Should Religion = Cash?
The Kingsway International Christian Centre in Rainhem, Essex have submitted plans for a 8,000-seater church. Many of the locals are said to be against this, however the Church officials are said to have surveyed locals and politicians and found that 80 per cent of respondents…. back the move.
This land was earmarked for industry and for jobs, and I don’t see how putting this massive development that’s the size of 12 football pitches will achieve that. We need places for our children and young people to go on and work. I’m the servant of the people in my ward, and they don’t want it.
Ward Councillor Jeffrey Tucker
With figures showing Mass attendance has dropped over the past three decades, in England, it is hard to see how the KICC could attract 8,000 people to their proposed complex. It almost brings about an image of a Televangelist ceremony as he/she rouses the masses with the full hell, fire and brimstone speech.
There is something fascinating about watching them work, because they seem to be born entertainers. They’re not just there to do the work of God, they’re there to inspire, to thrill (and possibly shock) and most importantly to make you belief that you too can be saved. All of this for a low cost price. Whether the cost is spiritual or monetary remains to be seen.
The God I believe isn’t short of cash
Bono
Maybe it’s simply a case that, in America, business means opportunity and there’s a huge opportunity to make religion the biggest business. For people willing to part with their hard earned money for something they cannot see before them (but believe they will see when they die) takes something extraordinary but it also takes the right person to convince them of this.
Jan and Paul Crouch may just be two examples of these extraordinary people. They developed the Trinity Broadcasting Network and they produce programming from Trinity Christian City International; a 65,000 square foot building that houses a bookstore, news studio and theatre.
Mr Crouch, the founder of TBN, paid $6 million for the land and a further $1 million to renovate the building. The Crouches, according to 2001 IRS income tax statements, have a combined annual wage of almost $750,000 and have also purchased a beach house for $5 million. Add a Challenger 600 executive jet, worth around $13 million, and you have a interesting lifestyle for people who are spreading God’s message.
God has a great future in store for you.
Pastor Joel Osteen
Pastor Osteen’s Lakewood enterprise, in Houston, Texas, had a turnover of $55 million in 2000. 42,000 people attend his service every weekend and with over 2.5 million sales of his book, Your Best Life Now, it is easy to see why he is so successful.
Should this be the way the word of God is spread and more to the point should the word of God come with a price?
Saturday, July 28th, 2007 and is filed under Views on News.
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