WCNC-TV will air Steven Furtick expose at 11PM tonight (Tuesday). Stuart Watson is the investigative reporter. You can view it on http://wcnc.com. Looking forward to seeing the "not that great" 16,090 square foot mansion.
Update: Here is the link to the story. Nice picture of the cottage.
Thanks for the heads up. I just watched the live stream of the news. What a tangled web between the book publisher and the church. Looking forward to tomorrow’s follow-up.
So the basement, attic, and porch are just going to be wasted, unused space? I’m thinking not!! Besides, attic, basement, and porch space is never included in square footage unless, of course, it’s finished space for media rooms, personnel gyms, game rooms, etc., etc., etc. 🙄
@ Bridget:
Furtick is a piece of work. This is not a man of God. He is a man of gold.
When people find out he is living better than Jim Goodnight, the owner of SAS, he will become a laughing stock!
Waiting for the Elevation apologists to show up and tell TWW what a sacrifice this man made to come to Charlotte.
You know, he has enough room for a landing strip. Perhaps his grateful followers can donate a helicopter and pilot to get him back and forth to work, flying far above the fray.
@ dee:
The landing strip wouldn’t surprise me a bit. Interesting (and not surprising) that other wealthy Baptist preachers set his salary, but not his own church members!?!? Seems like no one beyond the upper classmen at Elevation have a clue about his (and maybe anyone’s) salary or the finances at Elevation. This guy is a piece of work.
If there’s nothing to hide then WHY are they keeping this information hidden?
His spokesman will figure out one day that he has been the front man FOR Furtick. I hope he’s at least being paid well (sarcasm) in keeping with that type of job. I’m not sure that Brent Detwiler or Dave Harvey feel like they were paid enough (hind sight and all).
Here’s the link: http://www.wcnc.com/video/featured-videos/I-Team-How-a-pastor-paid-for-his-multi-million-dollar-home-228870731.html
This is a cult of personality.
Looking forward to part 2…according to Dee, Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist in Dallas is on the committee that decides Furtick’s salary…the good ole boys club is going strong! Bizarre though…I thought each SBC church is locally autonomous. Funny that.
I’m not a country fan, but these verses by Hank Williams (from “House of Gold”) seem apropos:
Or Charlie Daniels:
“Preacher man talkin’ on the TV,
He’s a-puttin’ down the rock ‘n’ roll.
He wants me to send a donation,’Cos he’s worried about my soul.
He said: “Jesus walked on the water,”And I know that is true,
But sometimes I think that preacher man,
Would like to do a little walkin’, too.”
Great first installment by WCNC. Looking forward to tomorrow night’s program.
I’m a bit mystified by the land purchase. Union County has the acreage valued at $1.6M, but he got it for $325,000. How did he get such a sweetheart of a deal?
@ Amy Smith:
Thanks for the link. Was wondering when and where a print version of the coverage was going to appear
@ Amy Smith:
Yes, Amy, thanks for sharing the link. Just watched that segment, which was extremely well-done!
Or Mary Chapin Carpenter (“I Take My Chances”):
I sat alone in the dark one night,
tuning in by remote
I found a preacher who spoke of the light
but there was brimstone in his throat
He’d show me the way according to him
in return for my personal check
I flipped my channel back to CNN
and I lit another cigarette
Olivia wrote:
I do not know but I bet there is a wealthy donor in the background. Gotta make sure the pastor doesn’t have to suffer in a track home like the people who give money to the church.
Super report.
Exposure is the key.
This guy will still have people follow him, but at least the facts will be in the public domain.
Anonymous wrote:
I feel sorry for the poor people who are conned into thinking that if they follow Furtick that perhaps they, too, can have a “not so great” mansion.
dee wrote:
Ah, like the followers of Joel Osteen. I kid you not, I heard him interviewed by a mainstream news reporter about one of his books a few years ago and he said one of the chapter titles is “Smile and the world smiles with you.” Rainbows and unicorns for all!
Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public. – H. L. Mencken
Or, so it would seem, their gullibility.
So sad that one has to justify how much one spends by telling us how much one gives.
Amy Smith wrote:
And really, really big houses for him.
Amy Smith wrote:
No, Rainbow-Farting Unicorns for all!
And Free Ice Cream!
And another Protestant Bishop of Bling gets caught in public.
With no Pope to suspend him pending investigation.
If you want to read about Furtick’s budy Perry Noble (of the exact same ilk as Furtick) and how he tried to ruin the life of Anderson professor James Duncan, all for the high crime of disagreeing with “pastor” Noble, check out this site:
http://www.pajamapages.com/holy-rage-at-the-spring-2/
@ Alan:
I am all too well aware of the despicable actions of those connected with this sordid affair. I plan to salvo after tonight’s episode of “The Real Compensation Pastors of Furtick’s Tribe.”
Headless Unicorn Guy wrote:
With chocolate sprinkles.
dee wrote:
Yep, Jack Graham is one of them…
As my friend at New BBC blog says, “Follow the money.” Let’s do just that…
Tonight will be part 2 on the megachurch pastors that make up the board that decides Furtick’s salary and “mentor” him. One of them is Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in TX, my former church, that did not report the known child sex abuse by his staff member and minister Langworthy:
Corbett would not divulge Furtick’s salary, which is set not by a group of lay members of the church, but by a board of five out-of-town pastors. Furtick is also on the board, but doesn’t vote on his salary, Corbett said. These out-of-town board members are friends and mentors to Furtick and, like him, lead growing megachurches. They include Perry Noble of NewSpring Church in Anderson, S.C., and Jack Graham of Prestonwood Baptist in Plano, Texas.
This board bases Furtick’s salary, Corbett said, on a “compensation study formulated by an attorney’s office” that’s not tied to the church.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/10/22/4407782/elevation-pastor-building-big.html#.UmgYMfmsjLQ#storylink=cpy
Brett Shipp, WFAA reporter that exposed the abuse coverup (http://www.wfaa.com/news/investigates/Disturbing-revelations-about-former-Prestonwood-minister-127284918.html) by Prestonwood helped Stuart Watson put the story together for WCNC.
Alan wrote:
Perry Noble? Is this the “Spiritual Constipation” preacher who screams from the pulpit with a facial expression like he’s badly constipated himself?
They interviewed Ole Anthony about Furtick in the news clip Deb and Dee linked to.
I agree with Anthony’s points on wealthy preachers, but I read a long expose on Anthony that was disturbing.
The Cult of Ole – Ole Anthony anointed himself the watchdog of America’s televangelists. But who was watching Ole Anthony?
@ Headless Unicorn Guy:
HaHa! Yes, that’s him.
@ Dee, thanks I knew you’d be all over that story. Keep up the great work!
Furtick’s sermon on Sunday should be fun. Don’t tell me, let me guess: the theme will be ‘They hate me and they’re after me because they hate Jesus’
JeffT wrote:
Just like his mentor Jack Graham’s sermon when he preached about suffering like Jesus because a church member had questions about his handling of Langworthy:
http://www.abpnews.com/ministry/organizations/item/8308-pastor-says-let-god-judge-accusers#.Umhx2Oe9KSN
The pastor of a Texas Baptist megachurch, questioned about the handling of a staff member 24 years ago who was recently convicted of sex crimes in another state, noted in his Sunday sermon March 17 that Jesus didn’t answer his accusers during trials before religious and civil authorities 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem.
Former Southern Baptist Convention President Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, said the people bringing charges against Jesus weren’t really interested in the truth because they had already made up their minds that he was going to be crucified.]
@ Amy Smith:
So does that make him Jesus, the Jr.? These guys are too much with their “woe is me” nonsense. I noticed that they always have to make sure everyone knows how much they are suffering. So humble of them, especially when they aren’t actually suffering at all.
@ Daisy: i read a book about him. i really should do a review. And yes, he has big time issues.
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