Hillsong Church Gives T.D. Jakes, Joyce Meyer $150K for One Sermon
Hillsong Church likes to spend their congregation’s tithes and offerings like it’s burning a hole in their pockets. From their leaders staying in $22,000/night hotel rooms to pastrix Bobbie Houston buying $18,000 in designer clothing in a single day, to say they have sorely abused their people’s sacrifices would be an understatement.
We previously brought you Countdown: Top 10 Most Expensive Meals Brian and Bobbie Houston Expensed to the Church (Number 4 is $2433.38), Countdown: Top 10 Luxury Hotels Hillsong Leaders Expensed to the Church (Spoiler: The Cheapest is $8457.42) and Countdown: Top 10 Weirdest Things Hillsong Leaders Expensed to the Church (Number 7 is $1467.28 for a Single Uber Ride)
Another way they blow through the big bucks is by giving guest speakers massive preaching honorariums, especially to those with highly aberrant theology like T.D. Jakes that are in the Hillsong Family (where churches or groups can pay Hillsong up to $100k for plum guest preaching spots and other networking opportunities.)
The Potter’s House Impastor, known to wear frequently wear insanely expensive designer shoes, clothes, and watches that cost more than many of his congregants make in a year, has continued to be platformed and lauded by Hillsong Church leaders, along with the Christian Post, Charisma News and the usual suspects like Steven Furtick, Priscilla Shirer, and Judah Smith.
Despite going on record saying he doesn’t believe that Jesus is the second person of the Trinity but rather is just a “manifestation” of God- (Even now, his church website reads, “There is one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in three manifestations: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”)-Hillsong invited him to be a plenary speaker for multiple conferences, rewarding him handsomely for a message or two.
For Hillsong’s 2007 conference, they gave Jakes $120,000 for an honorarium and a whopping additional $77,000 in airfare to fly down.
In a document titled Hillsong Conference (with One Days) Key Cost Variances found in the Hillsong Trove, it reports that conference organizers gave T.D. Jakes $146,359 in 2010 for a single sermon. He did not only speak in these years, but Jakes spoke at Hillsong conferences nearly every year after, likely making over a million dollars over the course of the last fifteen years.
It’s not only Jakes who enjoyed these spoils, however. Joyce Meyer also received an honorarium of $100,00 in 2005, $133,420 in 2009, and another $100,000 in 2011. She also appeared at many conferences over the decade, nearly as many as Jakes.
In a message a week ago to Hillsong parishioners, Global Senior Pastor Phil Dooley said he understood that many were distressed at their high spending ways but told church-goers to stick with them while they seek to sort out whether or not any unethical spending occurred- an investigation he noted would likely take a year to conclude.
Bonus. We also reported that Hillsong Gives Ann Voskamp $107,000 in Honorariums for One Appearance
About Author
Any individual continuing to give money to Hillsong is simply a fool.
The congregants would be better off burning the money rather than give it to any of these wolves.