Trinity Foundation

(Photo: Worship leader Sean Feucht singing the song “There is a Name” in 2018.)

In 2022, Rolling Stone published a critical article about Sean Feucht, the conservative worship leader from Redding, California, who attracted large crowds by opposing Covid-19 lockdowns.

Rolling Stone reported, “He’s also pulling in millions for his ministry — and recently bought houses in Southern California and Montana.”

Feucht is part of a growing trend of religious leaders engaging in long distance ministry, spending much of his time far from his ministry headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Sean Feucht Ministries has acquired two parsonages, one in Washington, D.C. worth almost $900,000 and the other in San Juan Capistrano, California, purchased in 2024 for $3,450,000.

Trinity Foundation has also identified nine homes personally owned by Feucht, registered in his real name, John Christopher Feucht: One in California, one in Montana and seven in Pennsylvania.

The Redfin real estate website reports that two weeks ago, Feucht sold his Coto de Caza, California, home for $1.7 million.

Continue reading “Worship Leader Acquires Nine Homes and Two Parsonages”

 

Update: After receiving a response from Boston Rescue Mission on April, 16th, we changed the article headline from “Reporting Fraud or Accountant Incompetence? Boston Rescue Mission’s Numbers Don’t Add Up!” to “Boston Rescue Mission to Set Good Example by Filing Amended Return.”

We are more than satisfied with the ministry’s response and have updated the article to include new information and Boston Rescue Mission’s answers to our questions, which appear at the end of the article and we commend their intention to file an amended return as well.

Boston Rescue Mission also provided an explanation for the increase in compensation for the ministry’s president, age 68, who is retiring soon:

“The reported increase was primarily due to a one-time vacation and retirement payout totaling approximately $1.23 million, which had been accrued over many years of service. BRM does not impose a cap on accrued vacation time. As Mr. Samaan is approaching retirement, he elected to receive the accumulated balance in accordance with the organization’s policies and with full knowledge and approval from the Board of Directors.

It is important to understand that this payout does not reflect a sudden or unexplained increase in base salary or ongoing compensation, but rather the fulfillment of a long-standing obligation recorded in accordance with GAAP.”

“Our auditors made us aware of an IRS ruling that required Mr. Samaan to take the full payout of the accrued amount at that time.  The amount was significant because it was an accumulation over 32 years of service at that point.”

Correcting an Error

“Upon review, we acknowledge that President Samaan’s compensation should have been reported on Line 5 (compensation of current officers, directors, trustees, and key employees) of the Statement of Functional Expenses, rather than Line 7 (other salaries and wages). This was an inadvertent classification error, and we are in the process of preparing an amended Form 990 to correct this line placement.

It is important to note that the amount shown in the amended filing will reflect the fiscal year compensation actually expensed, which is closer to $200,000, and not the $1.4 million figure reported on Part VII.”

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Boston Rescue Mission appears to have filed a fraudulent Form 990 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, or the ministry has an incompetent accountant. The numbers don’t add up. The compensation for the ministry’s two highest paid employees is more than the total compensation the ministry reported to the IRS.

During the first week of January, Ministry Watch published its annual 100 Highly Paid Ministry Leaders list.

As usual, the two highest paid non-profit executives were David Cerullo ($5,425,948) and Dale Ardizzone ($2,362,151) of The Inspirational Network, but number three was a surprise.

John Samaan, president and CEO of the Boston Rescue Mission, received $1,504,419 in compensation for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023.

During that year, Boston Rescue Mission, which provides aid to the homeless, generated $5,703,650 in total revenue. Therefore, 26 percent of total revenue was paid to Samaan.

Boston Rescue Mission reported 41 employees for the year, therefore, the CEO gets paid a significantly higher amount than the average employee.

The compensation for Samaan and ministry vice president Michael Way was reported on a Form 990, an information return that non-profits file with the IRS.

Continue reading “Boston Rescue Mission to Set Good Example by Filing Amended Return”

 

(Screenshot: Jesse Duplantis explaining to his audience why he left Daystar.)

When a televangelist says that God spoke to him, be skeptical.

In a recent video, televangelist Jesse Duplantis acknowledged that he didn’t renew a TV broadcast contract with Daystar Television Network. Duplantis explained to his viewers that about five or six months ago God told him to leave the network.

“He said, ‘I want you to go off Daystar.’ He said, ‘Remember when I told you I want you to go off TBN?’ He said, ‘I will do the same thing on Daystar as I did on TBN. Your partners will follow you. They will find you.'”

Duplantis has a long history of attributing questionable statements to God. In 2018, Duplantis claimed that God told him, “I want you to believe in me for a Falcon 7X” jet.

Trinity Foundation investigators reject Duplantis’ explanation, instead suspecting his decision was influenced by business considerations rather than divine communication with God, and that Duplantis will provide programming to a new religious network being launched soon.

Continue reading “Daystar Programming Changes May Reflect New Competition in Religious Broadcasting”

By Barry Bowen and Pete Evans

During a golf game about six years ago in north Texas, televangelist Marcus Lamb said to a couple of golfers, “That man ain’t dead yet!”

The surrounding golfers were disturbed by the comment because it sounded like Lamb wanted the man to die and the golfers knew that Lamb’s ministry held a life insurance policy for the man Lamb was talking about.

Lamb’s non-profit organization Word of God Fellowship, better known by the trade name Daystar Television Network, has generated millions of dollars in profits from investing in life insurance settlements.

Wikipedia explains: “A third party becomes the new owner of the policy, pays the monthly premiums, and receives the full benefit of the policy when the insured dies.”

In 2018, Daystar sued Eduardo Espinosa, a trustee of Life Partners Holdings, in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas over a $10 million life insurance policy Daystar claimed to fully own.

In 2019, the court ruled “the relief requested should be granted.”

One of Trinity Foundation’s confidential informants believes that Daystar purchased its Gulfstream G-V jet in May 2020 with profits from the insurance settlements.

Inside Edition investigated Daystar’s jet acquisition upon learning the ministry purchased the jet two weeks after receiving a $3.9 million Paycheck Protection Program loan (PPP).

Congress created the PPP to provide forgivable loans to small businesses and small non-profit organizations to retain employees during Covid.

Inside Edition reported, “Lamb says Daystar was able to buy the jet with proceeds from an investment and the sale of its old jet, not by using government PPP money.”

After Inside Edition contacted Daystar for comment about the PPP loan, Daystar paid the loan back with interest.

The Inside Edition investigative report from 2020 featured a clip of Marcus Lamb speaking to a large audience: “Daystar was recently appraised at over $1 billion.”

In 2012, Daystar attempted to permanently seal its financial records in a court case. Trinity Foundation successfully intervened in Dallas County Court. The unsealed documents revealed Daystar and its related organizations had $227 million in total assets, $225 million in net assets as of 2010. In one decade, the network’s total assets tripled.

Continue reading “Profiting from Death: Daystar Squawks Church but Waddles Business”

(Screenshot: Daystar Television Network broadcast the TV program Love’s Miracle: A Wedding Special with Dr. Doug Weiss and Joni Lamb.)

Background

Jonathan Lamb, former vice-president of the non-profit Daystar Television Network, disclosed to The Roys Report that his mother, televangelist Joni Lamb, paid for her 2023 honeymoon with a Daystar credit card.

Joni and her new husband Doug Weiss flew to Los Cabos, Mexico, following their June 10^th wedding.

According to The Roys Report, “board member Tom Calender decided to ‘gift’ the $100,000 for the honeymoon to Joni.”

In a response to The Roys Report, Daystar reported, “All charges by Joni Lamb on a corporate credit card that are personal expenses are fully accounted for and reimbursed in full by Joni Lamb.”

However, the network did not provide to The Roys Report any proof the honeymoon expenses were reimbursed.

Applying the United States Tax Code to Church and Ministry Gifts

The United States tax code treats gifts differently based on the size of the gift and the relationship of the donor and the gift recipient.

Gifts to family members, friends and supporters are treated differently than gifts given to employees.

If Joni Lamb failed to reimburse the ministry for her honeymoon expenses, the gifting should have been treated as compensation.

Continue reading “Televangelist Joni Lamb Paid for $100,000 Honeymoon with Ministry Credit Card: Applying the Tax Code to Non-Profit Expenditures”

(Photo: Hal Lindsey’s TV program appearing on Daystar)

Hal Lindsey, one of the wealthiest non-profit ministry executives in America, has died at 95 years of age.

Lindsey co-authored the bestselling end-times Bible prophecy book The Late Great Planet Earth with Carole C. Carlson and hosted a TV program airing on Daystar Television Network, costing $381,000 in 2023, and other networks over the years.

Lindsey believed the re-establishment of Israel as a nation in 1948 was a fulfillment of Bible prophecy and the generation alive in 1948 would see a pre-tribulation rapture, the tribulation and Jesus’ return.

From 2013 to 2023, Hal and his wife JoLynne Lindsey received $18.5 million of compensation from Hal Lindsey Website Ministries. During those eleven years, the ministry spent only $1,105,360 in charitable assistance to groups and individuals.

(Spreadsheet: Total revenue and charitable spending of Hal Lindsey Website Ministries and compensation for Hal and JoLynne Lindsey compiled from Form 990s.)

Continue reading “Hal Lindsey’s Secret Legacy: Obtaining Extravagant Wealth from Non-Profit Organization”

 

The IRS recently revoked the tax-exempt status of Saved in America Incorporated, a non-profit organization in California, with the stated purpose of fighting human tracking.

The announcement appeared in the November 18, 2024, issue of the IRS Bulletin, a weekly publication providing important tax updates for accountants and taxpayers.

(Photo: The revocation for Saved in America Incorporated covers financial transactions for six years.)

The above screenshot features all the public information that is available from the IRS regarding this revocation of tax-exempt status. The IRS does not reveal what illegal activity it uncovered during an audit or investigation.

The IRS process for granting tax-exemptions is transparent, but the process for revoking tax-exemptions is cloaked in secrecy.

Continue reading “Failure of Government Oversight: Privacy Laws Protect Corrupt Non-Profit Executives, Not Donors”

(Screenshot: Larry Huch appearing on October 19, 2024, Daystar telethon broadcast.)

Previous Investigations

Trinity Foundation has investigated Daystar Television Network, America’s second largest religious TV network, for more than a decade, and collaborated with NPR and Inside Edition for exposés of the network’s spending and use of a private jet.

Recently, another Christian media outlet, The Roys Report, has begun to thoroughly investigate Daystar. Journalist Julie Roys interviewed Jonathan Lamb, the son of Daystar’s founders Marcus (who died in 2021) and Joni Lamb, and Jonathan’s wife Suzy Lamb for stories about allegations of sexual abuse.

A list of related articles follows the end of this article.

2024 Fall Heart for the World Telethon

Less than three weeks after Hurricane Helene slammed the Florida coast, producing record flooding and destroying communities as far inland as North Carolina and just a couple of days after Hurricane Milton struck Florida, Daystar Television Network hosted its annual fall Heart for the World telethon.

However, none of the millions of dollars raised from Daystar’s telethon will help hurricane victims. Instead, Daystar president Joni Lamb promised on TV that all money given or pledged during the telethon will go to Israel.

Daystar was one of the first Christian ministries to respond with financial support for Israeli troops and citizens following the October 2023 Hamas terrorist attack. Daystar’s fall Heart for the World telethon takes place during Sukkot, the annual Feast of Tabernacles.

Is it Legal for American Non-Profits to Purchase Military Supplies for Foreign Soldiers?

Since October 2023, Daystar’s telethons have raised money to purchase body armor and night goggles for the Israeli military as well as bomb shelters for Jewish civilians.

(Screenshot: June 15, 2024, re-broadcast of March 3, 2024, episode of Heart for the World telethon.)

The IRS recognizes donations to foreign militaries as a charitable activity so long as the recipient is not involved in terrorism or in wars which the United States opposes.

After 9/11, President George Bush issued Executive Order 13224 and Congress passed the USA Patriot Act to prosecute Americans providing support to individuals and organizations involved in terrorism.

The Treasury Department maintains the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (usually referred to as the SDN List), an official list of individuals, organizations and government agencies which Americans are forbidden from donating to or doing business with.

While Hamas and the Israeli government have both killed innocent civilians, only Hamas is listed on the SDN List.

Because none of Daystar’s Israeli partners are on the SDN List, these donations appear to be legal.

Exaggerated Charity?

In 2014, National Public Radio (NPR) investigated Daystar with assistance from Trinity Foundation’s lead investigator Pete Evans.

Journalists reviewed financial data obtained from the unsealing of court documents and questioned if Daystar’s then-president Marcus Lamb was exaggerating the amount of charitable aid the ministry was providing.

NPR’s report featured a 2009 quote from Marcus Lamb: “In the last five years, Daystar has written checks of donations to others, to ministries, to churches, to missions, to hurricane relief, to tsunami relief, to hospitals, etc., to the tune of $30 million cash!”

According to NPR reporter John Burnett, “NPR analyzed six years of Daystar balance sheets. They show the network gave away $9.7 million dollars in direct grants to outside recipients. Not $30 million. That works out to charitable giving of about 5 percent of donor revenue.”

Daystar responded to NPR that “international mission work” included satellite transmission expenses.

Financial Transparency

Word of God Fellowship, the parent organization of Daystar Television Network, is not a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, does not have an independent board of directors and does not provide to donors a Form 990 or audited financial statement disclosing fundraising and management expenses.

Word of God Fellowship avoids the Form 990 filing requirement by claiming church status. Meanwhile, secular non-profits have higher standards to meet.

The Association of Fundraising Professionals Code of Ethical Standards is 25 items long and requires its members to “ensure proper stewardship of all revenue sources, including timely reports on the use and management of such funds.”

For comparison, the National Religious Broadcasters Code of Ethics is only six items long and does not address the prosperity gospel, fundraising or financial transparency.

However, Daystar is not required to meet these six requirements because it is not an NRB member organization. Daystar avoids being a member of organizations that would subject it to oversight.

Televangelist Perry Stone served as one of Daystar’s special guest hosts during the Heart for the World 2024 telethon. On October 13^th, the first day of the telethon, Perry Stone flew to Fort Worth, near Daystar’s production studio, on a Super King Air owned by his ministry Voice of Evangelism. The twin turboprop aircraft travels slower and cheaper than a jet.

(Screenshot: Trinity Foundation’s Pastor Planes project uses the website ADSB Exchange to track the aircraft by its tail number N942CE.)

While Daystar claims all money raised by the telethon will be spent on charity in Israel, it does not disclose if the network paid the guest hosts a speaking honorarium or paid for travel expenses.

To evaluate the effectiveness of a non-profit organization, donors should closely examine Program Services Expenses which are determined by subtracting management expenses and fundraising expenses from total expenses.

Charity Navigator recommends that non-profit organizations spend at least 70% of their total revenue on program services.

Trinity Broadcasting Network, Daystar’s biggest competitor, has provided this critical financial information to its donors through 2022.

(Screenshot: Column B lists 2022 program services expenses for Trinity Christian Center of Santa Ana, better known as Trinity Broadcasting Network.)

Pre-Recorded Telethons

Daystar airs video clips from previous telethons during some of its Heart for the World broadcasts and appears to be in violation of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules requiring disclosure of pre-recorded broadcasts that appear to be live.

The law requires:

“Any taped, filmed or recorded program material in which time is of special significance, or by which an affirmative attempt is made to create the impression that it is occurring simultaneously with the broadcast, shall be announced at the beginning as taped, filmed or recorded. The language of the announcement shall be clear and in terms commonly understood by the public. For television stations, the announcement may be made visually or aurally.”

In 2020, Salem Media Group, owner of the Salem Radio Network, was fined $50,000 for violating the live broadcast rule.

A June 2024 rebroadcast of Heart for the World included a clip of former Daystar TV personality Suzy Lamb. Suzy stopped working for Daystar in 2023.

Toxic Theology

Pastor Larry Huch was one of Daystar’s special guests during the fall 2024 Heart for the World telethon. Huch has received critical attention for rejecting and/or distorting Scripture.

During the telethon, while on a TV program raising funds for Israel, Huch told viewers, “Listen to me. I will never use standing with Israel as a gimmick of raising funds.”

About 15 minutes later, Huch told the TV audience, “Keep blessing the nation of Israel. This is a window that is passing by and once it’s passed by it will never open again for one whole year.”

In 2008, during an appearance on televangelist Paula White’s TV program, Huch claimed, “Jesus is not the only begotten son of God.”

Huch contradicted one of the most well-known Bible verses. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Postscript

Trinity Foundation emailed Daystar the following questions on Friday, October 22^nd but has not received a response by publication time.

• Perry Stone flew to Fort Worth for the fall Heart for the World Does Daystar reimburse travel costs of televangelists appearing on telethons?
• Does Daystar give a speaking honorarium to Perry Stone, Jonathan Cahn, Larry Huch, and others appearing on the telethons?
• Daystar promised that all money given to or pledged during this year’s fall telethon will go to Israel. Why did the network not raise money for victims of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton?

Related Articles

• Marcus Lamb’s Daystar TV Pays Back $3.9M PPP Loan After Inside Edition Investigates Church’s Jet Purchase
• Can A Television Network Be A Church? The IRS Says Yes
• Compensation, Housing Allowances for Marcus and Joni Lamb and Paula White Revealed in Unsealed Documents
• Using the Ministry Jet for Romance? Daystar’s Joni Lamb Visited Fiancé, Now Husband, and New Condo on Ministry Jet
• Time for an IRS Audit? Estimate: Cost of Personal Flights on Ministry Jet Surpasses $1 Million
• Daystar Television Co-Host Doug Weiss Filed Questionable 990, Runs Association for Sex Therapists as a Personal Business
• 40 Church and Ministry Leaders’ Beach Houses, Beach Condos and Waterfront Homes Identified; Their Total Net Worth Is $140 Million

 The Roys Report – Investigative Series

• Exclusive: Former Daystar Executive & Wife Accuse Joni Lamb of Covering Up Daughter’s Sexual Abuse
• Exclusive: Suzy Lamb Says She Was Pressured to Hide Her Sexual Assault
• ‘She’s the Voice of God to You’: Joni Lamb, Jimmy Evans Accused of Bullying, Spiritual Abuse

Photos: 1) Nathan at Fellowship Church, 2)  Nathan with Executive Producer Chris Ayoub at Tarrant County Courthouse hearing

Religion Business documentary producer Nathan Apffel flew in from out of state and presented himself in a Tarrant County courtroom this morning, November 18, 2024, to face a criminal trespass charge.  The crime is considered a Class B misdemeanor and can be penalized with a fine of up to $2,000 or 180 days of jail time.

At the court hearing, Nathan’s dad, Ed Apffel, said, “I’m proud of having to bail my son Nathan out of jail for going to church.  The floodgates have opened for his documentary about the religion business.”

Sunday, October 20^th, Apffel was arrested at Fellowship Church in Grapevine Texas while holding up a large sign asking Pastor Ed Young to reveal the amount of his housing allowance.  Young’s security team included a zealous deputy sheriff who roughed up Mr. Apffel and forced him to get his elbow x-rayed and left bruises on his wrists from the handcuffs.

Fellowship Church security called in the Grapevine police and Apffel was charged with trespassing. “I wasn’t expecting so much brute force,” Apffel told Trinity Foundation investigators following his release from jail (initial article here).   During the incident, Nathan’s cameraman Steve Hickey’s camera was confiscated and damaged by security guards and Hickey received a trespass warning.  Apffel mentioned that the Grapevine police department treated him with kindness and respect, unlike the church’s security team.

Apffel’s hearing appearance today was only a first step of good faith to prevent a warrant being issued for his arrest and he will be required to return at least once more as the case against him proceeds.  His next court hearing is scheduled for December 17^th.