There is a LOT of money to be made in preaching the prosperity gospel, advancing Christian Right agendas, and prophesying the election of Donald Trump.
In case you missed it, Ministry Watch released its list of “highly paid ministry executives” for 2024. Warren Cole Smith explains the list:
Below is a list of 100 highly paid Christian ministry executives. The information was derived from the latest available Form 990 prepared by the ministry itself.
We are not calling this list the “Highest Paid Christian Ministry Executives” because we know that many pastors and other church leaders who might make more are not on this list, because churches are not required to make their Form 990s available to the public.
Also, MinistryWatch has identified a growing trend among Christian ministries to identify as churches and thereby withhold their Form 990s. Among the MinistryWatch 1000 ministries in the country who have made this election include: CRU/Campus Crusade for Christ, The Navigators, Gideons International, Willow Creek Association, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Joyce Meyer Ministries, Denison Forum, and Ethnos360/New Tribes Mission.
In addition, many megachurches and their related radio and television ministries also withhold their Form 990s. These organizations and individuals include:Â Joel Osteen, David Jeremiah, Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar, and Kenneth Copeland.
MinistryWatch has gone on record repeatedly, and we do so again here, with our view that withholding Form 990s is an unwise practice.  You can read a more complete explanation of our position here.
A word about timing: This information comes from the most recent Form 990 available from the Internal Revenue Service. For most ministries, they come from the year 2022 or 2021.  However, the IRS has been slow in processing Form 990s for more than a year.  (We have written about this backlog here.)  That means 2020 is the most recent year for some of the ministries on this list.
In the case of Franklin Graham, only his Samaritan’s Purse compensation is listed. He also serves as president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Because BGEA does not file a Form 990, we were not able to determine what compensation he receives from BGEA.
In the case of the Inspiration Networks: Some executives receive their salaries from a for-profit subsidiary. The for-profit subsidiary, INSP LLC, is wholly owned by the non-profit organization The Inspirational Networks, Inc.
Also note that this list does NOT include salaries from Christian colleges and universities.  We will include these salaries in a separate list to be published later this week.
Here are the top 5:
- David Cerullo: $4,520,383. Cerullo is Director and CEO of Inspirational Network/Inspirational Ministry: He is a prosperity preacher and the son of prosperity preacher Morris Cerullo.
- Dale Ardizzone: $2,463,700. Ardizzone is the General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Inspirational Network/Inspirational Ministries (See above).
- Charles “Chuck” Pierce: $2,084, 437. Pierce is the President of Glory of Zion Ministries. He is a leader of the New Apostolic Reformation who “prophesied” Donald Trump presidential victory on 2016 and 2020.
- Tony Evans: $1,407, 218. Evans is president of Urban Alternative and pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas.
- Keith Evans: $1,286, 604. Evans is the CEO of Westminster Schools, a K-12 Presbyterian private school in Atlanta.
Others on the list:
11: Franklin Graham: $832,738 as president of Samaritan’s Purse
12. Matthew Crouch: $829.697 as president of Trinity Broadcasting Network
20. Michael Farris: $644,724 as CEO of Alliance Defending Freedom
26. Gordon Robertson: $613,157 as CEO of Christian Broadcasting Network
40. Harry Hargrave: $544,945 as CEO of the Museum of the Bible
45. Kelly Shackleford: $525,555 as CEO of First Liberty Institute
59. David Jeremiah: $472,690 as COO of Turning Point for God Ministry
60. Barry Giller: $471,044 as Head of School at Charlotte Christian School. (Side note: I used to play pick-up basketball and church softball team with Barry! Looks like he did well for himself).
62. Hal Lindsey: $470,000 as Chairman of Hal Lindsey Website Ministries
67. Robert Briggs: $456,184 as CEO of the American Bible Society
77. Tony Perkins: $429,423 as CEO of Family Research Council
XX: John Fea: $0 as Executive Editor of Current 🙂
That last guy needs to get a new ministry!
Thanks, Ron. I’m Glad someone read until the end. 🙂
Many of these names and ministries have been in the high-dollar bracket for a long time. But, one of the most heartbreaking (of many) kinds of stories in Tim Alberta’s new book are those of churches who began to boom by jumping on the Christian nationalist bandwagon and whose leaders now confess that though the idolatrous political extremism has gone too far they feel trapped by the need for cash.
May God have mercy on–and send grace to–the American church.