Creflo Dollar

{{short description|American pastor}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name             = Creflo Dollar
| image            = Creflo and Taffi Dollar.jpg
| caption          = Dollar with wife Taffi Dollar
| birth_date       = {{Birth date and age|1962|01|28}}
| birth_place      = [[College Park, Georgia]], U.S.
| alma_mater       = [[University of West Georgia|West Georgia College]]
| occupation       = [[Televangelist]]
| spouse           = Taffi Dollar<ref>{{cite web|title=About Taffi Dollar|url=http://www.taffidollar.org/about|website=Taffidollar.org|date=July 6, 2022 }}</ref>
| years active     = 1986–present  
| partner          = 
| children         = 
| relations        = 
| website          = {{URL|worldchangers.org}}
}}
'''Creflo Augustus Dollar, Jr.''',<ref name="NY"/> (born January 28, 1962) is an American pastor, [[televangelist]], and the founder of the non-denominational Christian World Changers Church International based in [[College Park, Georgia]], a suburb of [[Atlanta]].<ref>"[http://www.worldchangers.org/Contact-Us.aspx?p=1 World Changers] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206052357/http://worldchangers.org/Contact-Us.aspx?p=1 |date=February 6, 2009 }}." [[World Changers Church International]]. Retrieved on May 25, 2009.</ref><!--Check the address on a map--> Dollar also heads the Creflo Dollar Ministerial Association (formerly called International Covenant Ministries),  Creflo Dollar Ministries, and Arrow Records.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.creflodollarministries.org/About/Ministries.aspx|title=Creflo Dollar Ministries|access-date=June 27, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612230414/https://creflodollarministries.org/About/Ministries.aspx|archive-date=June 12, 2010}}</ref><ref name=mysearch>{{cite news|last1=Raboteau|first1=Emily|author-link1=Emily Raboteau|title=My search for Creflo Dollar|url=http://www.salon.com/2013/01/06/my_search_for_creflo_dollar/|access-date=January 18, 2015|work=Salon|date=January 6, 2013}}</ref>

==Career==
Dollar began developing World Changers Ministries Christian Center in 1986.<ref name=about /> He held the church's first worship service in the cafeteria of Kathleen Mitchell Elementary School in College Park, with eight people in attendance. He later renamed the ministry World Changers Church International (WCCI), and the congregation moved from the cafeteria to a dedicated chapel. Four services were held each Sunday, and Creflo added a weekly radio broadcast and the television show ''[[Changing Your World]]''.

On December 24, 1995, WCCI moved into its present location, the 8,500-seat facility known as the World Dome. The church has said that the nearly $20 million World Dome was built without any bank financing.<ref>[http://www.worldchangerschurchnewyork.org/bio_t.aspx "Dr.Creflo A. Dollar Biography." World Changers Church-New York. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jun 2010.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204061941/http://worldchangerschurchnewyork.org/bio_t.aspx |date=December 4, 2010 }}</ref> {{as of|2007}}, the congregation reported having around 30,000 members, and $70 million in revenue (gross cash collections) for 2006.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/11/11/preachers11111.html |title=Figures released by megachurch |newspaper=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |date=November 11, 2007 |access-date=November 17, 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071114115406/http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/11/11/preachers11111.html |archive-date=November 14, 2007 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

In October 2012, Creflo Dollar Ministries leased [[Paradise Theater (Bronx, New York)|Loews Paradise Theater]] in [[The Bronx]] for a new church location in New York.<ref>{{cite news |first=Daniel| last=Beekman|title= Iconic Paradise Theater on Grand Concourse set to begin next act as megachurch of Creflo Dollar|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx/world-changers-church-new-york-occupy-paradise-article-1.1211185|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 2, 2012 |access-date=July 7, 2013}}</ref>

Dollar also speaks at conferences and writes about his [[Prosperity theology|gospel of wealth]] and his involvement in [[televangelism]].<ref name="NY2">{{cite news| first= Michael| last=Luo| title=Preaching a Gospel of Wealth in a Glittery Market, New York| url= https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/15/nyregion/15prosperity.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 15, 2006|access-date=September 7, 2010|url-access=limited}}</ref><ref name="NY">{{cite web| url= http://nypress.com/the-best-thing-about-evangelist-creflo-dollar-is-his-audience/|last=Lavallee|first=Andrew| website=New York Press|title=The Best Thing About Evangelist Creflo Dollar Is His Audience|date=August 14, 2001| access-date=December 10, 2014}}</ref>

==Personal life ==
Dollar and his wife Taffi have five children and reside in [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].<ref name= about>{{cite web| url= http://www.creflodollarministries.org/About/CrefloDollar.aspx|title=About Creflo Dollar|access-date=January 17, 2015| url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150122031323/http://creflodollarministries.org/About/CrefloDollar.aspx|archive-date= January 22, 2015}}</ref>

In June 2012, Dollar was arrested for an alleged attack on his fifteen-year-old daughter, according to the [[Fayette County, Georgia]], Sheriff's Office.<ref>{{Cite web 
|title= Televangelist Creflo Dollar arrested in alleged choking attack on daughter
|date= June 8, 2012
|url=http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/06/08/12126777-televangelist-creflo-dollar-arrested-in-alleged-choking-attack-on-daughter
|website=NBCNews.com |access-date= May 18, 2016}}</ref>
Dollar was accused of choking and punching the girl, a story corroborated by Dollar's older daughter,<ref>{{cite news|title=Creflo Dollar choked, punched daughter: police report| url=https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/creflo-dollar-allegedly-choked-punched-daughter-police-report-article-1.1092784|website= [[New York Daily News]] |access-date= September 20, 2019|date=June 9, 2012|agency=Associated Press}}</ref> and Fayette County police released details of a subsequent 911 call.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Creflo Dollar Daughter's 911 Call Released: Not the First Time It's Happened |url= http://www.christianpost.com/news/creflo-dollars-daughters-911-call-released-not-the-first-time-its-happened-76522/ |first=Katherine T. |last=Phan |date=June 12, 2012 |newspaper=[[The Christian Post]] |access-date=May 19, 2016}}</ref> The charges were dropped in January 2013 after he attended anger management classes.<ref>{{Cite news
|title= Creflo Dollar Charges for Beating Daughter Dropped after Anger Management Classes
|url=http://www.christianpost.com/news/creflo-dollar-charges-for-beating-daughter-dropped-after-anger-management-classes-88881
|date=January 25, 2013
|last=Zaimov |first=Stoyan
|newspaper=[[The Christian Post]]
|access-date=May 18, 2016}}</ref>

==Finances and prosperity gospel teachings==
Dollar is known for controversial teachings regarding [[prosperity theology]].<ref name="NY2"/> He has long been criticized for living a lavish lifestyle. He owns two [[Rolls-Royce Motor Cars|Rolls-Royces]], a private jet, and high-end real estate such as a million-dollar home in Atlanta, a $2.5 million home in [[Demarest, New Jersey]], and a home in Manhattan that he bought for $2.5 million in 2006<ref name="NY2"/> (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|2.5|2006|r=1}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|US}}) and sold for $3.75 million in 2012 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|3.75|2012|r=2}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|US}}).<ref>{{cite news | url=http://observer.com/2012/04/televangelist-creflo-dollar-sells-manhattan-condo/ | date=April 25, 2012 | title=Televangelist Creflo Dollar Sells Manhattan Condo (Pictures)|author=Kim Velsey|newspaper=The New York Observer}}</ref> Dollar has refused to disclose his salary. For declining to disclose any financial information to independent audit, Creflo Dollar Ministries received a grade of "F" (failing) for financial transparency by the organization [[Ministry Watch]].<ref name="NY2"/><ref>[http://www.ministrywatch.com/profile/creflo-dollar-ministries.aspx Creflo Dollar Ministries<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930073114/http://www.ministrywatch.com/profile/creflo-dollar-ministries.aspx |date=September 30, 2009 }}</ref>

Dollar was among six televangelists who were the subject of a [[United States Senate inquiry into the tax-exempt status of religious organizations|2007 investigation]] led by United States Senator [[Chuck Grassley]] of [[Iowa]] as ranking member of the [[United States Senate Committee on Finance|Senate Finance Committee]]. Grassley asked for financial information to determine whether Dollar made any personal profit from financial donations and requested that Dollar's ministry make the information available by December 6, 2007. The investigation also asked for information from five other televangelists: [[Benny Hinn]], [[Kenneth Copeland]], [[Eddie L. Long]], [[Joyce Meyer]], and [[Paula White]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-11-07-televangelist-probe_N.htm | work=USA Today | title=Sen. Grassley probes televangelists' finances | date=November 7, 2007 | access-date=April 30, 2010}}</ref> Dollar contested the probe, arguing that the proper governmental entity to examine religious groups is the IRS, not the Committee on Finance.<ref>[http://www.creflodollarministries.org/About/documents/LegalResponse03032008.pdf Creflodollarministries.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923211054/http://www.creflodollarministries.org/About/documents/LegalResponse03032008.pdf |date=September 23, 2015 }}</ref> Dollar and three others were not cooperative, and the probe concluded in 2011 without any charges.<ref name="probe_concluded">{{Cite web |url=http://www.christianpost.com/news/grassley-concludes-senate-probe-of-prosperity-televangelists-48383/ |title=Grassley Concludes Senate Probe of 'Prosperity' Televangelists|date=January 7, 2011 |website=The Christian Post |access-date=June 29, 2017}}</ref>

===Tithe retraction views===

Over the years Dollar has written books and made video recordings about the obligation for Christians to pay [[tithe]] in the churches. However, in July 2022 he publicly retracted his views on tithing confessing that he has misled people with these teachings, stating that it was not biblical to tithe but up to individuals to offer according to their heart and ability. Dollar received praise and criticism for these statements.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pastor Creflo Dollar under fire after saying he misled members about tithing (video) - P.M. News |url=https://pmnewsnigeria.com/2022/07/05/pastor-creflo-dollar-under-fire-after-saying-he-misled-members-about-tithing-video/ |access-date=July 5, 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.creflodollarministries.org/Dr-Dollar Creflo Dollar] at Creflo Dollar Ministries
* [https://worldchangers.org/ World Changers Church International]

{{Portal bar|Georgia_(U.S._state)|Biography|Christianity}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dollar, Creflo}}
[[Category:1962 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American Pentecostal pastors]]
[[Category:American television evangelists]]
[[Category:Oral Roberts University people]]
[[Category:People from College Park, Georgia]]
[[Category:University of West Georgia alumni]]
[[Category:North Central University alumni]]
[[Category:Pentecostals from Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Prosperity theologians]]
[[Category:African-American Christians]]