(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.
Background
The accumulation of wealth by America’s religious leaders is an under-reported story because few religion reporters engage in data journalism.
To understand the big picture requires identifying the property assets of hundreds of pastors and ministry leaders to build an informative data set.
Adding to the challenge, the most expensive real estate is often hidden in trusts or shell companies and privacy laws in some states complicate the process of identifying property owners.
Informants have played an important role in identifying and confirming some of the properties.
While not comprehensive, Trinity Foundation’s residential property data set is large enough to produce informed analysis. Here are more of our findings.
Book Royalties Fund Lavish Lifestyles
How do religious leaders afford such properties? Three common methods appear to be book royalties, clergy housing allowances and speaking honorariums.
Osteen reportedly stopped collecting a salary from Lakewood Church after his book Your Best Life Now was published in 2004 and became a bestseller.
The New York Times reported that Osteen negotiated “a 50-50 split on profits” for his next book, potentially worth $13 million.
Hinn was another bestselling author in the 1990s. In 1991, Christianity Today reported that Hinn’s book Good Morning, Holy Spirit had sold more than 500,000 copies.
Thirty-two of the properties are owned by religious leaders that have authored books or their ministries.
Additional authors with beach properties that reportedly appeared on bestseller lists include Jentezen Franklin, John Hagee and Joni Lamb.
Sometimes the author’s church or ministry buys large quantities to give away and the author receives book royalties for these purchases.
Housing Allowances
Tax-exempt clergy housing allowances, which are frequently secret to donors, may have also paid for some of the homes.
Based on informant data, unsealed court records, and Form 990s, at least four religious leaders with beach houses have received housing allowances in excess of $100,000.
Housing allowance information is disclosed in two places in the 990s, the first location is column F in the Compensation of Officers, Directors, Trustees, Key Employees, Highest Compensated Employees, and Independent Contractors section.
(Screenshot: Jesus Image 2018 Form 990)
Section J, which is frequently not included in 990 filings, reports if a non-profit organization provides housing or a housing allowance.
(Screenshot: While Trinity Christian Center of Santa Ana, better known as TBN, does not own any known beach houses, this photo is included to show how non-profits disclose housing allowances and parsonages.)
Median Cost of American Home
Redfin reported the median sale price for an American home in May 2024 was $439,716. For comparison’s sake, only three of the 40 properties in this study cost less than $439,000.
Due to inflation and other factors, several properties have doubled in value in recent years.
Johnny Hunt, a former Southern Baptist Convention president, purchased a beach house in 2020 for $925,000. Redfin reports the home is currently worth $1.9 million.
Some pastors appear to be purchasing beach houses as an investment. As an example, Richard Wilkerson Jr., lead pastor of Vous Church in Miami, is one of four co-owners of a $3 million home.
Parsonages
Unless a church or ministry is located in a coastal area, they are unlikely to own a parsonage near a beach.
Trinity Foundation found a beach house and beach condo which appear to be parsonages owned by ministries. Both ministries could be more transparent to donors
Moretti Ministries claims on its website, “100% of All Donations Go to the Work, Not Administrative Costs. Every dollar you give to Moretti Ministries goes to the work in the field.”
In 2022, Moretti Ministries purchased a home in Englewood, Florida, for $2.4 million which is tax exempt.
However, the ministry’s website reports that its founders’ vision was reportedly “providing assistance for the building of centers for worship and education in developing countries.”
Moretti Ministries has not filed a 2022 Form 990 disclosing the new real estate.
Passion & Fire Ministries, led by Brian Simmons, the author of The Passion Translation who also has a long history of preaching questionable theology and false prophecies, purchased a beach condo at the Redington Shores Yacht and Tennis Club.
While Simmons’ ministry does report on its latest 990 the ownership of buildings worth $1.2 million, it doesn’t disclose to donors if the ministry provides a parsonage or housing allowance for Simmons because a Schedule J is not included with the 990.
Previously Owned Homes
When televangelists reach their 70s and 80s, they typically travel less and downsize by selling second homes.
In 2001, the non-profit organization Dove Communications (which is related to TCT Ministries) purchased a beach condo for $400,000. In 2013, Dove Communications transferred the beach condo to its CEO Garth Coonce n 2013 for $100. Then Coonce sold the condo in 2022 for $1.2 million.
(Screenshot: Pinellas County Property Appraiser website)
This suspicious-looking property transaction might be part of a bigger scandal.
In January of 2024, MinistryWatch reported, “TCT Ministries, a nonprofit, faith-based television network, has sued four of its board members for abusing their board positions and violating their fiduciary duties for their own financial benefit.”
Travel Expenses
It is appropriate for donors to be concerned with how some religious leaders travel to their vacation homes.
Following the purchase of a beach condo in September 2023, Daystar Television Network’s Gulfstream G-V jet has made 13 flights to Destin, Florida.
These flights raise an important question: Are donor funds paying for weekend trips and summer vacations for televangelist Joni Lamb?
(Photo: ADSB Exchange shows the June 16, 2024, flights of Daystar’s jet which flew to Destin to pick up Joni and her new husband Doug Weiss after they spent over a week in Florida celebrating their first anniversary.)
Media Exposure Provides Accountability
Two years ago, MinistryWatch reported, “Charlie Whitlow, lead pastor of Community Church in Ashburn, Virginia, and church business director Justin Holmberg purchased a $3.2 million beach house in Destin, Florida, last May.” The church leaders used a shell company to purchase the property.
Sixteen months after MinistryWatch reported on the beach house, Whitlow and Holmberg sold the property.
The publishing of investigative articles is one method of bringing transparency and accountability to church leaders and their lifestyles.
As the Bibles says, “But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.” – Ephesians 5:13