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Saturday, May 05, 2012
NYT on Trinity Broadcasting Network Finances and "Ministers"
Those who are interested in church-state legal issues, including the ministerial exception doctrine and recent writing on "freedom of the church," ought to give a read to this story in Saturday's Times about the financial operations of the Trinity Broadcasting Network. Among the salient details are the allegation that "dozens of staff members, including . . . chauffeurs, sound engineers and others had been ordained as ministers by TBN. This allowed the network to avoid paying Social Security taxes on their salaries and made it easier to justify providing family members with rent-free houses, sometimes called 'parsonages.'"
In the story, TBN's lawyer, Colby May, says "that TBN had indeed ordained hundreds of people who felt a true 'ministerial call' and that performers at Holy Land Experience, for example, were 'ministers playing roles.'" May--not to be confused with the Georgia Bulldog!--is Senior Counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice, whose own tangled finances make for interesting reading.
Posted by Paul Horwitz on May 5, 2012 at 12:25 AM in Paul Horwitz | Permalink
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I should add that: 1) I mean that in a friendly way; I've got nothing but love for my friends at MoJ; and 2) the St. John's law and religion blog posted a link today.
Posted by: Paul Horwitz | May 5, 2012 11:08:38 AM
Which is my way of saying, I suppose, that I hope MoJ puts up a link to the story too!
Posted by: Paul Horwitz | May 5, 2012 10:50:34 AM
Thanks, Patrick. From my perspective, I can't render a final judgment on the truth or falsity of the prosperity gospel, whatever I may think of it personally. Indeed, I'm not sure I can render a final judgment on the propriety of calling countless employees "ministers," although I have my own suspicions on the matter. But, as I've written, I think it's important for those who are vocal defenders of things like institutional autonomy, or who are interested in recent work on freedom of the church, to pay attention to and take responsibility for its costs rather than present a singularly rosy vision.
Posted by: Paul Horwitz | May 5, 2012 10:50:07 AM
As far back as September 2004, there was a series of articles in the Los Angeles Times exposing the sanctimonious hypocrisy preached on TBN and practiced by its “ministers,” exposing, in other words, the massive amount of wealth produced under the divine sanction of the “prosperity gospel.” This is probably the most egregious example we have today of Christian doublethink and doublespeak, a theological and moral nightmare so real it risks turning Max Weber’s Calvinist capitalist accumulators into paragons of true Christian virtue. If the one time we see Jesus angry is in the Temple accusing the money lenders of turning it into a “den of thieves,” one can only imagine his reaction to a display of crass commercialism and capitalist conspicuous consumption worthy of the most vulgar hedonist. Forgotten, as a willful form of denial and attempt at collective self-deception, is the beatitude on those who are “hungry,” namely the poor (the destitute, the have-nots, the beggars). Not completely forgotten, mind you, because you can always solicit money on behalf of poor pagans on the other side of the planet:
“Pastor Paul Crouch looked into the camera and told his flock that Trinity Broadcasting Network needed $8 million to spread the Gospel throughout India and save 1 billion souls from damnation. Crouch, head of the world’s largest Christian broadcasting network, said even viewers who couldn’t afford a $1,000 pledge should take a ‘step of faith’ and make one anyway. The Lord would repay them many times over, he said.‘Do you think God would have any trouble getting $1,000 extra to you somehow?’ he asked during a ‘Praise-a-thon’ broadcast from Trinity’s studios in Costa Mesa. The network’s ‘prayer partners’ came through once again, phoning in enough pledges in one evening to put Christian programming on 8,700 television stations across India. TBN was not short on cash. In fact, it could have paid for the India expansion out of the interest on its investment portfolio. But at TBN, the appeals for money never stop. Nor does the flow of contributions. Over the last 31 years, Crouch and his wife, Jan, have parlayed their viewers’ small expressions of faith into a worldwide broadcasting empire — and a life of luxury.”
As Ann Wiezbicka writes in her discussion of “the rich man and Lazarus” parable (that was directed largely to the rich), the parable’s central message is for those who have to share with those who have not (the Crouch’s receive the bulk of their donations from those who have, relatively or comparatively, very little, only to further enrich themselves and their lives of conspicuous consumption and luxury). The consequence of not sharing in this way means the individuals in question cannot live with God, echoing Jesus’ apocalyptic parable of the Last Judgment (Matt. 25: 31-46), that “inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me” or “whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” Both the Psalms and the Prophets disseminate the idea that God is, in some sense, somehow, on the side of the poor (hence, for instance, the notion of the ‘preferential option for the poor’ found in Catholic social teaching). TBN makes a mockery of the idea that Christians should express solidarity with, and have compassion for, the poor (or, for that matter, love for the vulnerable and marginalized in any society), bearing in mind that when one performs a charitable deed one should not “sound a trumpet,” indeed, the act should be done “in secret.”
The 2004 article further notes that,
“Though it carries no advertising, the network generates more than $170 million a year in revenue, tax filings show. Viewer contributions account for two-thirds of that money. Lower-income, rural Americans in the South are among TBN’s most faithful donors. The network says that 70% of its contributions are in amounts less than $50. Those small gifts underwrite a lifestyle that most of the ministry’s supporters can only dream about.”
The “prosperity gospel” idea is the brittle backbone behind this solicitation from those who have very little to those who have far more than their fair share, for it
“promises worshipers that God will shower them with material blessings if they sacrifice to spread His word. This theme — that viewers will be rewarded, even enriched, for donating — pervades TBN programming. ’When you give to God,’ Crouch said during a typical appeal for funds, ‘you’re simply loaning to the Lord and He gives it right on back.’”
So, we’ve know for years what the Crouches (in addition to their CEO-like salaries) and TBN have been doing with these donations:
“The Crouches travel the world in a $7.2-million, 19-seat Canadair Turbojet owned by TBN. They drive luxury cars. They have charged expensive dinners and furniture to TBN credit cards. Thirty ministry-owned homes are at their disposal — including a pair of Newport Beach mansions, a mountain retreat near Lake Arrowhead and a ranch in Texas. The Crouches’ family members share in the benefits. Their oldest son, Paul Jr., earns $90,800 a year as TBN’s vice president for administration. Another son, Matthew, has received $32 million from the network since 1999 to produce Christian-themed movies such as ‘The Omega Code.’ Overseeing these expenditures is a board of directors that consists of Paul Crouch, Jan Crouch and Paul’s 74-year-old sister, Ruth Brown. Control resides primarily with Paul. In a 2001 legal deposition, Jan said she did not know she was a corporate officer and could not recall the last board meeting she attended. TBN’s declared mission as a tax-exempt Christian charity is to produce and broadcast television shows and movies ‘for the purpose of spreading the Gospel to the world.’ Supporters’ tax-deductible donations fund the ministry’s worldwide television network — and keep it growing. Expansion is an overriding goal. Televised appeals seek money for new transmitters, more satellite time and fresh cable deals to bring God's word to an ever-larger audience. As more people hear the Crouches’ message, more are inspired to send donations. That pays for further expansion, which brings more viewers — and more donations. The formula has proved extraordinarily successful.”
What sort of people fall for this stuff? A small, yet I suspect representative sample:
“‘The fruit of God is on their life,’ said Tennille Lowe, a computer analyst in Phoenix City, Ala., who is in her 20s and watches the network every day. ‘If they weren’t prospering, I’d say, ‘Wait a minute. I don’t see any evidence [of God’s blessing] in their life.’ ‘I don’t go to church…. I turn the TV on and it’s right there,’ said Sherry Peters, a bookkeeper in Mississippi. ‘Sometimes I will watch it for weeks on end, every day.’ [….] Olivia Foster, 52, of Westminster, sends the network $70 a month out of her $820 disability check. ‘Without TBN, I wouldn’t be here,’ said Foster, who lives alone and suffers from AIDS. ‘That’s the Gospel truth. It gave me purpose that God could use me. I watch it 18 hours a day.’”
Posted by: Patrick S. O'Donnell | May 5, 2012 9:52:59 AM
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