(Note, this article has been updated, since publication on 10/22/2024)

Documentary Producer Nathan Apffel was arrested and manhandled Sunday October 20th after holding a sign outside Ed Young’s church, asking what his ministerial housing allowance amounts to. Following his arrest, Mr. Apffel said he’ll need to have his right elbow X-rayed and still feels the pain inflicted on his wrists by the handcuffs.

“I wasn’t expecting so much brute force” said Apffel, who has been working several years on a docuseries about the religion business.  “I kept asking the deputy who cuffed me to ease up with the handcuffs, it was like he was trying to inflict pain.”

Apffel spent the night in jail before making bail Monday morning, 10/21/24. Two days before his arrest, he tried unsuccessfully to get an interview with the church’s CEO and lawyer Dennis Brewer Jr.

How do these preachers afford such expensive real estate? One way is through extremely large housing allowances.  Apffel stated in one of his videos that in 2005, Mr. Ed Young received a housing allowance of $240,000.  Young has not disclosed what he is receiving now in 2024.

Publicity hound pastor Ed Young, known for his attention getting stunts, such as holding a press conference in bed with his wife on top of the church office building, now has the kind of publicity he would probably rather avoid.

While Steve Hickey, Nathan’s cameraman, was filming Mr. Apffel, his camera was confiscated and damaged by security guards and he received a trespass warning. Mr. Hickey stated they were confronted by over a dozen security guards. As Apffel was detained, the Grapevine police were called in.

Fellowship Church CEO Dennis Brewer Jr.’s father, Dennis Brewer Sr., represented quite a few well-known pastors and televangelists.

Donors:  We (Trinity Foundation) urge you to find out how the money is spent (including housing allowances) in the ministry or ministries you support. This information may be available on a Form 990 or church financial statement, if the non-profit organization files such statements.

(Photo: Trinity Foundation investigator Pete Evans took a picture of Benny Hinn’s Dana Point, California, beach home while it was under construction. Evans spoke with Dave Busk, the builder, and was told the new residence would be his client’s “dream home.”)

Beach houses and beach condos along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts have become the vacation homes of choice for America’s wealthiest pastors.

In 2017, Joel Osteen purchased a beach house in Newport Coast, California, for $5 million. Recently, the Redfin real estate website estimated Osteen’s second home to be worth $11 million.

Over the past three years Trinity Foundation has conducted hundreds of property searches, resulting in the discovery of 40 beach houses, beach condos and waterfront homes in coastal cities owned by church and ministry leaders and their non-profit organizations. These 40 properties are worth a combined $140 million.

Wikipedia defines beach house as “a house on or near a beach.” For this study, Trinity Foundation restricted its definition to a home or condo within one mile of a beach. This restrictive definition prevented the inclusion of televangelist David E. Taylor’s $8 million Tampa parsonage and other expensive pastor-owned vacation homes.

Two waterfront properties, while technically more than one mile inland, were included in this study because of their construction next to canals with large boat docks allowing the property owner to quickly travel by yacht into the Gulf of Mexico.

(Photo: Word Network CEO Kevin Adell’s waterfront home is located near a yacht club. In addition to the waterfront home, Adell owns a mountain home in Utah and multiple residences in Michigan. His total residential property holdings are at least $18.5 million, based on estimates from real estate websites.)

Thirty of the properties are vacation homes. The most expensive secondary pastor residence is currently for sale at a price of $14.9 million. Florida is the most common location for pastor vacation homes.

For televangelist Benny Hinn, one beach house is not enough. Hinn appears to reside in two beach houses. Hinn’s Dana Point, California, beach house is currently worth $12 million, according to Redfin.

During an inquiry into religious ministry abuses of the tax code, Hinn’s attorney informed Senator Chuck Grassley that Benny Hinn Ministries “decided the best use for the facility was as a retreat for Pastor’s contemplation and study, Church-purposed entertaining, and for short-term overnight stays preceding or following travel.”

In 2013, Hinn transferred the Dana Point home to his assistant Donald B. Price and Dominion Land Trust, possibly through a straw buyer arrangement. However, in 2020, a corporation filing revealed that Hinn was still using the residence.

In 2020, Hinn purchased a beach condo in Palm Coast, Florida, for almost $2 million. Hinn’s son-in-law, Michael Koulianos, who leads the ministry Jesus Image, also acquired a beach house in Palm Coast.

Continue reading “40 Church and Ministry Leaders’ Beach Houses, Beach Condos and Waterfront Homes Identified; Their Total Net Worth Is $140 Million”

(Photo: Inside Edition shows the outside of televangelist Ron Carpenter’s luxurious Fremont, California-parsonage.)

Background

Inside Edition recently investigated the topic of tax-exempt parsonages. The news report featured drone footage and pictures of some of America’s largest church-owned mansions.  Investigative reporter Lisa Guerrero attempted to interview televangelist Jesse Duplantis regarding his residence, but he refused to answer questions.

Associate Pastor and Political Scientist Ryan Burge told Inside Edition, “If you have a multi-million-dollar house, your property tax bill could be thirty, forty, fifty thousand dollars a year. But if it’s classified as a parsonage, now you don’t have to pay property taxes on that home. That $50,000 could pay the salary of an elementary school teacher in your local public school.”

The property-tax exemption on church and ministry-owned homes is governed by state laws. It differs from the parsonage housing allowance which was created by Congress and involves a tax exemption from the federal income tax.

In 2021, a Houston Chronicle investigation identified 28 parsonages in Texas worth more than $1 million.

Continue reading “Investigating the Parsonage Exemption: What Would Televangelists Pay if Houses Weren’t Tax Exempt?”

According to Psychology Today, “Our home conveys messages about who we are.” This is true about pastors whose homes range from modest to extravagant.

More than 2,000 years ago the prophet Micah wrote, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

The following homes were sold in 2023.

While we avoid posting current addresses of living religious leaders to avoid doxing them, this article does link to real estate website listings for former homes. In some cases, these pastors have lived in homes financially unobtainable by most of their church members.

For comparison’s sake, the lowest priced property on this list is $455,000 which is more expensive than most homes sold in America. According to real estate website Redfin, “The median price of a home in the United States is currently $414,633.”

Each of the beach houses and beach condos on this list were secondary homes for their owners.

Glen Berteau Ministries

Glen and Deborah Berteau, founders of The House Modesto megachurch,  sold their Florida beach house in February for $795,000.

Redfin reports, “Location is everything and this Florida Cottage is within 1/2 mile to the beach & just 100 yards to Legion Park, a public boat ramp/park on the bay.”

Hillsong

Hillsong Property Holdings LLC acquired a home in Newport Beach, one of America’s most expensive cities in 2015 for $2,180,000 and sold it in 2023 for $3,525,000.

Investigators and journalists wondered if this home was the residence of Brian Houston, the founder of megachurch Hillsong.

Redfin describes the property: “A true live/work residence. Downstairs includes a large open Commercial Office Space that has its own separate entrance and its own full bathroom. Parking for 6 cars including an attached 2-car garage.”

Continue reading “Church, Pastor and Ministry Leader Homes Sold in 2023”

Jesse Duplantis has stage presence. Before he became a preacher, Jesse Duplantis performed in a touring rock band. By combining the prosperity gospel and comedy, televangelist Jesse Duplantis has built a large following.

Early this month Duplantis preached at the annual Southwest Believers Convention hosted in Fort Worth, Texas, by televangelist Kenneth Copeland.

Duplantis has a knack for saying controversial things and telling wild stories. In his sermon Vision Creates Direction, Duplantis preached, “I never ask God for a need. What a waste of spiritual energy. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of in my life.”

Duplantis uses a mafia character voice to say, “I know how to get rid of people… You do what you gotta do.” Duplantis would later tell the audience that a mafia boss offered to make him “a made-man”—a fully initiated member of the mafia.

Duplantis enjoys talking about his wealth. “You are looking at one rich puppy here. I’m not being arrogant. I’m telling you one thing. You have no idea.”

During its 43 years of operation, donors have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to Jesse Duplantis Ministries. Duplantis claims his ministry received $500 million in response to prayers.

“I thought I could save the world with a hundred million dollars. So, I went to the throne of God. He said, ‘What do you want, Jesse?’ He didn’t ask what I need. He’s never asked what I need… ‘I said, Lord, I need a hundred million dollars.’ I said, ‘I can touch the world for a hundred million dollars.’ He said, ‘Done.’ Gave me a hundred million dollars… Well, I ran out of money, so I went back to the throne. I said, ‘Jesus.’ He said, ‘You need another hundred million. I said, ‘Yeah.’ He gave me another hundred million.”

Duplantis says that a third time God gave Duplantis’ ministry $100 million, and it was all spent in nine months. Eventually he would ask five times and God would give his ministry $500 million. It still was “not enough to touch the world.”

The first century Church could teach Duplantis some valuable lessons. With limited financial means and no modern technology, they “turned the world upside down.”  – Acts 17:6 KJV

This amazing church growth happened without the prosperity gospel.

(Photo: In the 1970s, televangelist pioneer Oral Roberts acquired mansions in Beverly Hills and Palm Springs, CA, leading his Tulsa, OK-based ministry from afar.)

Oct. 31 was the day Martin Luther posted the 95 theses on the Wittenberg Church door—October 31, 1517—which began the reformation, also called by some the 2^nd wave of Christianity. He critiqued expensive church real estate along with many other practices of the Catholic Church and the Papacy.  Today, Luther’s anger would probably be directed at the aberrant activities of the megachurches.  The reformation is over 500 years old and we still struggle with some of the same problems.

To expand their reach and receive larger donations, televangelists and megachurch pastors are planting churches hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles, from their base of operations. Some pastors appear to be motivated by pursuit of wealth, planting churches in wealthy communities. Others are drawn by the allure of Hollywood, taking up residence in Beverly Hills.

The investment in long distance ministry frequently produces extravagant housing expenses and over-the-top travel costs. Why fly first class when your donors will finance a jet?

The late televangelist Fred Price illustrates the trend of long distance ministry by planting a church in New York City while his home was located over 2100 miles away in California.

In 2007, Business Jet Traveler asked Price, pastor of Crenshaw Christian Center, “How much do you fly for the church?” Price responded, “A couple of years back, when we were first establishing the church in New York, my wife and I flew every single week-52 weeks-Los Angeles to New York and return. Now the least we’d go is once a month and recently we’ve had to go twice a month.”

Joseph Prince, the Singapore-based televangelist, has launched two churches in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and acquired a large plot of land in Colleyville, TX for future expansion. If there is one city in the world that doesn’t need another televangelist, it is Colleyville, the home of Robert Morris, pastor of Gateway Church, James Robison, head of LIFE Outreach International, Matthew Crouch, head of Trinity Broadcasting Network, and Joni Lamb, head of Daystar Television.

Church members and donors to the churches and ministries cited in this article should ponder critical questions. Can a pastor effectively lead his congregation from afar? Are million-dollar mansions good stewardship?

Continue reading “Long-Distance Ministry: Pastors Buy Second Homes and Start Churches Hundreds of Miles from Their Base”

As inflation is making homelessness worse, the great divide between the “haves and the have-nots” is now more apparent than ever.

Month after month, we write about the extreme wealth of many of America’s preachers and compare that to the poorer Christians who support them—sometimes surviving off macaroni and cheese to give their last dollars to one “ministry” or another.

Do these large ministries give back?  Do they meet the needs of the poor surrounding them?  Some do, most don’t.  At least not in any significant way, from our vantage point.

One of the religious non-profit ministries we investigate has received over $1 billion in revenue in less than ten years while spending less than 5 percent of its total funding on helping the poor.

Ask one fellow, Larry Fardette, who, in his time of great need for his ailing daughter, contacted dozens of the ministries he supported asking for help.

Continue reading “Editorial: When Ministry Mandates Prohibit Helping the Hurting”

(Photo: Mansion and guest house from Realtor.com)

It should surprise no one that televangelist David E. Taylor’s church purchased an $8.3 million mansion and guest house in Tampa, Florida. The church parsonage serves as a palace and Taylor is a king.

Taylor, a proponent of the prosperity gospel, teaches that Christians are supposed to be kings. This teaching is found in Taylor’s book The Kingdom of God – Part 1 which is promoted on Amazon with a fanciful description:

“In this royal revelation, given to David E. Taylor during multiple Face to Face Visitations and trips to Heaven, you will understand the need to reestablish God’s Kingdom order in your life, ministry, and destiny. When you realize your true identity as a king, you will gain all you need to reign!”

In his book Supernatural Marvels: Time Travel, Taylor also teaches that Christians can time travel.

Continue reading “Church Purchases $8.3 Million Mansion, Received Tax-Exempt Status After Complaints to IRS”

By Barry Bowen and Pete Evans, Trinity Foundation

(Photo: Former home of faith healer David Turner, from Realtor.com)

Donors, where is the money going?

When a televangelist’s ministry or pastor’s church owns a private jet, you can almost be certain the leader lives in a mansion. That is one of the lessons Trinity Foundation has learned from investigating religious fraud and excess for more than 30 years.

In April 2021 the Houston Chronicle’s Jay Root asked Trinity Foundation for assistance on an article series about church parsonages in Texas. Trinity Foundation compiled a list of megachurches and large media ministries in the state and then searched for parsonages and homes of pastors and ministry leaders.

Meanwhile, the Houston Chronicle examined the state tax code and filed open records requests with county appraisal districts seeking lists of parsonages.

Root’s thorough investigation uncovered startling evidence of pastors living extravagantly: “A months-long Houston Chronicle investigation of ministers’ tax-free residences found no shortage of extravagant homes in high-dollar locales. At least two dozen were worth over $1 million even using the artificially low values that exempt properties typically carry.”

If you are keeping track, that is at least 24 parsonages in Texas worth more than $1 million.

Trinity Foundation also investigated pastor and ministry housing in other states, discovering multi-million dollar homes of several televangelists and pastors who have received little media scrutiny. It’s time to present some of our findings.

Continue reading “Million Dollar Homes Become Status Symbols of Televangelists and Pastors”

Don’t believe every criticism of televangelists on social media.

After a series of tweets and memes claiming that televangelist Joel Osteen drove a Ferarri spread rapidly accross Twitter in mid-July, Trinity Foundation attempted to verify the car ownership but found no evidence of Osteen owning a Ferrari.

Snopes, the fact checker, came to the same conclusions. Snopes reported that one of the memes featured “a Ferrari in Zurich, Switzerland in 2013” which was clearly not owned by Osteen.

In a recent tweets, pictures of Kanye and Kim West’s Calabasas, California home were also wrongly labeled as Joel Osteen’s residence. In fact, pictures of at least five different homes have been identified on Twitter as belonging to Osteen.

Continue reading “Blowback: Joel Osteen’s Lifestyle Target of Twitter Criticism”