Senator Awaiting Records of Ministries' Finances

[babylonsister]

Senator Awaiting Records of Ministries' Finances
By Neela Banerjee
The New York Times

Monday 24 December 2007


Six weeks after Senator Charles E. Grassley asked six well-known evangelistic ministries to provide information on how they spent donors' money, only two have complied.

The lawyers for one ministry have asked for more time from Mr. Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, who sent letters to the organizations in early November. Three other ministries have not been in recent contact with the committee or have said they will not cooperate.

"This is early in the process," Mr. Grassley, of Iowa, said in an e-mail message last week. "If the ministries indicate a willingness to cooperate, I'll be glad to work with them on a rolling production of information. I hope all of the ministries will see that transparency is part of enjoying tax exemption and that they'll share information in that spirit."

The ministries contacted by Mr. Grassley's office preach a so-called prosperity gospel, among the most popular evangelistic messages on television and the Internet. Prosperity gospel assures followers that the more they give, including in the form of tithes to the church, the more they will receive from God. Some prosperity gospel preachers live lavishly, as proof of the abundance God can bring.

The leaders of two ministries contacted by Mr. Grassley's office who have answered his queries are Kenneth and Gloria Copeland of Kenneth Copeland Ministries of Newark, Tex., and Joyce Meyer, who with her husband, David, runs Joyce Meyer Ministries from Fenton, Mo.

Popular with women for her no-nonsense brand of self-help, Ms. Meyer was asked by Mr. Grassley's office to explain the "tax-exempt purpose" of purchases including a "commode with marble top" bought for $23,000 for her headquarters.

"Our timely response to the senator's efforts to ensure the financial accountability of all nonprofits is a decisive demonstration of the high standard of fiscal responsibility that we hold ourselves to," Ms. Meyer said in a statement on her Web site. A spokeswoman said Ms. Meyer would make no other statements now.

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