United States Senate inquiry into the tax-exempt status of religious organizations Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! [[File:Chuck Grassley official photo 2017 (cropped).jpg|alt=senator grassley|thumb|Senator Chuck Grassley]] The '''United States Senate inquiry into the tax-exempt status of religious organizations''' was an investigation of six [[501(c) organization|501(c)]] [[religious organization]]s conducted by the [[United States Senate Committee on Finance]] lasting from 2007 until 2011. ==Background== On November 5, 2007, [[United States Senator]] [[Chuck Grassley]] announced an investigation into the tax-exempt status of six ministries under the leadership of [[Benny Hinn]], [[Paula White]], [[Eddie L. Long]], [[Joyce Meyer]], [[Creflo Dollar]], and [[Kenneth Copeland]] by the [[United States Senate Committee on Finance]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://media.npr.org/documents/2007/nov/grassley/white.pdf |title=Read Grassley's Letters |publisher=[[National Public Radio]] |date=2007-12-04 |access-date=2007-12-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/televangelists-living-like-kings/ |title=Televangelists Living Like Kings? |publisher=[[CBS News]] |date=2007-11-06 |access-date=2007-09-17 |author=Armen Keteyian}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16860611 |title=Senator Probes Megachurches' Finances |publisher=NPR.org |first=Kathy |last=Lohr |date=December 4, 2007 |access-date=December 10, 2007}}</ref> In letters to each ministry, Grassley asked for the ministries to divulge specific financial information to the committee to determine whether or not funds collected by each organization were inappropriately utilized by ministry heads.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/06/cbsnews_investigates/main3462147.shtml |title=Televangelists Living Like Kings? |publisher=CBS News |date=November 6, 2007 |access-date=September 17, 2007}}</ref> By the December 6, 2007 deadline, only three of the ministries had shown compliance with the Finance Committee's request. On March 11, 2008, Grassley and Finance Chairman [[Max Baucus]] sent follow-up letters to Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar and Eddie Long, explaining that the Senate reserved the right to investigate the finances of their organizations under federal tax laws.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pgdc.com/pgdc/grassley-baucus-urge-four-ministries-cooperate |title=Grassley, Baucus Urge Four Ministries to Cooperate |publisher=Planned Giving Design Center |date=March 12, 2008 |access-date=February 4, 2009}}</ref> The Associated Press reported that Grassley said the investigation was a response to complaints from the public and news media. Grassley stated, "The allegations involve governing boards that aren't independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-11-07-televangelist-probe_N.htm |title=Sen. Grassley probes televangelists' finances |publisher=[[The Associated Press]] |date=November 7, 2007 |access-date=2008-07-07}}</ref> IRS guidelines require that pastors' compensation be "reasonable" and net earnings may not benefit any private individual.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.irs.gov/charities/churches/index.html |title=Tax Information for Churches and Religious Organizations|publisher=|access-date=17 October 2014}}</ref> Responses from these Ministers included Constitutional arguments about Congressional power to oversee such matters. They claim that only the IRS has the authority to request such information, and should the IRS request it or pursue an investigation, the ministries involved would gladly comply.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}} ==Investigation== ===Benny Hinn Ministries=== In a letter to [[Benny Hinn|Benny Hinn Ministries]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://media.npr.org/documents/2007/nov/grassley/hinn.pdf |title=Read Grassley's Letters |publisher=[[npr.org]] |date=2007-12-04 |access-date=2007-12-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810214446/http://media.npr.org/documents/2007/nov/grassley/hinn.pdf |archive-date=2013-08-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Grassley asked for the ministry to divulge financial information<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16860611 |title=Senator Probes Megachurches' Finances by Kathy Lohr |publisher=[[npr.org]] |date=2007-12-04 |access-date=2007-12-10}}</ref> to the Senate Committee on Finance to determine if Hinn made any personal profit from financial donations, and requested that Hinn's ministry make the information available by December 6, 2007.<ref name="Televangelists Living Like Kings">{{cite news |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/06/cbsnews_investigates/main3462147.shtml |title=Televangelists Living Like Kings? |publisher=[[CBS News]] |date=2007-11-06 |access-date=2007-09-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Lohr |first=Kathy |title=Senator Probes Megachurches' Finances |publisher=[[National Public Radio]] |date=2007-12-04 |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16860611 |access-date=2007-12-06}}</ref> On December 6, 2007, Hinn told the Associated Press that he would not respond to the inquiry until 2008.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=071206_1__Aseco62017 |title=Hinn joins Dollar in refusing to answer questions in Senate investigation |newspaper=[[Tulsa World]] |date=2007-12-06 |access-date=2007-12-06}}</ref> Hinn's ministry has since responded to the inquiry, and Senator Grassley commented that, "... Benny Hinn [has] engaged in open and honest dialogue with committee staff. They have not only provided responses to every question but, in the spirit of true cooperation, also have provided information over and above what was requested."<ref>{{cite press release |title=Grassley Update on Ministry Responses, Background Questions and Answers |publisher=Senator [[Chuck Grassley]] |date=2008-07-07 |url=http://grassley.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=fe9bb4ff-e266-e111-a62f-f246986f15ce&Month=7&Year=2008 |access-date=2008-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080730222121/http://grassley.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=fe9bb4ff-e266-e111-a62f-f246986f15ce&Month=7&Year=2008 |archive-date=2008-07-30 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ===Bishop Eddie Long Ministries=== Long did not cooperate with the investigation, including refusing to disclose his salary.<ref>{{cite news |title=Senator ends probe of ministries, calls for 'self-reform' |author=Banks, Adelle|work=The Christian Century |volume=128 |issue=3 |date=Feb 8, 2011 |pages=17β18}}</ref> The outcome of the three-year investigation was that there was no definitive findings of wrongdoing, and the pastors who refused to cooperate received no penalties.<ref name="rachelZoll">{{cite web |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/40960871/m/videos/ |title=Televangelists escape penalty in Senate inquiry |website=[[NBC News]] |date=2011-07-01 |access-date=2013-02-11 |first=Rachel |last=Zoll}}</ref> {{anchor|White}} ===Paula White Ministries=== When [[CBS News]] reported the story, White's ministry denied any wrongdoing,<ref name="Televangelists Living Like Kings"/> and on March 31, 2008, the Senate Finance Committee received a joint financial report from Without Walls International Church and Paula White Ministries.<ref>{{cite news |title=Without Walls sends financial data to Senate |url=http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/article439782.ece |newspaper=[[The Tampa Tribune]] |access-date=2008-04-22 |author=Bill Coats |date=2008-04-01}}</ref> Without Walls International Church was one of four ministries that refused to provide the full information Senator Grassley requested.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://finance.senate.gov/newsroom/ranking/release/?id=5fa343ed-87eb-49b0-82b9-28a9502910f7 |title=The United States Senate Committee on Finance |date=6 January 2011 |access-date=17 October 2014}}</ref> White interpreted the conclusion of the investigation to mean that Without Walls International Church was cleared.<ref name=christianpost2>{{cite news |url=http://www.christianpost.com/news/paula-white-breaks-silence-on-probes-divorce-benny-hinn-49671/ |title=Paula White Breaks Silence on Probes, Divorce, Benny Hinn |date=2011-04-01 |access-date=2011-04-08 |author=Lillian Kwon |newspaper=[[The Christian Post]]}}</ref> ===Creflo Dollar Ministries=== 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.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-11-07-televangelist-probe_N.htm |work=USA Today |title=Sen. Grassley probes televangelists' finances |date=2007-11-07 |access-date=2010-04-30}}</ref> Dollar contested the probe, arguing that the proper governmental entity to examine religious groups is the IRS, not the Committee on Finance.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.creflodollarministries.org/About/documents/LegalResponse03032008.pdf |title=Letter to the US Senate Committee on Finance |date=2008-03-31 |last=Owens |first=Marcus S. |publisher=Caplin & Drysdale Attorneys |access-date=2015-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923211054/http://www.creflodollarministries.org/About/documents/LegalResponse03032008.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ===Kenneth Copeland Ministries=== Grassley asked for the ministry to divulge financial information<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16860611 |title=Senator Probes Megachurches' Finances by Kathy Lohr |publisher=[[npr.org]] |date=December 4, 2007 |access-date=2007-12-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://media.npr.org/documents/2007/nov/grassley/copeland.pdf |title=Read Grassley's Letters |publisher=[[npr.org]] |date=December 4, 2007 |access-date=2007-12-10 }}</ref> 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 Copelands responded with a "Financial report from Kenneth Copeland Ministries."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080410114721/http://www.kcm.org/about/index.php?p=financial_accountability "Financial Accountability"], Kenneth Copeland Ministries</ref> KCM created a website to help explain their side of the inquiry. The three-year investigation found no definitive findings of wrongdoing and assessed no penalties for the pastors in question.<ref name="rachelZoll" /> ===Joyce Meyer Ministries=== Grassley asked [[Joyce Meyer|Joyce Meyer Ministries]] to divulge financial information<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/06/cbsnews_investigates/main3462147.shtml |title=Televangelists Living Like Kings? |publisher=[[CBS News]] |date=November 6, 2007 | access-date=2015-02-03}}</ref><ref name="NPR-Lohr">{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16860611 |title=Senator Probes Megachurches' Finances |publisher=[[NPR.org]] |date=December 4, 2007 |first=Kathy |last=Lohr |access-date=December 10, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://media.npr.org/documents/2007/nov/grassley/meyer.pdf |title=Letter to David and Joyce Meyer |publisher=[[NPR.org]] |date=November 5, 2007 |first=Charles |last=Grassley |authorlink=Chuck Grassley |access-date=December 10, 2007}}</ref> to the committee to determine if Meyer made any personal profit from financial donations, asking for a detailed accounting for such things as cosmetic surgery and foreign bank accounts and citing such expenses as the $23,000 commode. He also requested that Meyer's ministry make the information available by December 6, 2007. Meyer's ministry was one of two that complied with the Senate's requests for financial records and made commitments to future financial transparency.<ref name="rachelZoll" /> ====Commode controversy==== {{quote box |width=25%|quote=While many have mistakenly associated this piece of furniture with a common household toilet, this particular term actually refers to the classic definition of [[commode]] identified by Webster's Dictionary as, 'a tall elegant [[chest of drawers]].'|source=βJoyce Meyer Ministries <ref>{{cite news |first=Bruce |last=Tomaso |title=Joyce Meyer says her $23,000 commode is not a toilet, and it didn't cost $23,000 |date=2007-12-07 |url=http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/2007/12/joyce-meyer-says-her-23000-com.html/ |work=The Dallas Morning News |access-date=2013-05-13}}</ref><ref name="CNW-JMM 2007-11-06">{{cite news |title=Joyce Meyer Ministries: Response to Senator Grassley Inquiry |date=2007-11-06 |publisher=[[ChristianNewsWire]] |url=http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/245714883.html |work=Joyce Meyer Ministries |access-date=2013-05-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204042643/http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/245714883.html |archive-date=2015-02-04 |url-status=live }}</ref>}} In her November 29 response to Grassley, Meyer notes that the commode is a chest of drawers. Meyer writes that it was part of a 68-piece lot of items totaling $262,000 that were needed to furnish the ministry's {{convert|150000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} headquarters purchased in 2001. She said the commode's price tag was an "errant value" assigned by the selling agent and apologized for "not paying close attention to specific 'assigned values' placed on the pieces."<ref name="NPR-Lohr" /><ref name="CNW-JMM 2007-11-06" /> ====Financial reports==== Joyce Meyer Ministries responded with a newsletter to its e-mail list subscribers on November 9, 2007. The organization referred to its annual financial reports, asserting that, in 2006, the ministry spent 82 percent of its total expenses "for outreach and program services toward reaching people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as attested by independent accounting firm Stanfield & O'Dell, LLP." The message also quoted an October 10, 2007, letter from the Internal Revenue Service which stated, "We determined that you [Joyce Meyer Ministries] continue to qualify as an organization exempt from federal income tax under IRC section 501(c)(3)." The same information was also posted to the ministry website. ==Review== On March 16, 2009, Grassley, now only an individual Senator on the committee, stated "My staff and I continue to review the information we've received from the ministries that cooperated, and we continue to weigh our options for the ministries that have not cooperated," noting that two of the ministries, Hinn's and Meyer's, gave full financial disclosure. Senator Grassley solicited assistance from the [[Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability]] and its president, Kenneth Behr, in the inquiry. Behr was interviewed and often quoted by major news networks and said, "Grassley is being very careful in his inquiry, not going into doctrinal issues and whether the prosperity churches are doctrinally sound." ==Conclusion== On January 6, 2011, Senator Grassley concluded the three-year investigation with no penalties and no definitive findings of wrongdoing.<ref name="rachelZoll" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Probe of Televangelists Finds 'No Wrongdoing' |date=2011-01-07 |url=http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2011/January/Probe-of-Televangelists-Finds-No-Wrongdoing/ |website=[[Christian Broadcasting Network]] |access-date=2011-04-08}}</ref><ref name=HP>{{cite web|author=Adelle M. Banks |title=Evangelical Finance Probe Concluded By Senator |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/senator-concludes-probe-o_n_806202 |date= January 8, 2011 |work= huffpost.com }}</ref> ==Aftermath== Donations to Eddie Long Ministries dropped significantly following the controversies surrounding Long's salary and church finances.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bishop Long's church takes financial hit after scandal |work=Michigan Chronicle |location=Detroit, Mich|date=9 Mar 2011 |page=A.3}}</ref> The [[Alliance Defending Freedom]] protested the investigation and the [[National Religious Broadcasters]] said the questions Senator Grassley asked were too broad.<ref name="rachelZoll" /> The [[Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability]] made plans to create a national commission in response to the Grassley report to lead a review on accountability and policy.<ref name="rachelZoll" /> ==References== {{reflist|2}} [[Category:Public inquiries in the United States]] [[Category:Law about religion in the United States]] Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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