Pastor who owns two Rolls-Royces pleads for 200,000 church supporters to donate ‘$300 or more’ EACH so he can buy a $65MILLION private jet ‘to better spread the gospel of Jesus Christ’
- Reverend Creflo Dollar is the head of World Changers Church International
- The 53-year-old preaches ‘that God wants to bless the faithful with earthly riches’ and the church has about 30,000 members
- He has an estimated net worth of $27 million
- Has appealed online for 200,000 people to donate $300 so he can buy Gulfstream G650, worth $65 million and favored by billionaires
- Says the plane is essential for him to ‘reach a lost and dying world for the Lord Jesus Christ’
The founder and leader of a controversial Atlanta-based megachurch has appealed online for 200,000 people to each donate ‘$300 or more’ so that he can buy a $65 million private jet favored by high-flying billionaires.
Reverend Creflo Dollar, 53, is the head of the World Changers Church International, a Christian ministry centered around the prosperity gospel, which preaches that God wants to bless the faithful with earthly riches.
The televangelist, who is one of the most prominent African-American preachers in the United States, this week put a five-minute video up on his website pledging for donations for a Gulfstream G650 – which claims to be the fastest plane ever built in civilian aviation – so that ‘World Changers Church International can continue to blanket the globe with the Gospel of grace’.
Dollar – who is known to own two Rolls Royce’s and multi-million dollar homes in Atlanta and New Jersey – last hit headlines in 2012, after being arrested for allegedly attacking his 15-year-old daughter.
Open palm: Reverend Creflo Dollar of the World Changers Church International wants 200,000 people from across the world to each donate ‘$300 or more’ so that he can buy the world’s fastest private jet
Battling: This notice has been posted on the church’s website, pleading for donations so that Dollar can ‘continue reaching a lost and dying world for the Lord Jesus Christ’
Goal: Dollar wants to spend the $65 million he hopes to make in donations on a Gulfstream G650 business jet, a plane favored by billionaires that bills itself as the fastest plane built in civil aviation
Televangelist: Creflo Dollar is the founder of World Changers Church International, which has about 30,000 members and an 8,500 seater amphitheater in Atlanta called the ‘World Dome’
Among the billionaires who own a Gulfstream G650 are Steve Jobs’ wife Lauren Powell Jobs, Wynn Resorts CEO Steve Wynn add Nike co-founder Phil Knight.
There is a long waiting list for the aircraft, with the next round of planes not due until 2017.
According to the Creflo Dollar Ministry’s website: ‘The ministry’s current airplane, was built in 1984, purchased by the ministry in 1999 and has since logged four million miles.
‘Recently on an overseas trip to a global conference, one of the engines failed.
Arrested: The Reverend was charged in 2012 for allegedly attacking his teenage daughter
‘By the grace of God, the expert pilot, who’s flown with Creflo for almost 20 years, landed the plane safely without injury or harm to any passengers.’
The Christian Post first reported that Dollar insisted that he needs the jet to continue sharing the word of Jesus.
He preaches all over the world, but primarily works out of a 8,500-seat amphitheater in Atlanta called the ‘World Dome’, satelliting the sermons to churches all over the country.
The website pledge continued: ‘Believe it or not, there are still millions of people on this planet who have never heard of Jesus Christ and know nothing of His greatness.’
‘Our hearts desire to see precious lives changed and snatched out of darkness and thrust into His marvelous light!
‘We need your help to continue reaching a lost and dying world for the Lord Jesus Christ,” the appeal continued before asking supporters of the ministry to sow a $300 seed into the airplane fund, billed Project G650.’
However, according to Financial Juneteenth, a Report of the Senate Finance Committee, Minority Staff Review of WCCI, found that Dollar’s current jet had also been used for a variety of vacation flights, including stops in Las Vegas, Nevada, Miami, Florida and Hawaii, citing Federal Aviation Administration figures.
Dollar has refused over the years to disclose his salary, but has an estimated net worth of $27 million.
He has five children to his wife, Taffi, who he married in 1985.