Lamb traveled to Trump victory party, which is incorrect. Joni revealed on the TV program MinistryNow that her daughter Rachel Lamb Brown and two son-in-laws traveled to the Trump event.

(Screenshot: Pastor Planes uses ADSB Exchange to track the Daystar jet on Election Day.)

On November 5th, Word of God Fellowship’s Gulfstream G-V jet (tail number N279PH) flew from Fort Worth Meacham Airport to Palm Beach International Airport.

Word of God Fellowship is the parent organization of Daystar Television Network, America’s second largest religious TV network, headed by Joni Lamb.

Joni’s daughter Rachel Lamb Brown posted Instagram stories from Trump’s victory party.

According to Airport Distance Calculator, the jet traveled at least 971 nautical miles to reach West Palm Beach, Florida. LibertyJet estimates the average cost per mile for a Gulfstream G-V jet flying 200 hours per year is $19.58.

Therefore, the Daystar trip from Texas to Florida and back cost an estimated $38,024. Who paid for this trip? Did Daystar’s board approve the flights as a ministry-related expense or was it considered a personal trip, and Joni reimbursed the cost of the flights?

Continue reading “Daystar Jet Travels to Trump Victory Party”

Seeing the Bigger Picture: Making Sense of the Gateway Church Class Action Lawsuit

Barry Bowen

(Photo: Worship band at Gateway Church Southlake campus. The church campus was constructed for $86 million and opened in 2010.)

By Barry Bowen and Pete Evans

Two class action lawsuits filed in 2024 are creating an opportunity to produce court precedents for suing churches engaged in alleged financial fraud.

In July, Mormon donors merged five cases filed against the Mormon Church into one class action lawsuit.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, “A total of nine plaintiffs — so far — are alleging that senior church leaders and their money managers lied for decades about using member tithing donations solely for charitable causes while instead investing the cash in a multibillion-dollar ‘slush fund’ at Ensign Peak Advisors, the faith’s investment arm.”

The Mormon class action case follows another groundbreaking lawsuit. In 2021, Mormon Church donor James Huntsman sued the church for $5 million, alleging that church tithes were used to build the City Mall Center in Salt Lake City.

On September 25th, Huntsman’s case was heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which has not yet rendered a decision.

In early October, four Gateway Church donors filed a class action lawsuit alleging that Gateway Global Ministries was spending less than $3 million on missions when the total should have exceeded $15 million annually in recent years.  Robert Morris and other church leadership had claimed 15% of money given to the church would be spent on missions.

Precedents created by the Mormon lawsuits may determine the outcome of the Gateway class action lawsuit.

Continue reading “Seeing the Bigger Picture: Making Sense of the Gateway Church Class Action Lawsuit”

Church Governance: Brian Houston and James Morris Create New Non-Profit Organizations

Barry Bowen

(Screenshot: Brian and Bobbie Houston’s new online church JesusFollowers.TV operates a YouTube channel.)

Following their departures from Hillsong Church and Gateway Church, Brian Houston and James Morris have established new churches using different legal structures to determine how the churches will be governed.

Traditionally, articles of incorporation and bylaws have determined how churches are governed by specifying whether or not church attendees have voting rights or if church governance is reserved for a board of directors or board of elders.

More recently, Brian Houston’s prior church Hillsong popularized the practice of creating churches as limited liability companies, based on legal advice from attorneys.

Church Created as Limited Liability Company

While Houston’s website uses the name JesusFollowers.TV for his new online church, the church’s legal name appears to be Wiljalo, LLC, with church donations being collected by a separate non-profit organization named Calling and Purpose, Inc.

A search of corporation databases and secretary of state websites found no Houston-related organization named Jesus Followers.

An email was sent to Houston requesting clarification, but no response was received.

Continue reading “Church Governance: Brian Houston and James Morris Create New Non-Profit Organizations”

Time for an IRS Audit? Estimate: Cost of Personal Flights on Ministry Jet Surpasses $1 million

Barry Bowen

(Photo: Word of God Fellowship jet parked at Fort Worth Meacham airport.)

In February, an IRS news release announced the government agency would launch dozens of audits of “business aircraft involving personal use.”

United States tax laws treat personal flights on business-owned aircraft as a fringe benefit and require American citizens to pay a tax on these personal flights.

Each year the IRS publishes two updates disclosing the Standard Industry Fare Level (SIFL) tax on personal flights.

(Screenshot: IRS April 15, 2024, Bulletin)

The IRS could audit America’s televangelists that make personal flights on ministry jets.

Since October 2022, the Word of God Fellowship jet has flown to Colorado Springs 28 times and to Destin, Florida, 21 times.

Word of God Fellowship is the parent organization of Daystar Television Network, the world’s second largest religious TV network.

Daystar’s leaders Joni Lamb and Doug Weiss married in 2023, following the death of Joni’s previous husband Marcus Lamb.

The couple travel to a Colorado mountain home and Florida beach condo they own. Weiss also operates a marriage counseling center in Colorado Springs.

Continue reading “Time for an IRS Audit? Estimate: Cost of Personal Flights on Ministry Jet Surpasses $1 million”

Book Review: Comparing Benny Hinn to Mafia

Barry Bowen

Is Benny Hinn a gangster? Some of his critics may think so.

In 2017, the televangelist’s nephew Costi Hinn wrote an autobiographical article for Christianity Today with scathing criticism of his uncle’s ministry:

“Growing up in the Hinn family empire was like belonging to some hybrid of the royal family and the mafia. Our lifestyle was lavish, our loyalty was enforced, and our version of the gospel was big business.”

Six years earlier, former Benny Hinn Ministries employee Cheryl Brown leveled similar complaints in her autobiographical book Mafia Ministry: A Crying Shame.

Brown described a time when Hinn approached while she was working as a maid cleaning the church parsonage. Hinn “pointed his finger at me and said, ‘I am watching you’ and walked off. His tone was that of a gangster. I thought, wow, he sounded just like the Godfather!”

By working in the Hinn home, Brown observed the relationship of the televangelist and his wife Suzanne. “When I would see him, before he left out of the door to travel out of the country or go out of town, you would see him standing there as if he was waiting on a hug or a blessing from his wife. I never have seen her give him that.”

The initial excitement of working for Benny faded away as Brown became disillusioned by the working conditions. In her book Brown reports, “All of a sudden, about 50 of us from Benny Hinn Ministries were laid off without any explanation.” Is that how a church should treat its employees?

Brown would be re-hired personally by Hinn rather than the church to clean the parsonage. After Hinn failed to pay Brown for a month, she drove to the parsonage, asked to be paid and was fired.

The ministry security team gave Brown a warning on the day she was fired. “‘I better not ever go against Benny Hinn Ministries or that my family and I will be cursed.’ They told me that people who had left from BHM go on and do great things for the Lord, but that there are also ones that have died once they have gone against BHM.”

A black Suburban belonging to the ministry began following Brown whenever she drove. A friend encouraged Brown to call the police to report the stalking, but Brown refused.

Eventually, Brown moved away from California to escape.

Continue reading “Book Review: Comparing Benny Hinn to Mafia”

2024 North Texas Giving Day

Barry Bowen

Thursday, September 19th is North Texas Giving Day. Fundraising is one of our least favorite activities, but it is necessary to fund our investigations of religious financial fraud. Before asking for any donations, we would like to provide a couple of updates on our investigations.

September 16th Was Super Busy Day for Ministry Aircraft

Our Pastor Planes Project monitors 66 aircraft, mostly jets, to document and bring transparency to religious non-profit organizations’ travel costs, many of which do not disclose travel expenses to their donors on a Form 990.

September 16th was one of the busiest days for religious non-profit aircraft. We tracked 17 aircraft in the air. Twenty-five percent of the aircraft we monitor were in use in one day! Many of these religious non-profits could save a large amount of donor money by using commercial aircraft.

(Photo:  Sixteen aircraft flying over North America. Another ministry jet flew from Brazil to South Africa.)

We post daily aircraft tracking maps to Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).

Extravagant Lifestyles

Journalists have barely scratched the surface when it comes to reporting on the accumulation of wealth by religious leaders.

In recent weeks Trinity Foundation has identified several multi-million-dollar houses belonging to daughters of televangelists. We have also discovered African preachers with vacation homes in the United States. Future articles will explore these topics.

Excess Benefit Transactions

The United States tax code currently prohibits excess benefit transactions for officers of non-profit organizations. When a pastor receives an excess benefit through the personal use of church assets, the pastor is required to pay an excise tax to remedy the problem.

While there are loopholes in the law acting as a deterrent to government oversight, Trinity Foundation is researching methods for increasing IRS enforcement to stop these financial abuses.

North Texas Giving Day

To all our donors and everyone reading our newsletters and website: Thank you for your support and encouragement.

We disclose our total revenue and expenses to the IRS on a Form 990EZ and republish this document on our website so that donors have adequate financial information to evaluate our work.

Trinity Foundation currently employs only two investigators. To increase our effectiveness in combatting religious fraud, we would like to raise funding to hire new personnel.

Another investigator could help us research international money laundering. A social media manager could post regular updates to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter while answering questions from the public. A video editor could assist us in making YouTube and TikTok videos about religious abuses.

If you would like to donate or become a member of Trinity Foundation, please visit this link.

Financing a Millionaire Lifestyle: Pastors Generate Wealth from Life and Business Coaching

Barry Bowen

(Screenshot: Keith Craft preaching about the “Favor-Minded Advantage.”

When a pastor lives extravagantly, it is appropriate to ask, “How does the pastor finance his luxurious lifestyle?”

Historically, America’s richest pastors obtained their wealth by authoring best-selling books.

However, an increasing number of pastors are generating wealth through life coaching.

Keith Craft

One of America’s wealthiest pastors is Keith Craft who leads Elevate Life Church in Frisco, Texas. Craft charges clients $84,000 annually to participate in his Life Mastery Mastermind.


(Screenshot: Keith Craft’s personal website promotes his life coaching business.)

Craft owns two houses in Texas, two vacation homes in Destin, Florida, a mountain home in Colorado, a yacht, and a Cessna 650 jet.

Continue reading “Financing a Millionaire Lifestyle: Pastors Generate Wealth from Life and Business Coaching”

Daystar Television Co-Host Doug Weiss Filed Questionable 990, Runs Association for Sex Therapists as a Personal Business

Barry Bowen

Marriage counselor and sex therapist Dr. Doug Weiss has become a host of Daystar Television Network’s TV show MinistryNow after marrying Daystar co-founder Joni Lamb, following the death of her late husband Marcus Lamb.

Weiss founded Healing Time Ministries and the American Association for Sex Addiction Therapy.  Both entities operate in a questionable manner.

An investigation by journalist Jene Nelson revealed that Healing Time Ministries appears to have filed a fraudulent postcard 990 with the IRS.

In 2022, the Carl H and Edyth B Lindner Foundation gave a $400,000 grant to Healing Time Ministries. However, Weiss’ non-profit organization reported to the IRS that its total revenue for 2022 was $50,000 or less.

Where did this money go? It would be appropriate for the IRS Exempt Organizations Division to audit the non-profit organization to find out.

Continue reading “Daystar Television Co-Host Doug Weiss Filed Questionable 990, Runs Association for Sex Therapists as a Personal Business”

Memes Spreading Toxic Theology

Barry Bowen

The prosperity gospel’s mass acceptance in America is evident by its promotion on social media.

In September 2023, a Facebook post featuring a meme with the words “3 Days from now you Will be a billionaire. Claim it 🙏” went viral.

The post received more than 275,000 likes. Also, more than 106,000 people responded with a love (heart) reaction.

The idea that people can claim wealth by making a positive, verbal affirmation is based on the twisting of scripture, and the practice has been popularized by Word of Faith preachers and televangelists.

Continue reading “Memes Spreading Toxic Theology”

What Should Suzanne Hinn’s Forensic Accountant Look for During Divorce Case Against Benny Hinn?

Barry Bowen

 

(Photo: Benny and Suzanne Hinn appearing together on TV following their 2013 remarriage.)

In a divorce petition filed on July 26, 2024, in Florida, televangelist Benny Hinn’s wife Suzanne Hinn reported, “The marriage between the Wife and Husband is irretrievably broken.”

Suzanne requested spousal support and asked the court, “Require the Husband to contribute to the Wife’s attorney’s fees and costs, including forensic accountant fees, both temporarily and permanently …”

Because Florida is a no-fault divorce state, the forensic accountant would not be looking for financial fraud or other financial crimes.

The divorce petition provides a clue for what a forensic accountant would examine:

“Determine if the Husband has transferred away or disposed of assets within the two (2) year period prior to the filing of this case or during the pendency of this case and, if so, make appropriate adjustments in the equitable distribution scheme.”

The forensic accountant should start by identifying bank accounts and assets owned by the World Healing Center Church and consulting companies such as Family Altar of the Air and eMinistries Consulting, Inc., which are run by Benny’s top confederate Donald B. Price.

Bank accounts may have been opened in trade names registered to each of these legal entities.

World Healing Center Church has registered one active trade name in Texas: Benny Hinn Ministries.

Continue reading “What Should Suzanne Hinn’s Forensic Accountant Look for During Divorce Case Against Benny Hinn?”