Kenneth Copeland

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Kenneth Copeland (2011)

Kenneth Max Copeland (born December 6, 1936 in Lubbock , Texas ) is a former American pop singer and current evangelist and television preacher (televangelist), who is part of the Charismatic Movement . In terms of content, he represents the theses of the prosperity gospel . He is considered one of the richest preachers in the world. Copeland, the Kenneth Copeland Ministries organization he heads and the associated Eagle Mountain International Church are the subject of some controversy.

Family environment

Kenneth Copeland was born in Lubbock, Texas in 1936. He is the only child of Aubrey Wayne Copeland (1904–1996 or 2000) and Vinita Pearl Copeland, b. Owens (1911-1988). By his own account, his maternal grandfather was a Cherokee .

Kenneth Copeland is married for the third time. The daughter Terri Copeland Pearsons (born 1957) emerged from the marriage with Ivy Sandra Bodiford (1955 to 1958) . The subsequent marriage to Cynthia Davis (1958 to 1961) remained childless. Since 1962 he has been with Gloria Copeland, born in 1942. Neece, with whom he has children Kelly and John Copeland. Kenneth and Gloria Copeland have ten grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren (as of 2020).

Singer

In the second half of the 1950s, Copeland was the lead singer of the band The Mints , whose members mostly came from the Texan town of Gainesville and were "local celebrities". In 1957, the Mints recorded some songs for the Gainesville-based Lin label owned by Joe Leonard, owner of the local radio station Gainsville Broadcasting Co. The first recording was the ballad The Pledge of Love (B-side: Night Air ). The song became a regional success. In the course of the year, Lin transferred the rights to the recording to the much larger and nationally present label Imperial Records , which she re-released several times in the following months and mostly put Ken Copeland's name in the foreground instead of the Mints for capacity reasons. The Pledge of Love was on the Billboard Hot 100 for 15 weeks and reached number 17 at the top. Copeland recorded a few more songs with the Mints, including Teenage , Someone to Love Me and Fanny Brown , but did not contribute to the success of his first Connect the recording. It is therefore often regarded as a one hit wonder .

In 1957, Copeland was drafted into the army. The military service ended his career as a pop singer. In the following decades he released a number of albums with religious songs. He also appears as a singer at church services - with big band accompaniment, among other things .

preacher

Starting position

After his discharge from the army in November 1962, Copeland initially worked intermittently as a pilot for a small airline from Little Rock , Arkansas , possibly temporarily again as a night club singer. According to a biographical post about Gloria Copeland, this period was marked by uncertainty and economic hardship.

In 1963, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, who had not been religious until then, turned to Christianity. Kenneth Copeland came into contact with the preacher Oral Roberts . In 1966 he enrolled in Oral Roberts University in Tulsa , Oklahoma , according to his own account, meanwhile without work and penniless . Meanwhile, he made a living for himself, his wife and their two children by working as a chauffeur and pilot for Oral Roberts.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

KCM and Eagle Mountain International Church

In 1967, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland founded the Kenneth Copeland Evangelistic Association , which later became Kenneth Copeland Ministries (KCM). It is the organizational foundation for the activities of Copeland and his family and is run as a church for tax purposes in the USA. Related to this is the Eagle Mountain International Church . According to a study by the Senate Commission for Finances from 2008, it is organizationally and functionally identical to KCM; both terms are interchangeable.

A number of Kenneth Copeland's closest relatives are or have been employed in the management positions of KCM. His eldest daughter Terri Copeland Pearsons and her husband George Pearsons preach at Eagle Mountain International Church ; George Pearsons also serves as CEO of KCM. Copeland's children, John and Kelly, and Kelly's husband, Steve Swiffer, are also preachers in the paternal organization; John Copeland was also CEO at times. Copeland's brother-in-law, Douglas Neece, was responsible for the profitable trading of television airtime until his death in 2019, and his mother-in-law worked in the administration of KCM well into old age.

resources

Eagle Mountain Lake in northern Texas

KCM's headquarters are 13 acres on Eagle Mountain Lake , a 1930s reservoir in Tarrant County near Fort Worth , Texas . It houses the event rooms of Eagle Mountain International Church , production facilities for radio and television broadcasts as well as a department store and the accommodation of the Copeland family, which belong to KCM and are available to the Copelands free of charge. The site also includes the Kenneth Copeland Airport , a former military airport that operated as Marine Corps Air Station Eagle Mountain Lake until the 1970s and was privatized after it was closed. KCM took over the airport in the early 1980s. Several - at times up to seven - aircraft that belong to KCM and are used by members of the Copeland family are stationed here. The fleet includes a Gulfstream V , which KCM bought from actor Tyler Perry in 2018 for an undisclosed amount in cash .

KCM employs around 500 people.

Kenneth Copeland Publications , which may be identical to Eagle Mountain International Church or KCM, is one of Kenneth Copeland's ventures . Numerous books written by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland are sold through him. Copeland's newer music albums are published on the label KCP Records (Kenneth Copeland Publishing Records).

Events

Initially, Copeland traveled to America as a preacher. He hosted Believers Conventions across the country that lasted three to six days and often had several thousand participants since the 1980s. Copeland still holds Believers Conventions in the 21st century , albeit on a smaller scale.

In 1975, Copeland began broadcasting his sermons on the radio. Allegedly in 1976 already 500 radio stations in the USA and Canada broadcast Copeland's appearances. In 1979 TV broadcasts were added, initially once a week, from 1989 onwards for one hour a day and since 2015 via the company's own TV channel Victory Channel (initially: Voice of Victory Network ), which broadcasts an evangelical program around the clock. Copeland's sermons can be followed on television in 134 countries. KCM has also had a website since 1996.

Kenneth Copeland has been trying to make KCM a global movement since the 1990s. The organization also has offices in Canada, Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and Ukraine. Copeland occurs in Central and South America, but also in Africa. He has a strong following in Nigeria , among other places , where the gospel of prosperity is widespread.

Copeland is considered extremely powerful preacher ( most powerful preacher ). Like many charismatic preachers, he also uses tongues at his events . Copeland regularly involves members of his family in his performances, who support him and sometimes relieve him.

Copeland's positions

Kenneth Copeland is mostly described as a conservative or reactionary preacher. He is an avowed anti-abortionist . Copeland preaches under the motto "Jesus is Lord" (Jesus is Lord), which is taken from the 10th chapter of Romans ( Rom 10.9  EU ). Copeland is counted among the most influential leaders of the Charismatic Movement in the United States. He is also considered to be a leading representative of the prosperity gospel. One source describes him as a pioneer of this orientation, while others point out that Copeland merely took up and developed existing concepts from preachers such as Kenneth Hagin and Oral Roberts.

Prosperity Gospel and Donations

According to Copeland, the power for prosperity comes directly from God. Jesus was a rich man during his lifetime. When he died he took on sin, illness and human poverty: “Jesus has come, and poor people no longer have to be poor.” Like other prosperity evangelists, Copeland relies heavily on a passage in 2nd Corinthians : “He who was rich became poor because of you, to make you rich through his poverty ”( 2 Cor 8,9  EU ). Accordingly, prosperity is a good thing because it shows God's love and approval. Economic failure, on the other hand, is interpreted as a sign of a lack of trust in God. The same applies to health.

Copeland combines the prospect of prosperity with an invitation to donate to his organization. In his view, God will reward a believer who believes in him and the Bible sufficiently and generously donates the offerings “a hundredfold”. On this basis, people in financial or health need donate to the KCM in the hope that they will become wealthy just like Copeland himself. A newspaper article from 2009 quoted a Copeland supporter as saying: “If God did it for them, he will do it for us” ('If God did it for them - the Copelands - then he will for them too do us'). Some calls for donations are linked to specific projects, such as the purchase of a Cessna Citation X aircraft , for which an elite CX team was established within the KCM in 2002 , or the purchase of a new television transmission system. Copeland subsequently raised more than US $ 19 million in donations for upcoming updates to an aircraft acquired in 2018 and adaptation work on the hangar.

Regardless, KCM's public statements about donations are ambivalent. On the German-language website of the organization, it says on the one hand on the home page, Kenneth Copeland Minstries "never asks for money"; on the other hand, there is a sub-page entitled “Giving”, in which the need for donations is indicated in detail.

Kenneth Copeland and Donald Trump

Copeland Endorsed: President Donald Trump (2016)

Kenneth Copeland is considered a supporter of US President Donald Trump . In September 2015, they both had a joint appearance in which Copeland prayed for Trump. As part of his presidential campaign , Trump set up an Evangelical Executive Advisory Board in June 2016 to support him on religious issues. According to a press release dated June 21, 2016, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland were members of the advisory board. In October 2016, Copeland advised viewers on a television broadcast to vote for Trump in the upcoming presidential election; otherwise they would be guilty of murder. He was referring to the liberal abortion policy of the then Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton , which Trump and Copeland rejected. In 2018, Copeland expressed the belief that Trump's presidency was guided by the Spirit of God. He expects Trump to appoint as many conservative judges as possible during his tenure in order to bring about a "religious turnaround" (biblical turnaround) in the USA.

Kenneth Copeland and COVID-19

In March and April 2020, Copeland received public attention beyond his supporters when he repeatedly addressed the current COVID-19 pandemic .

At the beginning of March 2020, he compared COVID-19 with a "harmless flu" and declared that fear of the virus was a sin. You can protect yourself from the virus by simply not accepting it. In a special on his Victory Channel on March 12, 2020, Copeland prayed for his followers, asked them to touch the screen, and then claimed they were healed. In a March 30, 2020 sermon at Eagle Mountain International Church , broadcast on the Victory Channel television , Copeland, in the presence of George Pearsons, “ executed judgment ” on the COVID-19 virus, following the pandemic declared over ( "it's over" ) and the USA cured. The performance was received many times - also outside of the USA. On a broadcast in early April 2020, Copeland attempted a supernatural heat wave to destroy the virus, blew into the camera, and declared that it had blown the wind of God on COVID-19; the virus was thus destroyed forever. Critics then accused him of spreading potentially infectious aerosols. The Australian musician Steve Mackay, guitarist of the progressive metal band Twelve Foot Ninja , was inspired by this performance by Copeland for the song Wind of God . He incorporated Copeland's original texts into the production. Copeland's execution on COVID-19 also became the basis of a metal parody.

Income and property

Kenneth Copeland describes himself as a "very wealthy man". Many sources consider him to be the, or at least one of the wealthiest preachers in the world. Neither the specific amount of his income nor that of his assets are publicly known. The most recent published income information is from 1995. As part of a tax exemption application, Kenneth Copeland reported an annual income of US $ 364,577 for himself and an income of US $ 292,593 for his wife, Gloria, around the age of fifteen .12 times the median income in the US at the time.

Kenneth Copeland's net worth is mostly estimated at around US $ 300 million (2020); individual sources assume up to US $ 760 million.

Controversy

Kenneth Copeland is the subject of various controversies. A commentator for the influential conservative weekly The Washington Examiner described him as a scammer in 2019 , while others call him a “religious pickpocket” (Spiritual Pickpocket).

Luxurious lifestyle

“A long tube with a pack of demons”: airliner

A common starting point for criticism of Copeland is the use of private planes. Copeland justified the use of private planes , among other things, with the time saved compared to using scheduled flights: If he were to fly a line , he would have to stop 80 to 90 percent of his activities. In 2015, he explained on a television program that he could only pray in private planes and thus better prepare himself for his missions. On a television show, in a conversation with the preacher Jesse Duplantis , Copeland described a passenger airliner as "a long tube with a bunch of demons inside". This statement is documented; the specific broadcast with the exact wording is still available on portals such as YouTube. Regardless, Copeland later denied having made this statement and threatened a journalist who inquired.

Misuse of church funds for private purposes

Copeland is also accused of using donation-funded facilities of the KCM for private purposes. For example, he is said to have used the KCM aircraft for air travel in connection with vacation stays. Members of the KCM management team - mostly close members of Copeland - allegedly received or have received excessive compensation for sermons at Eagle Mountain International Church ; a 2008 source speaks of several hundred thousand dollars.

Promises not kept

Copeland is repeatedly accused of failing to keep promises in connection with fundraising. In 2006, for example, he launched the Angel Flight 44 program and collected donations in order to buy an aircraft that would be made available for rescue measures in the event of future emergencies and disasters. Critics accused Copeland of failing to implement the program despite successful fundraising. After the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 , as a result of which the KCM did not provide an aircraft for relief measures, the criticism was renewed. The KCM countered this by pointing out that the Angel Flight 44 program was not launched with a particular catastrophe in mind.

Works (selection)

  • Kenneth Copeland: Prayer: Your Foundation for Success , Kenneth Copeland Publications, 1999, ISBN 978-1577941552
  • Kenneth and Gloria Copeland: From Faith to Faith: A Daily Guide to Victory , Shalom Verlag 2012, ISBN 978-3-940794-40-6
  • Kenneth and Gloria Copeland: Protective Promises , Shalom Verlag, 2015, ISBN 978-3-940794-62-8

Web links

Commons : Kenneth Copeland  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b "10 Things You Didn't Know About Kenneth and Gloria Copeland": Biographical details about Ken Copeland on the website kcm.org (accessed on July 8, 2020).
  2. ↑ Kenneth Copeland's biography on the IMDb.com website (accessed July 2, 2020)
  3. ↑ a b About us: Entry on the website www.kcm.org (accessed on August 3, 2020).
  4. ↑ a b Ken Copeland and the Mints on onehitwondersthebook.com (accessed July 2, 2020).
  5. ↑ Ken Copeland's discography on www.discogs.com (accessed July 2, 2020).
  6. ^ Joel Whitburn: The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits , Billboard Books, 2000, ISBN 9780823076901 , p. 151.
  7. ^ A b c Scott Billingsley, David Edwin Harrell, Jr., Wayne Flynt: It's a New Day: Race and Gender in the Modern Charismatic Movement , University of Alabama Press, 2008, ISBN 9780817316068 , p. 65.
  8. ↑ Own presentation of the history of Kenneth Copeland Ministries on the website www.kcm.org (accessed July 7, 2020).
  9. ↑ a b c d e Eric Gorski: Wealth of Minister Kenneth Copeland And Family Scrutinized. www.kansascity.com, July 28, 2008, accessed August 4, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Senate Finance Committee, Minority Staff Review of Eagle Mountain International Church d / b / a Kenneth Copeland Ministries (PDF) (accessed July 12, 2020).
  11. ↑ a b c d e f Laurie Goodstein: Believers Invest in the Gospel of Getting Rich. www.nytimes.com, August 16, 2009, accessed August 4, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Eric Gorski: Prosperity is gospel televangelist Copeland knows well. www.chron.com, July 26, 2008, accessed July 12, 2020 .
  13. ↑ obituary of Mary Lois Alli Santander Neece on www.arkansasonline.com of 5 May 2011. (accessed July 12, 2020).
  14. ^ History of Marine Corps Air Station Eagle Mountain Lake on www.airfields-freeman.com (accessed August 1, 2020).
  15. ↑ Lisa Gutierrez: 'Word from the Lord': Televangelist's ministry buys Tyler Perry's Gulfstream jet. www.kansascity.com, January 21, 2018, accessed August 1, 2020 . .
  16. ↑ A note on the KCM website (accessed on August 6, 2020) speaks of "Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc. aka: Kenneth Copeland Publications".
  17. ↑ Elaine Gale: Charismatic Christians Get Spirits Sparked. www.latimes.com, July 6, 2000, accessed August 4, 2020 .
  18. ↑ Reimon Bachika: Traditional Religion and Culture in a New Era, Transaction Publishers, 2011, ISBN 9781412840286 , p. 57
  19. ↑ Marius Nel: The Prosperity Gospel in Africa: An African Pentecostal Hermeneutical Consideration , Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2020, ISBN 9781725266629 , p. 180.
  20. ↑ a b Jason Lemon: Conservative Pastor Claims He 'Healed' Viewers of Coronavirus Through Their TV Screens. www.newsweek.com, March 12, 2020, accessed July 12, 2020 .
  21. ↑ Kate Bowler: Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel , Oxford University Press, 2018, ISBN 9780190876739 , p. 277.
  22. ↑ Kate Bowler: Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel , Oxford University Press, 2018, ISBN 9780190876739 , p. 137.
  23. ↑ Fredrick Harris: The Price of the Ticket: Barack Obama and the Rise and Decline of Black Politics , Oxford University Press, 2012, ISBN 9780199910700 , p. 153.
  24. ↑ Kenneth Copeland: Prosperity: The Choice Is Yours , KCP Publications, 1985, ISBN 9780881147285 , p. 27.
  25. ↑ a b Bill Thomas: Second Wind: Navigating the Passage to a Slower, Deeper, and More Connected Life , Simon and Schuster, 2014, ISBN 9781451667585 , p. 78 f.
  26. ↑ Kate Bowler: Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel , Oxford University Press, 2018, ISBN 9780190876739 , p. 112.
  27. ↑ David W. Jones, Russell S. Woodbridge: Health, Wealth, and Happiness: How the Prosperity Gospel Overshadows the Gospel of Christ , Kregel Publications, 2017, ISBN 9780825445071 , pp. 48 f.
  28. ↑ NN: The evangelists who hoard for the Lord, and refuse to render unto Caesar. www.moneyweek.com, July 11, 2008, accessed August 4, 2020 .
  29. ↑ Resit Ergener: Religion and Economics , Springer Nature, 2020, ISBN 9783030444556 , p. 183.
  30. ^ A b Leonardo Blair: Kenneth Copeland Acquires New Gulfstream V Jet, Seeks $ 19.5M for Upgrades and Maintenance. www.christianpost.com, January 18, 2018, accessed August 1, 2020 .
  31. ↑ Homepage of kcm-de.org (accessed on August 31, 2020).
  32. ↑ Subpage giving from kcm-de.org (accessed on August 31, 2020).
  33. ↑ Kate Shellnutt, Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra: Who's Who of Trump's 'Tremendous' Faith Advisers . Christianity Today of June 22, 2016.
  34. ↑ Press release of June 21, 2016 (accessed July 7, 2020).
  35. ^ Sarah Pulliam Bailey: Televangelist: Christians who don't vote are 'going to be guilty of murder'. www.washingtonpost.com, October 11, 2016, accessed July 7, 2020 .
  36. ↑ Steve Strang: Kenneth Copeland on Trump's State Dinner: 'It Was Like a Really Anointed Church Service'. www.charismamag.com, 2018, accessed August 3, 2020 .
  37. ↑ Jason Wilson: The rightwing Christian preachers in deep denial over Covid-19's danger. www.theguardian.com, April 4, 2020, accessed August 5, 2020 .
  38. ↑ Alex Woodward: Coronavirus: Televangelist Kenneth Copeland 'blows wind of God' at Covid-19 to 'destroy' pandemic. www.homeofthegroove.com, April 5, 2020, accessed July 2, 2020 .
  39. ↑ Leonardo Blair: Televangelist Kenneth Copeland calls forth 'supernatural heatwave' to kill coronavirus in NYC. www.christianpost.com, April 6, 2020, accessed August 6, 2020 .
  40. ↑ Aaron Cynic: Five Covid-19 Related Songs You Can Mosh to at Home. www.thirdcoastreview.com, April 10, 2020, accessed August 5, 2020 . .
  41. ↑ a b Michael Brice-Saddler: A wealthy televangelist explains his fleet of private jets: 'It's a biblical thing'. www.washingtonpost.com, June 4, 2019, accessed July 11, 2020 .
  42. ↑ National Average Wage Index on the website www.ssa.gov (accessed on August 31, 2020).
  43. ↑ Ernesto Soliven: Kenneth Copeland Net Worth: Evangelist Is Richest Pastor In The World. www.ibtimes.com, April 3, 2020, accessed July 8, 2020 .
  44. ↑ Taylor Swaak: Billy Graham Net Worth: Evangelist Was One of the Richest Pastors in America. www.newsweek.com, February 21, 2018, accessed July 12, 2020 .
  45. ^ A b c Madeline Fry: All the private planes of televangelist Kenneth Copeland. www.washingtonexaminer.com, June 4, 2019, accessed August 1, 2020 .
  46. ↑ Thorsten Schröder: The secret revolution. www.zeit.de, May 21, 2017, accessed on August 1, 2020 .
  47. ^ Fis: Luxury preacher Kenneth Copeland freaks out when asked about his wealth. www.stern.de, June 6, 2019, accessed on August 6, 2020 .
  48. ↑ Rich Vermillion, Glen Hyde: Angel Flight 44: A True Story , Paradigm Seed Publishers , 2007, ISBN 978-1933141053 .
  49. ↑ Lilian Kwon: Televangelist Kenneth Copeland Blasted for 'Unfulfilled Promises'. www.christianpost.com, February 1, 2010, accessed August 6, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Copeland, Kenneth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Copeland, Kenneth Max
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American healing minister, television evangelist, and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH December 6, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Lubbock , Texas , USA