Kenneth Copeland

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Kenneth Copeland
Born	Kenneth Copeland December 6, 1936 (1936-12-06) (age 71) United States
Residence	Lubbock, Texas
Occupation	Evangelist
Religious beliefs	Pentecostal
Spouse	Gloria Copeland
Children	Terri Pearsons, Kellie Copeland-Kutz, John Copeland
Website www.kcm.org

Kenneth Copeland (born December 6, 1936 in Lubbock, Texas) is a prominent and highly controversial Word of Faith television evangelist and the founder of a Christian religious organization called Kenneth Copeland Ministries.

1 Early life and education
2 Kenneth Copeland Ministries
3 Contributions
4 Controversies
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Early life and education

Prior to his conversion to Christianity in November, 1962, Copeland was a secular recording artist, having one Billboard Top 40 hit ("Pledge of Love", which stayed in the Top 40 for eight weeks and peaked at #12)^[1].

Following his religious conversion, Copeland turned the rest of his life over to Christian ministry work.^[2] In the 1960s, he was a pilot and chauffeur for Oral Roberts. When Copeland was thirty years old he enrolled in Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma in fall 1967.^[3] Later he studied under Kenneth E. Hagin, founder of RHEMA Bible Training Center and RHEMA Bible Church in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.^{[citation needed]}

He was a member of the Oral Roberts University Board of Regents^[4] until it was replaced in 2008 with a new board that promised to hold to higher standards of financial accountability.^[5] In October 2007 a lawsuit against the university was presented for financial and political wrong doing.^[6] Copeland's oldest daughter, Terri, is married to pastor George Pearsons,^[7] who served until January 2008 as the ORU Board chairman.^[8]

[edit] Kenneth Copeland Ministries

Kenneth Copeland Ministries’ grew through the 1970s and in 1979, "Believer's Voice of Victory" first appeared on television. Headquartered in Newark, Texas, it has international offices in Australia, Africa, Canada, Europe and the Ukraine. According to Kenneth Copeland Ministries, it is also actively involved in ministry to prison inmates in 23 countries.^[9]

Kenneth and his wife, Gloria Copeland, travel regularly, speaking at churches and conventions, including their own annual "Believers’ Conventions." This includes the Southwest Believers’ Convention, the West Coast Believers’ Convention, and the Great Lakes Believers' Convention. The couple have been married since 1963, and they have three children.

[edit] Contributions

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The Copelands have given away 24 airplanes to other ministries, as well as automobiles and motorcycles.^{[citation needed]} KCM also sends out a monthly magazine to all that ask without cost or obligation. Kenneth Copeland Ministries poured large sums of money and aid into New Orleans after Katrina, including a large amount of funding to birth and launch Angel Flight (an airplane and crew specifically assigned to send in supplies to New Orleans when the roads were closed, and is still in operation today, standing ready to bring aid for any other catastrophic events).^[10]

[edit] Controversies

Copeland has received criticism for his teaching about wealth in the "Word Faith Movement"^[11]^[12], his claims about faith healing,^[13] and his claim that Bible believers would receive the hundredfold return on their seed. ^[14].

[edit] Jet and business controversy

Kenneth and Gloria were accused by former business associates of leaving tens of thousands of dollars of debt in their failed Affordable Homes Limited business partnership while spending money on other projects. However, associates were not making satisfactory progress and the Copelands were not at all obligated to keep funding the project due to the apparent mismanagement of the associates.^[15] In 2007 Copeland was accused of using his $20 million Cessna Citation jet for personal vacations and friends, these allegations have not been proven.^[16] In January John Copeland, son of Kenneth, published a video on the KCM website in which he stated the Citation X jet owned by the ministry was used for personal travel ten percent of the time in 2007. The Copeland's financial records are not publicly available and a list of the Board of Directors is not accessible either, yet, according to IRS officials are in strict compliance with IRS regulations as voluntary audits have disclosed in detail.^[17]

[edit] Mike Huckabee

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On Copeland's daily television program Believer's Voice of Victory, 2008 Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee made six appearances on the program from Sunday November 25, 2007 through Friday November 30, 2007, discussing "Integrity of Character".^[18]^[19]^[20]^[21]^[22]

In January 2008, the Huckabee campaign paid for use of Kenneth Copeland Ministries' facilities for a fundraiser. However, as political analyst and commentator Mike Eberhart notes that Democrats also use tax exempt organizations such as churches to make speeches and promote their campaigns. [1] Copeland also claimed that he had had a phone call with Huckabee in which Huckabee allegedly vowed to support Kenneth despite a pending investigation by the U.S. Senate (see below) into Copeland's finances if he was elected.

[edit] Senate Investigation

On November 6, 2007, United States senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa announced an investigation of Copeland's ministry by the United States Senate Committee on Finance. Grassley asked for the ministry to divulge financial information ^[23] (Grassley's letter)^[24] to the committee to determine if Copeland made any personal profit from financial donations, and requested that Copeland's ministry make the information available by December 6, 2007. According to IRS audits, the Copelands have not used donor monies for personal advantage or illegal gain. As required by law, the Copeland's freely responded with a "Financial report from Kenneth Copeland Ministries."^[25] Senator Grassley's office issued a statement which said Copeland's response has fallen "far short," and that while lines of communications are open, "additional steps in the congressional review" also would be considered". However, at this point, the Copelands have stated that Sen. Grassley has failed to reveal or identify any violation of IRS non-compliance whatsoever. The investigation also scrutinized five other televangelists: Benny Hinn, Paula White, Eddie Long, Joyce Meyer, and Creflo Dollar.

The inquiry has stirred considerable controversy in many Christian circles, as several groups that would normally not be considered in agreement with the Copelands and the other televangelists listed have questioned whether Senator Grassley used proper protocol. Also, KCM created a website, www.believersstandunited.com^[26] to help explain their side of the inquiry.