Beware of Greedy, Selfish and Money-Hungry Pastors

Every priest is a representative of Jesus himself because he has given up marriage and material things for our salvation - it is a vocation higher than angels. 

If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that

thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou

shalt have treasure in heaven: and come

and follow me - Matthew 19:21

Jesus is the ideal priest and we cannot deny the fact that there are many priests following in His footsteps. On the other hand, there are those who are motivated by profit to preach the word of God and use their positions for financial gain. Taking money from the Church or the poor for personal reasons is not uncommon among pastors but why are they doing that?  Aren't they supposed to preach about honesty and integrity? Maybe they do but since it is always easier said than done, they may find it difficult to practise what they preach. Why do pastors embezzle money from the Church and the people who trust them? One reason is that those with insufficient self-control often find it difficult to resist taking money that is easily available to them particularly when they need the money for some reasons deemed important to them. For instance, a pastor with a growing family may feel that he deserves a higher income because he wants to give his wife and children a comfortable life. He may need money to send his children to college and buy them the things that they yearn for such as an iPad, a cell phone or a new laptop. His daughters may want to have branded clothes and his sons may want branded jeans. Let's not forget about his wife as she may be the most expensive one. What about a diamond ring, a Birkin bag or a new Lamborghini for their anniversary? And of course his personal desire for material goods cannot be omitted - why not a Bentley, a private jet, and a million dollar lake front home for himself! Surely life would not be perfect without some luxury vacations that he and his family well-deserved! This is what we call the good life - the kind of life that everyone is yearning for. Needless to say, when these thoughts creep into his mind, he may choose to deviate from the path of righteousness and indulge in financial crimes often at the expense of his church and congregation. After all, being frugal is an awful way to live one's life and those who cannot give up material goods would find a frugal lifestyle hard to live and meaningless. Although many people cannot bring themselves to believe that their pastor could be stealing from the Church or making lots of money from the congregation to fund their spending habits, these occurrences are all too common.

He that trusteth in his riches shall fall:

but the righteous shall flourish as a

branch - Proverbs 11:28

Did Jesus drive around in his fancy cars and live in a luxurious mansion with a swimming pool? How many private jets did he have? Are private jets 'biblical things'? As we all know, Jesus was born as a poor baby, lived as a poor man and died being poor. However, we cannot deny the fact many pastors are living an extravagant lifestyle with expensive homes and driving fancy cars. Some of them even have a few private jets. Can we still say that their life is a reflection of the life of Jesus? Perhaps it is time they reflect on their lives and live frugally to serve God and humanity with a sincere heart.

For the love of money is the root of all evil:

which while some coveted after, they have

erred from the faith... - 1 Timothy 6:10

Do pastors love God or money? Out of curiosity, I googled "pastors embezzling money from the church" and it was not difficult to find this kind of articles as there are lots of them on the internet. In actual fact, after reading these articles, I feel even more thankful to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Cardinal Robert Sarah for their beautiful book on celibacy and their tireless efforts in defending priestly celibacy. Why feel thankful to them? As what our dearest Pope Emeritus says:

If we separate celibacy from the priesthood, we will no longer see the charismatic character of the priesthood. We will only see a function that the institution itself provides for its own security and needs. If we want to take the priesthood in this light... the Church is no longer understood except as a mere human institution. 

What kind of needs? A Lamborghini or a Bentley? A few private jets? A million dollar lake front home or a $1.8 million mansion? Extravagant vacations? According to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI:

Without the renunciation of material goods, there can be no priesthood. The call to follow Jesus is not possible without this sign of freedom and renunciation of all compromises.

How right he is! Without the renunciation of material goods, we will end up having lots of greedy, selfish, and money-hungry priests. How awful! Is the priesthood in mortal danger as what Cardinal Robert Sarah says? Let us pray that the Catholic Church would NOT turn into a money-hungry human institution.

Below is a list of 30 recent cases on the luxury lifestyles and financial matters involving pastors (in chronological order) that I would like to share with my readers. You can click on the titles of each case to read more about it. The articles are dated from January 2019 to February 2020.

1.   Pastor Accused of Stealing Almost $35,000 From Congregation
Former pastor of High Plains Ministry, Donald Lee Reynolds, is being accused of stealing nearly $35,000 from his parish in North Dakota (article dated 14 Jan 2019).

2.   Pastor who bought $200K Lamborghini for wife lives in $1.8M house paid for by church
Pastor John Gray, who leads megachurch Relentless Church and also an associate pastor at Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church, bought his wife $200,000 Lamborghini as an anniversary gift. He lives in a $1.8M house purchased by the church (article dated 19 Jan 2019).

3.   Former Trinity pastor pleads guilty to theft
Former Fort Atkinson minister, Rev. Bryan Engfer, has been sentenced to two years on probation for embezzling from his congregation at Trinity Lutheran Church (article dated 22 Jan 2019).

4.  Alph Lukau: A life of luxury behind the ‘miracle’
According to Nairaland Forum, the founder of Alleluia Ministries International, Pastor Alph Lukau, is the richest pastor in the world with net worth of $1 billion. You can also click here to read "The grandiose life of the pastor who 'resurrected a dead man' in South Africa" (article dated 27 Feb 2019).

5.   SC pastor accused of stealing from senior citizens in bank fraud scheme, feds say
Pastor of Greater Faith World Outreach Church, Tony McElveen, has been charged with bank fraud and identity theft (article dated 8 May 2019).

6.   Church bishop who helped parishioner buy a car then stole their details and made £12,000-worth of bogus insurance claims for made-up crashes is jailed for 10 months
Bishop of the Grace Faith Ministries church in Leeds, Charles Motondo, has been jailed for impersonating the voice of a parishioner and making a  bogus insurance claim (article dated 10 May 2019).

7.   Televangelist Pastor Worth $760 Million Flips Out On Reporter, Says He Bought Tyler Perry's Private Jet With Church Funds Because Commercial Airlines Are Full Of Demons
In an interview with Inside Edition reporter, Lisa Guerrero, American televangelist Kenneth Copeland attempted to explain the use of a private jet (article dated 3 June 2019).

8.   Ex-pastor sentenced to 10 years in prison for stealing $800,000 from Texas megachurch
Former pastor at First Baptist Church of Houston, Jerrell Altic, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for embezzling about $800,000 from the congregation (article dated 23 June 2019).

9.   NORTH ZIMBABWE CONFERENCE PRESIDENT ALLEGEDLY EMBEZZLED CHURCH MONIES
The president of Seventh-day Adventist North Zimbabwe Conference, Pastor Albert Mangwende, is under investigation for allegedly swindling more than $20,000 of church funds (article dated 25 June 2019).

10.   When Reverend Lamina steals food for orphans
Reverend Lawrence Lamina, the General Manager of Echoing Hills Village and pastor at the Hope Community Church has been stealing items donated to the home for sale at his private shop. What is even worse is that food items are often left until they get close to the expiry date before these are served to the children (article dated 2 July 2019).

11.   Flint-area pastor accused of embezzling money from 91-year-old churchgoer
Raymond Vliet, pastor of Old Beth-el General Baptist Church in Mt. Morris Township, is accused of embezzling $20,000 to $50,000 from a vulnerable adult. The alleged victim is suffering from dementia and is a member of Vliet's church (article dated 17 July 2019).

12.   Former Pastor Indicted, Accused of Embezzling From Church
Former pastor, James Riley Brown, is accused of stealing $332,000 from Broadmoor Baptist Church to pay his mortgage (article dated 25 July 2019).

13.   Bronx pastor stole more than $631,000 from HIV/AIDS charities
Charity Baptist Church pastor, Rev. Reginald Williams, has been accused of stealing more than $631,000 from HIV/AIDS charity fund to pay for his vacation and extravagant lifestyle (article dated 31 July 2019).

14.   Former Clovis Pastor Indicted for Wire Fraud
Former pastor of Sonrise Church of Clovis, Sherman Smith,  allegedly induced investors including the congregation to give money for the benefit of the church but used the money for personal expenses, for his publishing business and investment in foreign ventures (article dated 29 Aug 2019).

15.   Montana Pastor Pleads Guilty to Stealing $288K From Church
Montana pastor, Kenneth Hogue, has been convicted of embezzling more than $288,000 from the United Pentecostal Church (article dated 30 Aug 2019).

16.   Former Pastor Accused of Stealing Money from Church
A former pastor at New Testament Assembly of God Church near Millville, David Rosenberger, is accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the church accounts (article dated 19 Sept 2019).

17.   Members 'brainwashed' by mega-church into donating thousands
Phil Pringle, the leader of C3 Church, is incredibly rich thanks to the tax-free donations from his believers (article dated 30 Sept 2019).

18.   Helsinki pastor suspended over €100K embezzlement conviction
The Helsinki district court convicted pastor Harri Kekäläinen who served at the city's Pitäjänmäki parish, on charges of aggravated embezzlement. The pastor has appropriated nearly 100,000 euros of church funds for his personal use (article dated 5 Oct 2019).

19.   Former Church Leader Accused of Stealing From Church, Family
Former North Carolina church leader, Kenneth Ray Sullivan, Jr., has been accused of stealing nearly $450,000 from the church and multiple retirement accounts (article dated 9 Oct 2019).

20.   DA: Pastor and Wife among 3 People Accused of Stealing $1 Million from More Than 100 'Incapacitated Individuals'
A Delaware County pastor, his wife and her sister are accused of stealing from more than 100 incapacitated individuals whom they act as guardians to finance their lofty lifestyle and expensive purchases (article dated 21 Oct 2019).

21.   Pastor Pleads Guilty to Stealing Money for Oso Survivors
Former Oso pastor, Gary Ray, has pleaded guilty to stealing church funds as well as money intended for mudslide survivors (article dated 14 Nov 2019).

22.   Harvest Report Shows “Massive…Governance Failure,” Allowing James MacDonald to Misuse Millions
James MacDonald is the founder of Harvest Bible Chapel in greater Chicago. He was allegedly being paid almost a million dollars per year and had access to around a million more. You may also like to read Harvest Bible Chapel allegedly made James MacDonald a millionaire.  (articles dated 22 Nov 2019 & 18 Apr 2019).

23.   Three evangelical pastors paid themselves £450,000 out of church’s charity account
Three pastors of a London evangelical church gave themselves unauthorised payments  totaling nearly half a million pounds while trustees for the Kingdom Life Ministries church's charity (article dated 13 December 2019).

24.   Prosecutors: Pastor stole money from Olivet Assembly of God Church for nearly 6 years
Douglas Hammond, pastor of Olivet Assembly of God Church, is accused of embezzling more than $100,000 from his church (article dated 17 Dec 2019).

25.   Church Members Beat Pastor For Buying Range Rover With Tithe Money
A pastor and his wife were given a thorough beating by church members when they came to church in a new Range Rover (article dated 26 Dec 2019).

26.   Feds: Chicago Pastor Stole from Food Program for Needy Kids
A Chicago pastor, Clarence Smith Jr., is accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from a food program that is intended to feed needy children. According to the federal prosecutors, he also spent $142,000 on a luxury car for himself (article dated 11 Jan 2020).

27.   Former Trenton pastor accused of embezzling from church arrested for theft
Former Trenton pastor, Nathan Clinkscales, is accused of embezzling tens of thousands of dollars from the First Baptist Church of Trenton (article dated 12 Jan 2020).

28.   Pastor indicted on theft charges, accused of stealing from elderly church member
A Memphis pastor, Pastor Frederick Smith of New Life Holiness Church is accused of using the personal information of an elderly church member and running thousands of dollars in charges on credit cards opened in her name (article dated 31 Jan 2020).

29.   Former Quitman Co. educator, pastor accused of stealing more than $50,000 from school system
Former Mississippi educator and pastor, Linder Howze-Campbell, is accused of stealing more than $50,000 from a gifted school program (article dated 31 Jan 2020).

30.   PAMLICO CO: Pastor found guilty of embezzlement, elderly exploitation
Thomas Steele, pastor of New Life Baptist Church in Concord, took more than $120,000 from an elderly woman after her husband's death (article dated 5 Feb 2020).

If you like this article, you may also like to read IF YOU WANT TO GET RICH QUICK, START A CHURCH and  CORRUPT RELIGIOUS LEADERS: PASTORS AND SEX CRIMES. To view the content page of this blog, please click here.



References:
1.   Cardinal Sarah: The Priesthood Today ‘Is in Mortal Danger’, National Catholic Register.
2.   The Bible: King James Version with Apocrypha. Oxford University Press.