The business of religion for some can be a very profitable profession to enter. Most people think of that sentence in the spiritual sense, but this article is about the physical worldly dollar.
It might be argued that the reason why ministers are more likely to make money today is because they utilize more money making opportunities such as writing books, producing movies and speaking engagements.
Some of which make enough to have private planes (The late Eddie Long) refurbished arenas as churches (Joel Osteen) and flourishing press houses (Rick Warren).
There will be many who will say that these pastors shouldn’t be making this much money. Before you judge, keep in mind that the average yearly household salary in The Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa is $422, so they could be saying the same about you!
This article is not to bash anyone, it is written to inspire you to dream bigger. If you are not interested in making money, then that is your choice but here are men and women who inspire others while achieving their dreams.
1. Kenneth Copeland
Net Worth $760 Million
Kenneth Copeland is very close to being a Billionaire even though he already claims billion dollar status. He runs Kenneth Copeland Ministries. His ministry’s 1,500-acre campus is a half-hour drive from Fort Worth includes a church, a private airstrip, a hangar for the ministry’s $17.5 million jet and other aircraft, and a $6 million church owned lakefront mansion.
2. Bishop TD Jakes
Net Worth $150 Million
Bishop Jakes lives in a $1,700,000 mansion, he has been called America’s best preacher and has been featured on the cover of TIME magazine. He is a writer, preacher and movie producer. Thomas Dexter “T. D.” Jakes, Sr. is the bishop/chief pastor of The Potter’s House, a non-denominational American mega church, with 30,000 members, located in Dallas, Texas.
3. David Oyedepo
Net Worth $150 Million
David Oyedepo is a Nigerian pastor who has a net worth of $150 million. Having enjoyed a reputation as the richest pastor in Nigeria, David Oyedepo is the founder and presiding bishop of Living Faith Church World Wide, aka Winners Chapel, and its affiliated international churches known as Winners Chapel International.
4. Pat Robertson
Net Worth $100 Million
Pat Robertson launched the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia, and the network is now broadcast in 180 countries. In the late 80s, he ran for President, but was unsuccessful. He runs a number of large companies, including the Christian Coalition, a Christian Right organization that exists to raise monetary and public support for conservative political candidates.
5. Benny Hinn
Net Worth $42 Million
Israeli televangelist, Benny Hinn is best known for his regular “Miracle Crusades” – revival meeting/faith healing summits that are usually held in large stadiums in major cities, which are later broadcast worldwide on his television program, “This Is Your Day”.
6. Jesse Duplantis
Net Worth $50 Million
Jesse Duplantis is a prosperity gospel preacher from the Christian Evangelical Charismatic tradition based in New Orleans, Louisiana, US, and the founder of Jesse Duplantis Ministries. He is the founder of Jesse Duplantis Ministries (JDM), which maintains an international headquarters in America and branches in the United Kingdom and Australia. In 1997, he and his wife, Cathy Duplantis, founded Covenant Church, a local outreach of JDM on the International Headquarters property in Destrehan, Louisiana.
7. Joel Osteen
Net Worth $40 Million
Joel Osteen is an author, televangelist, and pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. He took over his father’s role as a pastor and televangelist, despite having very little formal religious training, in 1999. Since then, the Lakewood Church broadcast has grown exponentially and can be seen in 100 different countries.
8. Creflo Dollar
Net Worth $27 Million
Creflo Dollar brought in his net worth through his ministries. He has assembled a multi-million-dollar ministry to the message that “it is the will of God for you to prosper in every way
9. Rick Warren
Net Worth $25 Million
Rick Warren founded Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California; it is now the country’s eighth-largest church. Warren is the author of a handful of books, including “The Purpose Driven Church” and “The Purpose Driven Life”. Warren believes in a five-point plan to bring global harmony to Earth; he calls it his “P.E.A.C.E. Plan”. It calls for planting churches, equipping servant leaders, assisting the poor, caring for the sick, and education. He and his wife aim to live on ten percent of their income and donate the rest to charity.
10. Joyce Meyer
Net Worth $25 Million
Pastor Joyce Meyer net worth: Pastor Joyce Meyer is an American bible teacher, writer, and motivational speaker that has a net worth of $8 million dollars. Pastor Joyce Meyer, also called Pauline Joyce Hutchison, was created in St. Louis, Missouri, and was sexually abused as a child. She became a born-again Christian when she was in elementary school, and became more and more focused on her faith as her home life worsened. Her bible study classes became so popular, that she eventually branched out into broadcasting them on the radio. In 1985, she formed her own ministry, Life in the Term, and her radio show began to air throughout the Midwest. She began airing a weekly television show on WGN TV and BET called “Enjoying Everyday Life” in 1995. She has become an immensely popular public speaker and journeys from engagement to engagement in her private jet. She was #17 on Time Magazine’s list of the “25 Most Influential Evangelicals” in 2005.
11. Pastor Jamal Bryant
Net Worth $20 Million
In 2018 Pastor Bryant left the church that he started in Baltimore Maryland to lead the church made famous by the late Bishop Eddie Long. In order to get Pastor Bryant to leave his church, the Board of Trustees at New Hope had to open their wallets to convince Pastor Bryant to leave his very comfortable life in Baltimore, and man did they! Not only has Bryant’s salary tripled in comparison, but he was offered a mansion to live in as well as a lighter preaching schedule (He’s used to preaching 3 different sermons each Sunday which has now been cut to 1). Bryant is one of the few preachers who is highly requested to preach in other churches and they are willing to pay his hefty speaking engagement fee as well as his TV contract with the WORD Network. This one time high school drop out has made Morehouse College proud!
12. Rev John Hagee
Net Worth $5 Million
Pastor John Hagee net worth: Pastor John Hagee is the founder and senior pastor of Cornerstone Church. He lead the Trinity Church in the early to mid-70s, and then founded his own church, The Church at Castle Hills, in 1975. Since then, he has gone on to head one of the most wide-reaching and successful Christian organizations in the world. The Cornerstone Church now has 20,000 members, and he is the CEO of John Hagee Ministries, a Christian multi-media empire, the CEO of Christian Evangelism Television, and the National Chairman of Christians United for Israel.
13. Paula White
Net Worth $5 Million
Pastor Paula White is a Christian evangelist, teacher, author, and television personality. She became a Christian in the mid-80s, and went on to launch her own church with her then husband Randy White, called Without Walls International Church. The church, which was originally known as the South Tampa Christian Church, struggled during its early years, and the Whites lived off the kindness of the congregation and the government. The church eventually grew to 20,000 members. She hosts the popular show, “Paula White Today” on the Trinity Broadcast Network, and has published ten books.
14. Bishop Noel Jones
Net Worth $5 Million
Bishop Noel Jones earned his Ph.D from the International Circle of Faith. He then became pastor of the Bethel Temple of Longview in Texas. In the mid-90s, he became the pastor of the Greater Bethany Community Church in Los Angeles, California. When he first became pastor, the church had 1000 members. Less than ten years later, the size of the church had grown exponentially, and the congregation had a membership of 17,000 people. An additional building was built to accommodate the number of parishioners. The church’s choir, the City of Refuge Sanctuary Choir, also released a successful gospel album in 2007. The album charted on the Billboard 200, and reached #1 on the gospel charts.
15. Louis Farrakhan
Net Worth $3 Million
Louis Farrakhan reached his net worth through his leadership and brief musical career. Born Louis Eugene Walcott on May 11, 1933, Bronx, New York, he made a name for himself as the leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI) movement. Louis Farrakhan joined the organization in 1955, and he was instrumental in preserving the original teachings of the longtime NOI leader, Elijah Muhammad.
He was the man to stand behind the rebuilding of NOI, once it was disbanded by Elijah Muhammad’s son, Warith Deen Muhammad, who started the orthodox Islamic group American Society of Muslims. Farrakhan restored the name Nation of Islam for the organization in 1981 and went on to regain most of the Nation of Islam’s National properties like the NOI National Headquarters Mosque Maryam, as well as over 130 NOI mosques throughout America and the world. In the process, his controversial political views and outspoken rhetorical style have been either praised or widely criticized.
Black religious and social leader as he was, Farrakhan earned the tag “antisemite” by Southern Poverty Law Center. In October 1995, he led the Million Man March in Washington, D.C., where he called on black people to renew their vows to their families and communities. Today, Louis Farrakhan continues to be active in the NOI, but he has dramatically reduced his responsibilities due to health issues.
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