Creflo Dollar
Template:Short description Template:Lead too short Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Creflo Augustus Dollar Jr.<ref name="Lavallee 2001"/> (born January 28, 1962) is an American pastor, televangelist, and the founder of the non-denominational Christian World Changers Church International based in College Park, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta.<ref>"World Changers Template:Webarchive." World Changers Church International. Retrieved May 25, 2009.</ref> Dollar also heads the Creflo Dollar Ministerial Association (formerly called International Covenant Ministries), Creflo Dollar Ministries, and Arrow Records.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He has been criticized for living a lavish lifestyle.
CareerEdit
Dollar began developing World Changers Ministries Christian Center in 1986.<ref name="About Creflo Dollar" /> He held the church's first worship service in the cafeteria of Kathleen Mitchell Elementary School in College Park, with eight people in attendance. He later renamed the ministry World Changers Church International (WCCI), and the congregation moved from the cafeteria to a dedicated chapel. Four services were held each Sunday, and Creflo added a weekly radio broadcast and the television show Changing Your World.
On December 24, 1995, WCCI moved into its present location, the 8,500-seat facility known as the World Dome. The church has said that the nearly $20 million World Dome was built without any bank financing.<ref>"Dr.Creflo A. Dollar Biography." World Changers Church-New York. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jun 2010. Template:Webarchive</ref> Template:As of, the congregation reported having around 30,000 members, and $70 million in revenue (gross cash collections) for 2006.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In October 2012, Creflo Dollar Ministries leased Loews Paradise Theater in The Bronx for a new church location in New York.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In November 2018, CBS News listed WCCI as the 29th largest megachurch in the United States with about 15,000 weekly visitors.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Dollar also speaks at conferences and writes about his gospel of wealth and his involvement in televangelism.<ref name="Luo 2006">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Lavallee 2001">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Personal lifeEdit
Dollar and his wife Taffi have five children and reside in Atlanta, Georgia.<ref name="About Creflo Dollar">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In June 2012, Dollar was arrested for an alleged attack on his fifteen-year-old daughter, according to the Fayette County, Georgia, Sheriff's Office.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Dollar was accused of choking and punching the girl, a story corroborated by Dollar's older daughter,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Fayette County police released details of a subsequent 911 call.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The charges were dropped in January 2013 after he attended anger management classes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Finances and prosperity gospel teachingsEdit
Dollar is known for controversial teachings regarding prosperity theology.<ref name="Luo 2006"/> He has long been criticized for living a lavish lifestyle. He owns two Rolls-Royces, a private jet, and high-end real estate such as a million-dollar home in Atlanta, a $2.5 million home in Demarest, New Jersey, and a home in Manhattan that he bought for $2.5 million in 2006<ref name="Luo 2006"/> (equivalent to $Template:Inflation million in Template:Inflation/year) and sold for $3.75 million in 2012 (equivalent to $Template:Inflation million in Template:Inflation/year).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Dollar has refused to disclose his salary. For declining to disclose any financial information to independent audit, Creflo Dollar Ministries received a grade of "F" (failing) for financial transparency by the organization Ministry Watch.<ref name="Luo 2006"/><ref>Creflo Dollar Ministries Template:Webarchive</ref>
Dollar was among six televangelists who were the subject of a 2007 investigation led by United States Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa as ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee. Grassley asked for financial information 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 asked for information from five other televangelists: Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Eddie L. Long, Joyce Meyer, and Paula White.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Dollar contested the probe, arguing that the proper governmental entity to examine religious groups is the IRS, not the Committee on Finance.<ref>Creflodollarministries.org Template:Webarchive</ref> Dollar and three others were not cooperative, and the probe concluded in 2011 without any charges.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In May 2015, Dollar asked his congregation to buy him a $65 million Gulfstream G-650 jet which caused scrutiny. In response to his critics, Dollar said in a sermon, "If I want to believe God for a $65 million plane, you cannot stop me. You can't stop me from dreaming, I'm going to dream until Jesus comes."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It followed the loss of a previous Gulfstream aircraft he owned on 24 November 2014, which left the runway during takeoff at London Biggin Hill Airport.<ref name="aaib_gulfstream">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> There were no injuries.<ref name="aaib_gulfstream"/> Investigators concluded that the pilot had misidentified lights marking the edge of the runway, believing them to denote the centreline.<ref name="aaib_gulfstream"/><ref name="christian_post_dollar">Template:Cite news</ref>
Tithe retraction viewsEdit
Over the years, Dollar has written books and made video recordings about the obligation for Christians to pay tithe in the churches. However, in July 2022, he publicly retracted his views on tithing confessing that he has misled people with these teachings, stating that it was not biblical to tithe but up to individuals to offer according to their heart and ability. Dollar received praise and criticism for these statements.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Creflo Dollar at Creflo Dollar Ministries
- World Changers Church International