I'm thinking of becoming a teevee preacher

“A fool and his money are soon parted.”

Thomas Tusser (1524 – 1580), English poet and farmer


According to the Orange County Register, “The granddaughter of Trinity Broadcasting Network's Paul and Jan Crouch has accused the world's largest Christian broadcaster of unlawfully distributing charitable assets worth more than $50 million to the company's directors.”

Paul and Jan Crouch

The family member, Brittany Koper, had served at one time as Trinity’s chief financial officer, director of finance, corporate treasurer and director of human resources so she ought to have a fair idea of what grandpa and grandma do with their loot.

Trinity – a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that doesn’t pay taxes on its income – reported revenues of $175.6 million, expenses of $193.7 million and net assets of $827.6 million at the end of 2010.

Truth be told, I’m a little envious. I’ve compelled fewer than 10 readers to donate to “What’s the Diehl?” in the past 11 months while Paul and Jan Crouch – who founded their network for Christians almost 40 years ago – have lured millions of viewers around the world to send them cash.

As Trinity’s President and Director, Paul rakes in over $400,000/year; Jan, vice president and director, pulls down another $361,000/year; and son Paul Jr.’s annual income exceeds $214,000.

One website I visited reported that Trinity owns 30 residences in California, Texas, Tennessee and Ohio — all paid for in cash – including a palatial estate in a gated community overlooking the Pacific.

I’m willing to wager that Christmas at the Crouch homes isn’t a sparse affair.

TBN World Headquarters

From the outside, TBN’s world headquarters in Costa Mesa, California, strikes me as the kind of place where Tom Cruise and John Travolta would feel right at home genuflecting to framed portraits of L. Ron Hubbard.

The network – which features or has featured such acclaimed celebrities as Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Billy Graham, Dr. Robert Schuller, Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, Jack Van Impe and Pat Robertson – has been criticized for promoting the “prosperity gospel,” which teaches viewers that they’ll receive a reward if they donate or give offerings.

I’m not sure about the viewers but the Crouches have certainly been rewarded for their efforts.

I know embezzlement isn’t limited to televangelists or Christians or Republicans or people with hairstyles that were popular back when Swatch watches, American Gladiators, Sony Walkmans and Rubik’s Cubes were all the rage. But it seems only right to point out the hypocrisy, peccadilloes and questionable judgment of the men and women who become obscenely rich by telling the rest of us what the Scriptures say we can and can’t do.

Sources: Orange County Register, inplainsite.org.