TV Ministry Group Calls Televangelists’ Divorce, ‘Terrible Testimony’
By Allie Martin, OneNewsNow.com
The president of an organization that tracks televangelists says the announcement by Randy and Paula White that they will get a divorce is a terrible testimony to the world — and the latest chapter in a departure from biblical principles and practices for high-profile television preachers.
Pastors Randy and Paula White founded the Without Walls International Church in Tampa in the early 1990s. The storefront church quickly grew into one of the largest mega-churches in the nation. Last week, the couple announced from the pulpit that they were getting a divorce because their lives are heading in different directions.
Paula White is well known as a life coach and for leading conferences that have been endorsed by celebrities such as Donald Trump. Earlier this year, the Tampa Tribune ran a series of articles detailing alleged financial irregularities and questionable business practices within the church and its related ministries. According to those reports, Without Walls International Church — with a claimed membership of 23,000 — took in $40 million in revenue last year and has $22 million in debt.
Ole Anthony, president of the Dallas-based Trinity Foundation, believes the Whites’ situation has “something to do with this ‘prosperity gospel,'” which he says results in many televangelists being treated like superstars and, as a result, losing their focus.
“They begin to believe their own press releases; that they’re special and … can get away and do anything,” says Anthony. “And it’s all about money and celebrity and power, instead of laying down your life for the people [around you who are] in need and picking up your cross and following the real Jesus.”
Anthony, who has tracked televangelists for years, encourages donors to support their local church first. “The hope and prayer always is that you stop giving money to a television tube and start looking around in your own neighborhood where you see where the money is going and what’s being done with it,” he urges.
Randy White will continue in his role as senior pastor of the church. Paula White says she will return there often to preach. She also leads conferences and monthly seminars in New York City.
(Source: OneNewsNow.com)
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