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TV ministries in US face new March 31 deadline

Three television ministries have refused to cooperate with a U.S. Senate committee's probe into their financial records and have been given a new deadline for providing the requested information, according to the panel's leadership, reports Baptist Press.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D.-Mont., and the panel's top Republican, Charles Grassley of Iowa, released March 12 new letters they had sent to Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Creflo and Taffi Dollar, and Eddie Long. They asked the televangelists to provide the documentation they are seeking by March 31.

The senators expressed hope the committee would receive the information from the preachers "without resorting to compulsory process," an apparent reference to the possibility of subpoenas.

Three other televangelists have complied or indicated they would comply with a series of questions submitted in November by Grassley, according to the committee leadership. The ministry of Joyce Meyer has fulfilled Grassley's request, and Benny Hinn Ministries has indicated it would cooperate. A representative of Randy and Paula White also has said they will fulfill the request.

All the televangelists targeted by the committee "preach the Word of Faith message," Kenneth Copeland said in a letter posted on his ministry's website. Such "word of faith" teaching often consists of a so-called "prosperity gospel" that promises physical and financial blessings for believers in Christ. Accusations of contributions being used to support lavish lifestyles have been leveled against at least some of the televangelists.

In a Nov. 5 letter, Grassley asked the six tax-exempt ministries to provide him with their personal and ministry-related financial records, including credit card statements, expenses for secondary residences used by the televangelists, gifts given by the ministries and lists of private automobiles. Grassley's questions were based on accounts from watchdog organizations and whistleblowers as well as investigative news reports, the senators said.

Grassley set a Dec. 6 deadline when he made his original request.

Baucus and Grassley said March 12 the ministries of the Copelands, Dollars and Long "have not cooperated, citing privacy protections or questioning the committee's standing to request the information."

The senators defended their authority to conduct such an inquiry in March 11 letters to the televangelists who have not complied. The Finance Committee has oversight over federal taxation and desires to know if the regulations governing tax-exempt organizations are fulfilling the goals of the revenue code, Baucus and Grassley said. They sought the opinion of the Senate's legal counsel to make sure Grassley's original letter did not violate the First Amendment rights of the ministries, they said.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries provided a cover letter from its legal counsel, 23 pages of answers to questions and 291 pages of supporting material in response to Grassley's initial request, Copeland said on the ministry's website. The information was "incomplete," however, Baucus and Grassley said in their letter to the Copelands.

Copeland lambasted Grassley in a Jan. 22 address at his annual ministers conference, according to a report in Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper.

Saying he would not disclose information on his ministry's donors, Copeland said, "You can go get a subpoena, and I won't give it to you! It's not yours, it's God's and you're not going to get it and that's something I'll go to prison over. So, just get over it! And if there's a death penalty that applies, well just go for it!

"You wanna get in a faith fight with me?" Copeland said, according to Roll Call. "Why, just come on. But, I'm gonna warn you. I fight dirty. I got somebody else does my fighting for me. I just sit back and watch.

"I just throw the first punch and then get out and let my angels go to work."

The National Religious Broadcasters expressed concern about Grassley's investigation in early December, even though none of the six ministries is an NRB member. NRB President Frank Wright said in a letter to Grassley he was worried about the "broader implications," saying the senator's letter "goes far beyond a mere request for financial records necessary to scrutinize the charitable nature of [an] organization's operations."

The names of the televangelists and their ministries, plus the locations of their headquarters, are: Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Kenneth Copeland Ministries, Newark, Texas; Creflo and Taffi Dollar, World Changers Church International, College Park, Ga.; Eddie Long, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, Lithonia, Ga.; Joyce Meyer, Joyce Meyer Ministries, Fenton, Mo.; Benny Hinn, Benny Hinn Ministries, Grapevine, Texas; and Randy and Paula White, Without Walls International Church and Paula White Ministries, Tampa, Fla.

The Whites announced in August they are divorcing.

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[03/15/2008]

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