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Creflo Dollar

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Creflo Augustus Dollar, Jr. (born January 28, 1962 in College Park, Georgia) is a televangelist, Word of Faith teacher, pastor, and the founder of the non-denominational Christian World Changers Ministries based in College Park, Georgia. It is the parent organization for World Changers Church International, Creflo Dollar Ministerial Association (formerly called International Covenant Ministries), Creflo Dollar Ministries, and Arrow Records. [citation needed] Each of these enterprises is overseen by Dollar and his wife, Taffi Dollar.

Biography

Dollar received a BS degree in education in 1984 from West Georgia College in Carrollton, GA.[citation needed] [1] He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Oral Roberts University in 1998.[2] Dollar started his ministry in 1986 with eight people[1] and in 2007 was said to have a congregation of 30,000 with $69 million in revenue for 2006.[3]

Dollar's Changing Your World television program is seen both in the United States and internationally.[4] In 2004, a satellite church was started in New York which has a membership of over 7,000.[5] Dollar is the publisher of CHANGE magazine, a quarterly international publication with nearly 100,000 subscribers and The Max, a bimonthly resource newsletter for ministers and ministry leaders.[1]

A popular conference speaker and best-selling author[5], Dollar is known for espousing his own method of approaching the Bible for spiritual and financial fullfillment.[6].[1] [7] Dr. Creflo A. Dollar is the founder and senior pastor of World Changers Church International (WCCI) in College Park, Georgia which serves nearly 30,000 members, and World Changers Church-New York which hosts over 6,000 worshippers each week. His tenure in ministry exceeds 25 years.

A former educational therapist, Dr. Dollar claims to have received the vision for World Changers Ministries Christian Center in 1986. He reputedly held the church's first worship service in the cafeteria of Kathleen Mitchell Elementary School in College Park, Georgia, with only eight people in attendance. Over the years the ministry is said to have grown rapidly and was renamed World Changers Church International. The congregation moved from the cafeteria to a modest-sized chapel, adding a weekly radio broadcast and four services each Sunday. On December 24, 1995, WCCI moved into its present location, the 8,500-seat sanctuary known as the World Dome. At a cost of nearly $18 million, it is claimed the World Dome was built without any bank financing.

A native of College Park, Georgia, Dr. Dollar has a bachelors degree in education, a masters degree in counseling, and a doctorate in counseling. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Oral Roberts University in 1998. He is the publisher of CHANGE magazine, a quarterly international publication with nearly 100,000 subscribers, and The Max, a bimonthly resource newsletter for ministers and ministry leaders. It is claimed his television broadcast reaches nearly 1 billion homes in practically every country in the world.

Dr. Dollar and his wife, Taffi, have five children and live in Atlanta.

Controversy

Dollar is known for his controversial teachings of Prosperity theology[8], which (along with his non-religious investments[9]) has netted him two Rolls-Royces (one was a gift from his congregation), three private jets, a multi-million dollar home in Fayetteville, and a US $2.7 million apartment in Manhattan.[5]

Dollar's message has been denounced[citation needed] by some Baptist Christians, partly for his message that religious faithfulness will be rewarded by material wealth[10], and partly for his assertion that "Jesus didn't come as God, he came as a man, and he did not come perfect...he grew into his perfection" with his December 2002 message "Jesus' Growth into Sonship."[11] Dollar's enumeration of "Believer's Rights"[12] also states that all true believers of God have the same miraculous abilities as Jesus himself, including the power to overcome infertility[13] and to raise the dead[14].

He is a member of the Oral Roberts University Board of Regents[15] and the Board was named in the October 2007 lawsuit against the university for financial and political malfeasance.[16]

Senate investigation

On 6 November 2007, United States Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa announced an investigation of Dollar's ministry by the United States Senate Committee on Finance. [17] Grassley asked for the ministry to divulge financial information [18] (Grassley's letter)[19] to the committee to determine whether Dollar made any personal profit from financial donations and requested that Dollar's ministry make the information available by December 6, 2007. The investigation also scrutinized five other televangelists: Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Eddie Long, Joyce Meyer, and Paula White [20]. On November 27, 2007, Dollar's attorney responded in a letter addressed jointly to Senator Grassley and Senator Max Baucus: "While we applaud Senator Grassley's dedication to tax law oversight, and we can assure you that the Church is willing to comply with a proper request for information, we believe that the IRS, through the framework of [Internal Revenue Code] section 7611, is the appropriate governmental body to review these sensitive matters. Therefore, we respectfully request that Senator Grassley, or the full Senate Finance Committee, refer any information regarding federal tax compliance concerns to the IRS for the agency to evaluate."[21]

In early 2008 Dollar agreed to an interview by Larry King and on the Fox network.[2]

This is Dr. Dollar's response to the letter

Dear Sirs:

On behalf of World Changers Church International (the "Church"), I am writing regarding the letter my client received on November 5, 2007 from Senator Grassley inquiring into its religious practices and operations. On the same day that my client received its letter, five other churches received similar letters. We would like to draw your attention to a number of concerns that these letters raise.

Each of the churches that received a letter from Senator Grassley, including World Changers Church International, practices a religion theology involving the "Prosperity Gospel," a deeply held religious belief that God's devout followers and earthly leaders will prosper and be successful in all they do, including in financial matters, as the outward expression of His favor. This belief, like any number of other religious doctrines, is grounded in Scripture.1 These six churches are part of the rich tapestry of religion in America2 and reach a combined audience of several hundred thousand worshipers. While, as is true with most religious beliefs, not all religions or denominations subscribe to the Prosperity Gospel, this country has a long tradition of celebrating—and protecting—the diversity of the religious beliefs of its citizens. That longstanding principle of tolerance is even more important in these times of strife triggered by religious differences elsewhere in this world.

To avoid entanglement between particular churches and the government, the founders of our country erected, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, "a wall separation between Church and State"3 by enacting the free exercise and non-establishment clauses of the First Amendment. In 1984, recognizing the delicate balance between the government's power to examine churches and the expression of religious beliefs, Senator Grassley introduced legislation that, when ultimately enacted, provided special rules with which the Internal Revenue Service (the "IRS") must comply when examining churches. These rules, the Church Audit Procedures of section 7611 of the Internal Revenue Code,4 are designed to permit the IRS to ensure that religious organizations comply with federal tax laws and, at the same time, preserve and protect the ability of citizens to worship in accordance with their religious beliefs without fear of unwarranted government interference. Indeed, in the legislative history underlying section 7611, the Senate Finance Committee Report from 1984 outlined its rationale for the legislation: "the committee is aware of the special problems that arise when the Internal Revenue Service (or any governmental agency) examines the records of a church, including problems of separation of church and state and the special relationship of a church to its members."5

The Church's first Amendment rights and the problems that section 7611 was designed to prevent are implicated by the recent request for information. While we applaud Senator Grassley's dedication to tax law oversight and we can assure you that the church is willing to comply with a proper request for information, we believe that the IRS, through the framework of section 7611, is the appropriate governmental body to review these sensitive matters. Therefore, we respectfully request that Senator Grassley, or the full Senate Finance Committee, refer any information regarding federal tax compliance concerns to the IRS for the agency to evaluate.

This approach is not without precedent: In the 1980's, the late Representative Jake Pickle, then chairman of the House Ways & Means Oversight Subcommittee, chose a similar course of action when he asked the IRS to review concerns about television ministries. A referral would permit Senator Grassley and the Senate Finance Committee to discharge their obligation to oversee federal tax administration without running the risk of government entanglement in the church's religious beliefs and practices. Moreover, in the course of an IRS review, the church would be guaranteed taxpayer privacy rights in accordance with section 6103 of the Code, further ensuring that the government would not infringe on its members' rights to worship freely.

If Senator Baucus, or the majority of the Senate Finance committee, believes that it is appropriate for the church to respond to Senator Grassley's questions, then we respectfully request that the Senate Finance Committee provide an appropriate legal context for the review, as would be reflected by a formal subpoena for the information. Congress has wisely determined that religious organizations should not be subject to the same public filing requirements as other charitable organizations and, likewise, we believe that the religious doctrine and practices of a church should not be held out for the world to evaluate as a result of responding to Congressional inquiries. We are concerned, for example, that some of the information requested would not be in the public domain even if churches were required to comply with these same filing requirements as other charitable organizations. In this instance, we are acutely aware of the potential for some members of the general public to disparage or belittle the Church's sincerely held religious beliefs, and we want to protect the Church and its members from this possibility. If a subpoena were issued, the Church and its members could be afforded certain confidentiality protections, perhaps mirroring the privacy rights of section 6103, which would reduce the likelihood of any public judgment regarding its religious beliefs.

We appreciate your sensitivity to these issues and look forward to hearing from you. If you would like to discuss any of these issues please do not hesitate to call me.

Sincerely,


Marcus S. Owens


References

  1. ^ a b c d "Creflo Dollar Biography". Creflo Dollar Ministries. 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-27.
  2. ^ "Creflo Dollar Biography". Creflo Dollar Ministries. 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
  3. ^ "Figures released by megachurch". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. November 11, 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
  4. ^ "Investigation targets TV ministries". Columbia Tribune. November 7, 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
  5. ^ a b c Luo, Michael (January 15, 2006). "Preaching a Gospel of Wealth in a Glittery Market, New York". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
  6. ^ Creflo Dollar Interview on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos
  7. ^ New York Press article by Lincoln MacVeagh
  8. ^ Bloom, John (November 8, 2007). "Why Creflo Dollar Needs His Dollars". The Wittenburgdoor. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
  9. ^ Ramirez, Margaret (August 17, 2007). "Prosperity gospel comes to Chicago: But some call Creflo Dollar's message off-point". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
  10. ^ Barrick, Audrey (August 28, 2007). "Controversial Author to Sue Streaming Faith for Dropping Show". The Christian Post. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
  11. ^ "Archived Audio and Video Messages (2002)". Creflo Dollar Ministries. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
  12. ^ "Total Life Prosperity: The Believer's Rights". Creflo Dollar Ministries. Retrieved 2006-05-02.
  13. ^ "Get Back Satan! Your Right to Give Birth and Raise Healthy Children". Creflo Dollar Ministries. Retrieved 2006-02-20.
  14. ^ "Raising the Dead - No Problem!". Creflo Dollar Ministries. Retrieved 2006-02-13.
  15. ^ http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/content/2007/oru-lawsuit/ORU_pdf_p10.pdf
  16. ^ "University president's wife 'sickened' by allegations". CNN. October 15, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
  17. ^ "Televangelists Living Like Kings?". CBS News. November 6 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ "Senator Probes Megachurches' Finances by Kathy Lohr". npr.org. December 04, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ "Read Grassley's Letters" (PDF). npr.org. December 04, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ "Televangelists Living Like Kings?". CBS News. November 6 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ Nov. 27, 2007 letter from Marcus S. Owens, law firm of Caplin & Drysdale, as reproduced at quatloos web site at [1].


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