Worldly 'Goods': Fleecing the Flock

Evil is as evil does

How much is worship worth? That question is at the heart of a quiet (and, for many, uncomfortable) issue: pastor compensation. It would be a very different world if people were paid based on their value of their profession to society.

Most clergy in America earn a humble $45,000 or less per year as they work tirelessly to share the gospel. While most seminarians don’t pursue a career in preaching expecting to get rich—some spiritual leaders have built lucrative empires comparable to the dynasties previously only enjoyed by star athletes, A-list actors, and corporate elites. Who are these pastors and what are their net worths?

Let’s get to know some of the richest pastors in America. 

#1: Kenneth Copeland: Net Worth $760 Million

Kenneth Copeland, who leads the "Believer’s Voice of Victory," TV show and network, is a giant within the Word of Faith branch of Pentecostalism. Kenneth Copeland Ministries operates on a 1,500-acre campus near Fort Worth, TX, equipped with a church, a private airstrip, and a hangar for the ministry’s $17.5 million jet and other aircraft.

Copeland resides with his wife Gloria in a $6 million church-owned lakefront mansion. Copeland, who is of partial Native American descent, converted to Christianity in the 1960s. His first dream was to be a recording artist. His "Pledge of Love” made No. 12 in the Top 40 in 1957. 

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