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Reporter Charges Kenneth Copeland Ministries With Financial Improprieties

By Howard M. Friedman

Associated Press religion writer Eric Gorski today published a long article detailing the business ventures connected with the ministry of TV evangelist Kenneth Copeland. Gorski writes:

Here in the gentle hills of north Texas, televangelist Kenneth Copeland has built a religious empire teaching that God wants his followers to prosper. Over the years, a circle of Copeland's relatives and friends have done just that.... They include the brother-in-law with a lucrative deal to broker Copeland's television time, the son who acquired church-owned land for his ranching business and saw it more than quadruple in value, and board members who together have been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for speaking at church events.

Church officials say no one improperly benefits through ties to Copeland's vast evangelical ministry.... While Copeland insists that his ministry complies with the law, independent tax experts who reviewed information obtained by the AP through interviews, church documents and public records have their doubts. The web of companies and non-profits tied to the televangelist calls the ministry's integrity into question, they say.

Copeland's ministry is one of six being investigated by Sen. Charles Grassley. Copeland has strongly resisted Grassley's inquiries. (See prior posting.)

Full post as published by Religion Clause on July 26, 2008 (boomark / email).