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| When Ministry Turns Into Business Popular African American pastors are running lucrative businesses on the side. Is this a healthy trend—or a dangerous distraction? |
Move over, Oprah. Bishop T.D. Jakes is on a roll.
The Texas pastor’s new book, Mama Made the Difference, published by the Penguin Group, hits stores this month in time for Mother’s Day. And he just inked a deal with Sony Pictures to produce nine movies, thanks to the success of his 2004 film Woman, Thou Art Loosed.
The success of Jakes’ $15 million media empire, T.D. Jakes Enterprises L.L.C., has put him in a unique but growing category of preachers who also run thriving for-profit businesses. That’s why Black Enterprise, a magazine serving the African-American business community, published a cover story this month called “The Business of Faith.” It profiled Jakes along with pastors Eddie Long of Atlanta and Kirbyjon Caldwell of Houston.
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All three pastors have redefined what it means to lead the black church.
- Jakes’ 30,000 Potter’s House in Dallas meets in a $45 million sanctuary situated on 400 acres of church-owned land. With 360 full-time staff, the church opened an $11 million facility in August for its private Christian school, and it is breaking ground for a $150 million residential development. Jakes maintains two separate staffs for his church and for-profit company so he can avoid conflict of interest or tax problems.
- According to Black Enterprise, Eddie Long’s 25,000-member New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga., owns 250 acres of land and a 10,000-seat cathedral and operates on an annual budget of $30 million to $40 million. The church’s fitness center and bookstore do a brisk business.
- Kirbyjohn Caldwell, who gained media attention in the 1990s because of his relationship with President Bush, pastors the 15,000-member Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston. He founded a community development corporation, Pyramid CDC, and turned an old shopping center into a thriving business venture that includes a bank, health clinic, pharmacy, private school and offices. The church-owned shopping district employs 257 people and pumps more than $14 million annually into the local economy. Pyramid is also planning to build a 234-acre residential development.
Caldwell, Long and Jakes all say their mission is about empowering the black community, not getting rich themselves. All three have had to defend themselves against critics who say money-changers don’t belong in God’s temple.
“Some people say [creating businesses] is not in the Bible,” Caldwell told Black Enterprise. “Almost one-half of the parables in the Old and New Testaments deal with money. We are representing in the 21st century what the Lord said and did in the New Testament.”
Long, who has been vilified in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution because of his seven-figure salary, $350,000 car and $1.4 million home, says his critics don’t understand the role of today’s megachurch—to strengthen urban communities at a time when politicians have betrayed or ignored minorities.
Jakes says that is what motivates him to pursue profit. “Economically empowering minorities is a critical part of my mission,” he told the magazine.
These three pastors are certainly not the only preachers in the United States whose spiritual callings have translated into big dollars. White megachurch pastors such as Rick Warren and Joel Osteen have also made headlines because of their publishing profits.
How do you feel about pastors who run multimillion dollar businesses on the side? Is this a new ministry model all pastors should follow? Or is it a ploy of the devil to lead the American church into another era of financial scandal?
I certainly don’t believe a man or woman who is called into the ministry must take a vow of poverty. I applaud any minister who can figure out a way to create wealth that will empower disadvantaged communities or build Christian-based social services.
But as we think outside the old religious limitations of the past, we must also recognize that we are walking into a minefield. As wealth in the church increases, so must the accountability. Wherever there is profit to be made, profiteers and exploiters will be lurking nearby. God certainly invites us to create wealth, but He also attaches a warning label to that money.
It reads: “DANGER: THE LOVE OF MONEY IS STILL THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL.”
I certainly welcome new, out-of-the-box strategies that can unleash blessing in our communities. We need godly wealth creation in order to address the issues of poverty, ignorance and abuse.
But let’s keep it clean. If preachers are running personal businesses on the side, we need strict audits and tough ethical standards. Those of us in the pews must demand faithfulness, integrity and biblical stewardship whenever God’s money is involved.
J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma and an award-winning journalist. For more information about Black Enterprise magazine, go to www.blackenterprise.com. (The article "The Business of Faith" is not available online.)
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Fasting Made Easy by Don Colbert, MD In Fasting Made Easy, Dr. Don Colbert explains how this biblical key to health will bring renewed vitality, healing, longevity and deeper spirituality to your life. He shares various kinds of fasting, the benefits of each, how to prepare and end a fast and more vital health information. |
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