Once again, Biblically based Christianity takes a hit thanks to the false teachings of a self-promoted, mass-media "Christian" leader. Over the weekend, the New York Times reported on a conference held by the Kenneth and Gloria Copeland marketing empire. The experiences of a couple who are long time supporters of the Copelands were highlighted:
Sitting in Section 316... was a family who could explain the enduring loyalty the prosperity preachers inspire.
Stephen Biellier, a long-distance trucker... and his wife, Millie, came to the convention praying that this would be "the overcoming year." They are $102,000 in debt, and the bank has cut off their credit line...
They say the Copelands rescued them from financial failure... "We would have failed if Copeland hadn’t been praying for us every day," Mrs. Biellier said.
The Bielliers are now among 386,000 people worldwide whom the Copelands call their "partners," most of whom send regular contributions and merit special prayers from the Copelands.
Yet, when local television station WFFA interviewed former Copeland Ministry workers in November, 2008, they painted a different picture:
Among those who have come forward is Jeff Spradlin... For nearly two years, Spradlin said he worked in the mail processing center where prayer request envelopes stuffed with cash would arrive every morning. He said a group of ministers, not the Copelands, would pray over the unopened envelopes.
But Spradlin said he and other mail processors were the only ones who actually read the requests.
"I was sitting there getting this paperwork all the day thinking, Kenneth and Gloria don't see a word of this," he said.
Another former mailroom worker, who asked to remain anonymous, said, "none of the prayer requests I handled were ever seen by Kenneth or Gloria Copeland."
The same worker said mail processors would send return letters to Prayer Partners, which was crafted to give the look of a personal response. In fact, the ministry recently bought a new high tech printer, which according to the manufacturer, gives Copeland "a finished document that looks 100 percent personalized."
"They think that when they get the letter back that someone has actually prayed," said Nathan Boutwell, another person who has worked with the ministry. "That's very misleading."
The saddest part of the Bielliers story is their statement that they’re paying for "special prayer" from a minister who’s teachings have been repeatedly rejected for over fifteen years. The Spring 1993, Christian Research Journal reviewed the teachings of the Copelands’ and concluded:
It is regrettable that someone so influential within contemporary Christianity continues to preach a message that overturns virtually every major biblical teaching. To date, Copeland refuses to discuss with his critics the issues raised in this article. We only hope that he will soon realize the dangerous road he is traveling. As Scripture warns, "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly" (James 3:1). For now, Copeland, being a false teacher, has made himself an enemy of the gospel (Gal. 1:6-9).
It seems that little has changed in the decade and a half since.
Word of Faith (Name It and Claim It) ministries like the Copelands produce voluminous media offerings that hold out a seductive mix of self-help and meta-physics peppered with enough theology to make it feel Christian. These groups twist Biblical passages to exalt the individual to the status of a god who only need to learn the right incantations to take control and prosper beyond their wildest dreams.
Their false teachings are the antithesis of Biblically based Christianity that teaches us to humbly surrender our lives to a God who is always in control.
In Word of Faith, when something goes wrong, we get sick or loose a job, it’s the product of our own bad thinking allowing evil spirits to manifest in our lives. Likewise, Name It and Claim It believers can think wealth, health and happiness into their lives. Like the diet pill infomercial, no need to change your diet, exercise or habits, you simple speak your "good life" into existence.
Unfortunately, the end results are often the same; wasted money, disillusionment and a vow to not ‘be suckered again.’ In 2008 WFAA reported:
According to another former employee, Barbara Pierce, workers were told to avoid the Copelands if they ever encountered them.
"It was an unwritten law that if Kenneth or Gloria walked into the office you don't see them, you don't speak to them," she said.
Former employees also said when the Copelands weren't on the road, they spent their days inside their 18,000 square foot parsonage on the shores of Eagle Mountain Lake, surrounded by hundreds of acres of range and ranch land, which was not far from their tennis courts and boat house.
While Copeland told News 8 he does pray over some of his requests, he said he doesn't over all of them due to the volume of mail he gets every day. He said he has a prayer team pray over the requests when he can’t.
Copeland said he has little contact with his staff because he and Gloria are private people who are on the road preaching much of the time. He also took News 8 to task for continually criticizing his ministry.
The internet is sprinkled with a growing number of former Copeland insiders who feel a need to ‘get the truth out’ about the inner workings of this ministry. Tom Killingsworth, previously a pastor in the Word of Faith Movement, writes about his family's experiences at http://exwordoffaith.blogspot.com.
The abuses of human beings that I saw at the hands of leaders in the Word of Faith, particularly Kenneth Copeland, his daughter Terri Pearsons, and other leaders at Kenneth Copeland Ministries (KCM) and Eagle Mountain International Church (EMIC) are the reasons that I am blogging all this. Copeland needs to be exposed as a tyrant and a fraud!
I can’t agree more. Followers of the Word of Faith movement (and much of the "Christian Right" need to open their Bibles and test what is being taught by these celebrity clubs against the actual Word of God.