Kenneth Copeland

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Kenneth Copeland
Born Kenneth Copeland
December 06 1936
United States
Residence Lubbock, Texas
Occupation Evangelist
Religious beliefs Pentecostal
Spouse(s) Gloria Copeland
Children Terri Pearsons, Kellie Copeland, 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.

Contents

Early life and education

Following his conversion to Christianity in November, 1962, Copeland turned the rest of his life over to Christian ministry work.[1] In the 1960s, he was a pilot for Oral Roberts. When Copeland was thirty years old he enrolled in Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma in fall 1967.[2] Later he studied under Kenneth E. Hagin, founder of RHEMA Bible Training Center and RHEMA Bible Church in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

He is a member of the Oral Roberts University Board of Regents[3] and the Board was named in the October 2007 lawsuit against the university for financial and political wrong doing.[4] Copeland's oldest daughter Terri is married to pastor George Pearsons,[5] who serves as the ORU Board chairman.[6]

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[7].

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.

Copeland has received criticism for his teaching about wealth in the "Word Faith Movement"[8][9][10] and his claims about faith healing.[11] 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.[12] In 2007 Copeland was criticized for using his $20 million Cessna Citation jet for personal vacations and friends.[13] Money was given by lotto winner and cancer patient Bonnie Parker, who thought the Copelands could stop the cancer.[14] Parker died from the cancer and her family feels that the Copeland's misused the families' donations.[15] The Copeland's financial records are not publicly available and a list of the Board of Directors is not accessible either.[16]

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 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. The investigation also scrutinized five other televangelists: Benny Hinn, Paula White, Eddie Long, Joyce Meyer, and Creflo Dollar.[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ Kenneth Copeland, "The Word in My life...," Kenneth Copeland Ministries Catalog (Fort Worth: Kenneth Copeland Ministries, n.d.), 3.
  2. ^ http://www.oru.edu/alumni/excell/spring06/feature1.html
  3. ^ http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/content/2007/oru-lawsuit/ORU_pdf_p10.pdf
  4. ^ "University president's wife 'sickened' by allegations". CNN. October 15, 2007. http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/10/15/oru.suit/. Retrieved on 2007-10-17. 
  5. ^ "Our Pastors: Terri and George". Eagle Mountain International Church. October 2007. http://www.emic.org/about/george_terri_bio.php. Retrieved on 2007-10-17. 
  6. ^ http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/content/2007/oru-lawsuit/ORU_pdf_p10.pdf
  7. ^ http://www.kcm.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=124
  8. ^ "Christianity, Cults and Mind Control Converge at Conference." The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 24, 1994
  9. ^ "God Doesn't Need Ole Anthony: Televangelists have called him a cultist, a fraud, and the Antichrist. He says he's just doing what Jesus would want." The New Yorker December 6, 2004
  10. ^ "Uganda: Money And the Church," Africa News August 21, 2005
  11. ^ "Churches want faith-healer's claims tested," Courier Mail (Queensland, Australia), June 9, 2004
  12. ^ "Televangelist couple at center of debt controversy". WFAA-TV. May 3, 2006. http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/bshipp/stories/wfaa060502_mo_copelands.3436519.html. Retrieved on 2007-10-17. 
  13. ^ "Jet flight records spur Copeland ministry questions". WFAA-TV. Feb 28, 2007. http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa070228_mo_churchjet.87be631.html. Retrieved on 2007-10-17. 
  14. ^ "Jet flight records spur Copeland ministry questions". WFAA-TV. Feb 28, 2007. http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa070228_mo_churchjet.87be631.html. Retrieved on 2007-10-17. 
  15. ^ "Jet flight records spur Copeland ministry questions". WFAA-TV. Feb 28, 2007. http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa070228_mo_churchjet.87be631.html. Retrieved on 2007-10-17. 
  16. ^ "Jet flight records spur Copeland ministry questions". WFAA-TV. Feb 28, 2007. http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa070228_mo_churchjet.87be631.html. Retrieved on 2007-10-17. 
  17. ^ "Televangelists Living Like Kings?". CBS News. November 6, 2007. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/06/cbsnews_investigates/main3462147.shtml. Retrieved on 2007-09-17. 

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This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Kenneth Copeland.
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