154th Defends Leegally Corrupt Million-Dollar "Pastors"

[makapaaa]

With such shitty propaganda on the loose, no wonder there is so much lost sheep around!


<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Church pastors like none other


</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Both are under 50, good-looking and charismatic. They have also built their churches from scratch into two of the richest and biggest in Singapore. But New Creation Church's Pastor Joseph Prince and City Harvest Church's Pastor Kong Hee have been at the receiving end of criticism and controversy for their non-traditional practices, rich coffers and the way they run their churches like businesses. Last month they, along with five other major religious groups, were given the all-clear by the Commissioner of Charities (COC) in its first governance review. The five Christian groups and two temples were singled out as they have the largest incomes - more than $10 million each a year - among the charities under the Commissioner's direct purview. The audit, which began last October, is intended to help the groups improve the way they are run. In separate interviews with The Sunday Times, the two church founders discuss how it all started, their own spiritual journeys and those nagging criticisms. </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Tan Dawn Wei

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'When people believe right, they live right,' says Pastor Joseph Prince of New Creation Church. He preaches at four hour-long services on Sundays. -- ST PHOTOS: SAMUEL HE

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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->From stutter to charisma

<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>More than just an orator 'He's not just a good speaker, he has the wisdom and ability to interpret the Bible. It has changed me, my life, my business.'
MS OLIVIA LUM, 47, chief executive officer and president of water purification company Hyflux Group, on Pastor Joseph Prince




</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>By his own admission, Pastor Joseph Prince is a shy man and a former stutterer.
That is why he has never granted a media interview, preferring to let his lieutenants do the talking.

=> All masterminds look shy!

But walk into New Creation Church's bookstore - Rock Gifts and Book Centre - at Suntec City or visit the church's slick website, and you'll find Mr Prince's face everywhere.
It's there on DVDs and book covers and in his sermons played over TV screens. They are even broadcast in countries like the United States and Australia.
No one would believe he is shy if they have seen him preach. The magnetic speaker does so with no help from teleprompters, cue cards or notes.
A teacher who remembered his stammering days in secondary school heard his sermon once and left him a note, calling his transformation 'a miracle'.
Lay people may be taken with his polished public speaking skills, but his flock will say it is his teachings that they come for.
It helps that he breaks his sermons down, coats them with humour and peppers them with colloquialism.
And they have come in droves. Since he took over the non-denominational, independent church as senior pastor in 1990, the congregation has grown from 150 to 17,000 today. It's a number that startles even its founder.
'I'm still frightened,' said Mr Prince, 45, in the church's stylishly minimalistic office on the sixth floor of Suntec City.

=> Or guilty?

 

[makapaaa]

'To me, I'm very humbled. Every week when I stand there for four services, once in a while, I still wonder to myself, people are queueing up, for what? This is not Hello Kitty, you know.'
Tall and togged in a dark suit, Mr Prince comes across as easy-going and confident and peppers his speech with 'lors' and 'lahs'.
But it wasn't easy to get this interview.
His staff initially turned down The Sunday Times' request. When he relented two weeks later, they wanted questions before the interview and were anxious to know how the report would come out.
The interview was also recorded on video, complete with spotlight and microphones, for 'accountability', which probably means it will count for evidence should a dispute arise.
Some may say that it is hard to fault the church for being on edge. Since the Commissioner of Charities (COC) released results of its review last month, the church has raised eyebrows for its wealth - $55.4 million for the year ended March 31 - and an announcement that its business arm is raising investments in a cultural and entertainment complex in one-north from $280 million to $499.5 million.
It is partnering property giant CapitaLand to build the project, which will have restaurants, shops and a 5,000-seat theatre.
Some have wondered if the church should go into property development, but it has said it should park its surpluses somewhere viable, and it needs the space.
It is paying $784,000 a month to rent the 1,400-seat Rock Auditorium and more than 10 other rooms for its mid-week and Sunday services.
Since the COC review, several Straits Times Forum letter writers have called for religious leaders to disclose their salaries.
When asked how much he earns, Mr Prince asked me how much I make, then said: 'I'm well- paid.' He added that his salary is declared to the church's 340 voting members.
He said he donated his entire bonus last year to the church's building fund. 'I'm one of the top five givers to one-north. Money doesn't have a hold on me,' he said, adding that he chose early on not to be a signatory of the church, which means he has no access to the church's bank accounts.
He said he has been asking the church council to let him go without pay to 'shut the naysayers'. But the council turned him down.

=>

Mr Prince, who is executive chairman of the church council, also dismissed the rumour that his salary is $50,000 a month.
'It could have been $50,000 if I had not voluntarily taken all the pay cuts through the years. There was a system of payment that would actually enrich me greatly but as the church grew, I refuse to accept that system of payment.'
Media consultant-presenter Darryl David, 38, defended his pastor, who is said to live in a classy condominium in District 10 and drives an expensive European car.
'People have traditional ideas of what leaders should be like, that you should live humbly. The man is helping people understand their faith. If he's paid fairly well, then so be it,' said Mr David.

=> 66%?

Born to an Indian father and a Chinese mother, Mr Prince spent eight years - mostly during his primary school days - in Perak where his father was a priest.

He doesn't care to mention which religion his father belongs to because he found no reality in it, he said. His father was often drunk.
He eventually came back to Singapore and followed an aunt to church. He was then a young man dabbling in the occult, he said, but 'supernatural experiences' opened his eyes to Christianity.
He attended Commonwealth Secondary School and went on to finish his A levels at a private school, Our Lady of Lourdes.
In 1984, Mr Prince, then president of a youth ministry in a traditional church, and a group of friends were asked to leave the church, which didn't agree with their open displays of worship.
They started New Creation Church, preaching from a church leader's four-room HDB flat in Holland Road. Mr Prince, then still in national service, would preach and rush back to camp.
As the congregation grew from the initial 25, the service was moved to the YWCA, then Grand Central Hotel, before settling in Suntec City's Rock Auditorium in 1999.
Joseph Prince, by the way, was a name he adopted when he was working as an IT consultant before he became a full-time pastor. 'I saw in the Bible that everyone that God raised, he changed their names,' he explained.

=> Sounds more 'charismatic' than Tan Ah Kow? Prince leh!

To his brethren, Mr Prince has transformed many lives through his preaching of grace which proffers that one should receive God's charity instead of living by the thou-shalt-nots.
It is a message that doesn't sit well with the traditionalists, and he knows it. 'People say that if you preach this, then everyone can do whatever he wants. But the amazing thing is when people believe right, they live right.'
Mr Prince, who preaches at four hour-long services on Sundays, claims to have no hobbies besides reading, playing with his daughter Jessica, nine, and occasionally keeping his wife company while she watches Korean dramas.
His homemaker wife, Wendy, 35, is a volunteer creative consultant at the church. The two met in church in 1994 and were married a year later.
His spiffy image - possibly borrowed from those Korean dramas - is all her doing. 'People think, 'Wow, you purposely position yourself ah?' I dress like that because she likes me to dress like that and she's the only woman I want to impress,' he said with a smile.
Thanks to her, he has long ditched his electric blue jackets for muted ones paired with jeans and chunky rings.
It has brought on the swoons. 'A lot of girls have crushes on him. I've even heard of people who idolise him,' said part-time student and churchgoer Chan Fong, 23.

=> Sex sells?

But Ms Chan was less impressed with Prince's increasingly larger-than-life personality, the setting up of Joseph Prince Ministries and the DVDs, which she thought were 'quite commercialised'.
Joseph Prince Ministries was established in 2007 as a non-profit international ministry.
Mr Prince believes while it is his duty to reach out, his allegiance is still to his congregation, made up largely of people in their 30s and 40s. 'I feel if you're called to be a pastor, be a pastor. I don't think it's fair to be drawing too much honorariums for speaking engagements and come back and still draw a salary.'
He has accepted only five such offers this year. 'I'm one of the most untravelled pastors of megachurches. When I travel, I'm homesick all the time.'
[email protected] What are your views on Singapore's megachurches? Send them to [email protected]

 

[makapaaa]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Christianity for the 21st century
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Pastor Kong Hee, 44, founder of City Harvest Church, removed himself from the church's payroll in 2005. -- PHOTO: COURTESY OF CITY HARVEST CHURCH
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Decked out in an embellished Ed Hardy T-shirt that hugged his noticeably toned biceps, silver silk trousers and black dress shoes that glistened under the spotlight, Pastor Kong Hee took the microphone.
It was Sunday as usual for the 44-year-old founder of City Harvest Church, preaching at the Singapore Expo, and then in the church's underground auditorium at its Jurong West headquarters.
Over the next hour, he cracked jokes, dished out anecdotes about his son Dayan, and delivered the message of the day about the qualities of being a good son.
'Awesome' is a word he uses a lot, often accompanied by a dramatic punch in the air.
The other young pastors all sport a wardrobe also sponsored by Ed Hardy - or rather, Mr Kong and singer-wife Ho Yeow Sun's apparel business that brings in the American streetwear label known for its loud designs.
The young, hip, energetic vibes that resonate within the church's chic $48 million walls probably go some way in drawing the young crowd in. Half of the 23,000-strong congregation are children, students and full-time national servicemen.
'Going to City Harvest is like attending a concert and that's what young people like,' said business development manager Eric Ko, 27, of the church's slick worship sessions, which he sometimes goes to.
But Mr Kong prefers to think that style has little to do with it.
'The focus of our church service has always been on inspiration, celebration and transformation. That apparently is striking a chord with many church-goers today,' he said in an e-mail interview.
He could not do a face-to-face interview as he was travelling for his overseas speaking engagements.
While some purists may find the idea of a pop service and the pastors' rock-star appeal hard to swallow, Mr Kong believes in different strokes for different folks.
'We are merely seeking to present Christianity in a way that is relevant to the people of the 21st century, but the emphasis of our services is and has always been on the teachings of Jesus in the Bible and the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith.'
Style or substance, this Raffles Institution old boy, who has a theology doctorate from the United States, has had no trouble getting 'the unchurched' to come.
City Harvest's behemoth congregation today is a long way from the 4,200 parishioners it had just a decade ago, and the 20 it started with in 1989.
Mr Kong's own spiritual journey began in 1975 after a cousin introduced him to the faith.
After graduating with a computer science degree from the National University of Singapore, he left a neighbourhood Anglican church he was attending to be a missionary in the Philippines.
In between trips back to Singapore, he had a small Bible study group. When the group grew, the church's pastor encouraged him to register it as a church.
Controversy has consistently dogged City Harvest - from its supposed aggressive evangelism, to its designer church building, and most famously, the pastor's pop-singer wife.
Ms Ho, 37, has weathered several accusations, including a niggly one about her showbiz career being bankrolled by the church.
Even within the Christian circles, Mr Kong's teachings have come under fire: Many frown on his prosperity preaching which focuses on financial blessings.
But he makes no apologies.
'Christianity is a practical faith of meeting human needs. We address issues pertaining to all aspects of a person's development and needs.Besides, we encourage our members to give their time and finances to charitable works which requires them to first better themselves financially.'
Last year, the independent church received an income of $34.7 million from tithes and offerings. Mr Kong removed himself from the church's payroll in 2005 - he was drawing $8,000 a month - and is now a volunteer senior pastor at the church.

=> U believe?

His income now comes from running his three retail shops, two Skin Couture outlets and one Ed Hardy shop, and overseas speaking engagements.
He lives with his wife and three-year-old son in Horizon Towers, a condominium development in Leonie Hill.
A testament to the church's strength: It has already outgrown its six-year-old building and had been raising funds from as early as 2005 to build a second church.
When asked how much has been collected for the building fund , Mr Kong said it was premature to talk about it as the building committee is looking for a more permanent solution. 'To date, we have not confirmed any building project or the costs involved. Until then, we will continue to lease the hall at Singapore Expo,' he said.

 

[Cestbon]

I don't care about pastors corrupt or not. Is not my money and tax payer money. So only those make donation or member of the church can judge or make decision.
Some lady may even want to sleep with the pastor also not a problem, that their personal life.
So as long not my money or tax payer money. I don't have any problem with them.

 

[The_Latest_H]

Any pastor who preaches the word of Jesus, but inside preaches the worth of money, and the value of worshipping money and glory instead, deserves a head check and intense questioning on whether is he a fellow brother of Christ or not.

 

[Neh_Neh_Pok]

Pastors are craps, esp those @ City harvest

 

[The_Latest_H]

Pastors are craps, esp those @ City harvest

Pastors who allow external auditors/accountants to check the church accounts, and to make it public for people to download online are fine. Its those millionaire churches who don't want to adhere the same standards which deserve a lot of strong questioning by outsiders.

Certainly any pastors who preach the word of God but then fly to France for expensive holidays and to buy excessively expensive branded clothes deserve a second look. In short, while some will resemble more of a corporation than a church, its not right to say that they shouldn't be transparent or the that we 'should just trust the pastor'. Well, I don't for mega churches. When there's so much money, there will be potential for sin.

So we need checks and balances for religious organisations, big and small, but especially for very big ones.

 

[myjohnson]

We have not been called a pseudo western society for nothing. To be seen to be so is being flaunted as a badge of pride. And if among the new converted are people who runs our daily lives, there lies your answer as to why rules do not apply to them.
It'll have to happen sometime when a scandal will be exposed. And it'll involve sex, extortion, corruption and then pleas of repentance and forgiveness. You play the game well and it really will be You can't go wrong Baby.

 

[DIVISION1]

If moniker makapaaa has irrefutable evidence of corruption and provides them to the authorities, action will be taken. No one is above the law in Singapore.

 

[metalslug]

Excuse me, Justice should be above the law...

If moniker makapaaa has irrefutable evidence of corruption and provides them to the authorities, action will be taken. No one is above the law in Singapore.

 

[makapaaa]

I don't care about pastors corrupt or not. Is not my money and tax payer money. So only those make donation or member of the church can judge or make decision.
Some lady may even want to sleep with the pastor also not a problem, that their personal life.
So as long not my money or tax payer money. I don't have any problem with them.

The problem would be simpler if the influence of these leegally corrupt "churches" can be walled within their premises. To begin with, lotsa PAPee scholar directors are members and this explains why Renci is being singled out but not them. And if they are allowed to continue with their dirty biz unchecked, more of such scams would sprout out in the name of religion. U may not be affected, but can u guarantee that your children and relatives won't kena when they become so pervasive?

 

[makapaaa]

If moniker makapaaa has irrefutable evidence of corruption and provides them to the authorities, action will be taken. No one is above the law in Singapore.

I like this "No one is above the law in Singapore." Your owner openly lied in court recently. Indict him to first before making any such claim again.

 

[Neh_Neh_Pok]

If moniker makapaaa has irrefutable evidence of corruption and provides them to the authorities, action will be taken. No one is above the law in Singapore.

Have, Technology is always faster than law

 

[Neh_Neh_Pok]

Pastors who allow external auditors/accountants to check the church accounts, and to make it public for people to download online are fine. Its those millionaire churches who don't want to adhere the same standards which deserve a lot of strong questioning by outsiders.

Certainly any pastors who preach the word of God but then fly to France for expensive holidays and to buy excessively expensive branded clothes deserve a second look. In short, while some will resemble more of a corporation than a church, its not right to say that they shouldn't be transparent or the that we 'should just trust the pastor'. Well, I don't for mega churches. When there's so much money, there will be potential for sin.

So we need checks and balances for religious organisations, big and small, but especially for very big ones.

I always have bad impression on the pastors in city harvest. A few years back was drag to that basement hall by my friends. Will always remember the fella said this " We are all here to worship our lord, if the people are here not to be a part of our members, please do not come in to suck up the oxygen in here.. "

 

[DIVISION1]

If you feel that there has been a miscarriage of justice and perjury has occurred, you are always entitled to raise the case to the courts. However, making groundless accusations could make you liable for defamation.

 

[Neh_Neh_Pok]

If you feel that there has been a miscarriage of justice and perjury has occurred, you are always entitled to raise the case to the courts. However, making groundless accusations could make you liable for defamation.

I sure will, but too bad that time camera phones not out yet, if not i'll record it down and hand over to the law enforcement bodies

 

[ah beng]

I always have bad impression on the pastors in city harvest. A few years back was drag to that basement hall by my friends. Will always remember the fella said this " We are all here to worship our lord, if the people are here not to be a part of our members, please do not come in to suck up the oxygen in here.. "

Obviously. If I am the pastor of city harvest I will say the same thing. It is expensive rental at SUNTEC to be carrying "dead woods" coming into the congregation to take up space and to enjoy the air con and fresh air. They want new members who are eager to be part of their congregation. Because these permanent congregation members make monthly $$$$ contribution to the coffers of city harvest.

So $$$$$ matters in the house of the LORD too.

 

[kakowi]

If moniker makapaaa has irrefutable evidence of corruption and provides them to the authorities, action will be taken. No one is above the law in Singapore.

These are nice pompous words.

One can easily recall the two cases involving TT Durai and the things said about him.

The fact of the matter is that TT Durai won.

Irrefutable evidence can only be obtained by the authorities themselves via a full-fledged audit.

So whilst these are nice pompous words that sanctify your world, Division1, it does not stand to reality as the case of TT Durai clearly shows.

 

[ah beng]

These are nice pompous words.

One can easily recall the two cases involving TT Durai and the things said about him.

The fact of the matter is that TT Durai won.

Irrefutable evidence can only be obtained by the authorities themselves via a full-fledged audit.

So whilst these are nice pompous words that sanctify your world, Division1, it does not stand to reality as the case of TT Durai clearly shows.

In the case of TT Durai, it took many years to finally bring him down. OLd NKF was audited by international auditors (and they found nothing), TT Durai won the case some years against a complianant. If there were collusion (like old NKF where some board members were involved), it will still take a long even for a detailed audit.

Don't forget that even so-call gentlemen ang moh (see the sub-prime problems in US and Europe) cannot resist the sight of money.

Crooks and Devils come in all shapes and sizes. Only the living are attracted to $. I am also attracted to $$$$ , and so are most people.

Like the saying goes : MONEY is the root of all Evil. We are all servants of money, few are master of it.

 

[DIVISION1]

If you take up a legal case, you need to prepare thoroughly with strong evidence that does not get voided and argued effectively. Clearly, the better team at court won the case.