When a pastor leads a lavish life, the question arises: “How does the pastor finance his luxurious lifestyle?”
Historically, America’s richest pastors have made their fortunes by writing best-selling books.
However, more and more pastors are earning their fortune through life coaching.
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Keith Craft
One of the richest pastors in America is Keith Craft, who leads the Elevate Life Church in Frisco, Texas. Craft charges his clients $84,000 a year to participate in his Life Mastery Mastermind.
Craft owns two homes in Texas, two vacation homes in Destin, Florida, a mountain home in Colorado, a yacht and a Cessna 650 jet.
The Trinity Foundation estimates the value of Craft’s real estate holdings to be at least $13 million.
Before becoming a pastor and life coach, Craft recorded a Christian rock album and joined Power Team, a group of Christian bodybuilders who shared their faith on television and to church audiences across the United States.
Craft is an entrepreneurial pastor who has founded companies such as Servant Leadership, LLC, which operates Craft Yacht Charters, and Kingdom Heir Aviation LLC, which owns Crafts Jet. The Cessna 650 is available for charter through Trinity Private Jet Charter.
Nicole Crank
Author Nicole Crank charges $16,999 for her Inner Circle Mastermind, and that doesn’t include all travel expenses.
Nicole Crank’s husband, David Crank, is a pastor of Faith Church, which has branches in Florida, Illinois, and Missouri. The Cranks own a beach house (over 11,000 square feet) in Ocean Ridge, Florida, which is worth $5.6 million, according to real estate website Zillow.
Hope Zimmermann
While Craft holds expensive in-person coaching sessions at a beach house or his mountain home and Crank uses a 15-acre retreat in Tennessee, other life coaches offer more affordable online coaching.
Hope Carpenter, wife of televangelist Ron Carpenter, charges $29 per month with the first month free. Hope is married to televangelist Ron Carpenter, who pastors Redemption Fellowship in San Jose, California, and Greenville, South Carolina.
Ron Carpenter’s personal website states that he mentors CEOs, but the website does not mention a fee for mentoring or life coaching.
John Maxwell
John Maxwell serves as pastor of Christ Fellowship Church, which has 11 locations in Florida.
Maxwell is a popular speaker at leadership conferences, having sold more than 25 million books on the subject. The John Maxwell Company specializes in executive or business coaching, which overlaps with life coaching, as communication skills are critical in both areas.
The John Maxwell Company offers a certification program for executive coaches, speakers and trainers. According to ThePricer, “The base fee for the John Maxwell certification is $2,495 paid up front.” When coaching, textbook and travel costs are added, the total can be $4,000.
What is a mastermind?
Many life coaches refer to their coaching sessions as mastermind events. Self-help author Napoleon Hill popularized the concept with his book: Think and get rich.
Hill recommended that his readers form groups of like-minded people, which he called “masterminds,” to pursue personal and intellectual growth.
Hill’s writings, which popularized the Law of Attraction, were adopted by both televangelists and occultists.
The financially extravagant lifestyle
Does God get glorified when pastors gain wealth from their congregations?
The lifestyles of prosperity gospel preachers and megachurch pastors often contradict Bible verses that teach Christians to pursue humility.
Micah 6:8 says, “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To do what is just, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
Originally published at Trinity Foundation
