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Robert Gibson Tilton (born June 7, 1946) is an American
televangelist Televangelism ( tele- "distance" and "evangelism," meaning " ministry," sometimes called teleministry) is the use of media, specifically radio and television, to communicate Christianity. Televangelists are ministers, whether official or self-pr ...
and the former pastor of the Word of Faith Family Church in
Farmers Branch Farmers Branch, officially the City of Farmers Branch, is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. It is an inner-ring suburb of Dallas and is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its population was 28,616 at the 2010 census. Known ...
,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
, a suburb of
Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
. At his ministry's peak in 1991, Tilton's
infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...
-style program, ''Success-N-Life'', aired in all 235 American television markets (on a daily basis in the majority of them) and brought in nearly $80 million per year; it was described as "the fastest growing television ministry in America.""The Apple of God's Eye", produced by Robbie Gordon, ''Primetime Live'', first broadcast November 21, 1991. When ABC's ''
Primetime Live ''Primetime'' was an American news magazine television program that debuted on American Broadcasting Company, ABC in 1989 with co-hosts Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer and originally had the title ''Primetime Live''. The program's final episode ...
'' raised questions about Tilton's fundraising practices, a series of investigations into the ministry were initiated, and ''Success-N-Life'' was taken off the air. Tilton later returned to television on a new version of the program airing on
BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...
and
The Word Network The Word Network, also known as The Word, is a religious broadcasting network. The Word is the largest African-American religious network in the world. It was founded in February 2000 by Kevin Adell who also owns WFDF, a local urban-talk radio st ...
.


Life and career

Robert Tilton was born in McKinney,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
, on June 7, 1946. He attended Cooke County Junior College and Texas Technological University. He married his first wife, Martha "Marte" Phillips, in 1968. According to his autobiographical materials, Tilton had a conversion experience to
evangelical Christianity Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
the following year and began his ministry in 1974, taking his family on the road to, in his words, "preach this gospel of
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...
." Tilton preached to small congregations and
revivals Revival most often refers to: *Resuscitation of a person *Language revival of an extinct language * Revival (sports team) of a defunct team *Revival (television) of a former television series *Revival (theatre), a new production of a previously pr ...
throughout Texas and
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
."Prosperity and Healing: Is it Promised to the Believer?
Ken L. Sarles, retrieved June 11, 2006.
His family settled in
Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
and built the Word of Faith Family Church, a small nondenominational
charismatic Charisma () is a personal quality of presence or charm that compels its subjects. Scholars in sociology, political science, psychology, and management reserve the term for a type of leadership seen as extraordinary; in these fields, the term "ch ...
church in
Farmers Branch Farmers Branch, officially the City of Farmers Branch, is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. It is an inner-ring suburb of Dallas and is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its population was 28,616 at the 2010 census. Known ...
, in 1976. The church started a local television program then known as ''Daystar''. Tilton's young church was growing steadily, but ''Daystar'' failed to expand beyond the Dallas area until Tilton traveled to
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
his self-described version of Jesus's forty days in the wilderness"Robert Tilton's Heart of Darkness", Scott Baradell, first published in the ''Dallas Observer'' on February 6, 1992, p. 18; quoted in ''Christianity In Crisis'' by Hank Hanegraaff, Harvest House Publishers, 1993, p. 347. and came upon an increasingly popular new form of television programming: the late-night
infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...
. Tilton was particularly influenced by Dave Del Dotto, a real estate promoter who hosted hour-long infomercials showing his glamorous life in Hawaii, as well as on-camera testimonials lauding his " get rich quick" books. Upon his return from Hawaii in 1981, Tilton, with the help of a US$1.3 million loan from Dallas banker Herman Beebe, revamped ''Daystar'' into an hour-long "religious infomercial" with the title ''Success-N-Life''.


''Success-N-Life''

On ''Success-N-Life'', Tilton regularly taught that all of life's trials, especially poverty, were a result of sin. His message consisted mainly of impressing upon viewers the importance of making "vows"—financial commitments to Tilton's ministry. His preferred vow, stressed frequently on his broadcasts, was $1,000. Occasionally, Tilton would claim to have received a word of knowledge for someone to give a vow of $5,000 or even $10,000. When a person made a vow to Tilton, he preached that God would recognize the vow and reward the donor with vast material riches."Second Coming: A Jet-Settin', Scotch-Sippin' Robert Tilton Washes Up in South Florida and He Still Wants Your Money"
Sean Rowe, ''
Dallas Observer ''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas, Texas. The ''Observer'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...
'', quoted by Cephas Ministries, retrieved June 11, 2006.
The show also ran "testimonials" of viewers who gave to Tilton's ministry and reportedly received miracles in return, a practice that would be used as the basis for a later lawsuit from donors charging Tilton's ministry with
fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compen ...
.''CBS Evening News with Connie Chung'', CBS, first broadcast April 22, 1994; as compiled on ''The Prophet of Prosperity: Robert Tilton and the Gospel of Greed'', DVD produced by The Trinity Foundation, publication date not specified. A ''
Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...
'' story published in 1992 observed that Tilton spent more than 84% of his show's airtime for fundraising and promotions, a total higher than the 22% for an average commercial television show;"TV Preachers Seen as 'Beggars': Public Dislikes Evangelists' Onscreen Methods", ''Dallas Morning News'', first published on November 21, 1992; quoted in ''Christianity in Crisis'' by Hank Hanegraaff, Harvest House Publishers, 1993, p. 348. other sources put the total fundraising time during episodes of ''Success-N-Life'' closer to 68%. Some of Tilton's fundraising letters were written by Gene Ewing, the head of a multimillion-dollar
marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
empire writing donation letters for other televangelists like W. V. Grant and Don Stewart. As a result of Tilton's television success, Word of Faith Family Church grew to become a
megachurch A megachurch is a church with an unusually large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities, usually Protestant or Evangelical. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research defines a megachurch as any Protestant C ...
, with 8,000 members at its height. Tilton also wrote several self help books about financial success, including ''The Power to Create Wealth'', ''God's Laws of Success'', ''How to Pay Your Bills Supernaturally'', and ''How to be Rich and Have Everything You Ever Wanted''. Most of his books were published in the 1980s and distributed via promotion on ''Success-N-Life'' and through the many mailings Tilton's ministry sent his followers. The books were republished in the late 1990s to be used as centerpieces of his 1997 infomercial series and are now promoted on his current () daily live internet broadcast.''Success-N-Life''
home page, retrieved March 3, 2009.


Ministry and fundraising scandal

In 1991,
ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast '' ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include morning news-talk show '' Good Morning America'', '' ...
conducted an investigation of Tilton (as well as two other Dallas-area televangelists, Grant and Larry Lea). The investigation, assisted by Trinity Foundation president
Ole Anthony Ole Edward Anthony (October 3, 1938April 16, 2021) was an American minister, religious investigator and satirist. Anthony was the editor of '' The Wittenburg Door'', a magazine of Christian satire. He was head of the Trinity Foundation, and in th ...
and broadcast on ABC's ''
Primetime Live ''Primetime'' was an American news magazine television program that debuted on American Broadcasting Company, ABC in 1989 with co-hosts Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer and originally had the title ''Primetime Live''. The program's final episode ...
'' on November 21, 1991, alleged that Tilton's ministry threw away
prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deifie ...
requests without reading them, keeping only the accompanying money or valuables sent to the ministry by viewers, garnering his ministry an estimated US$80 million a year.


Allegations of exploitation of vulnerable people

Anthony, a Christian minister whose organization works with the homeless and the poor on the east side of Dallas, first took an interest in Tilton's ministry in the late 1980s after encountering needy people who told him they had lost all of their money making donations to high-profile televangelists, especially Tilton. Curious about the pervasiveness of the problem, the Trinity Foundation got on the mailing lists of several televangelists, including Tilton, and started keeping records of the many types of solicitations they received almost daily from various ministries. Former
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance bar, temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pembe ...
executive Harry Guetzlaff came to Trinity after he had been turned away from Tilton's church when he found himself on hard times following a divorce. He had been a longtime donor and gave up his last $5,000 as a "vow of faith" just weeks earlier. Guetzlaff's experience, combined with the sheer magnitude of mailings from Tilton's ministry, spurred Anthony, a former
Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...
intelligence officer and licensed
private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...
, to start a full investigation of Tilton's ministry. Guetzlaff joined Anthony in the task of gathering details on Tilton's operation and later did much of the legwork in uncovering the paper trail for the ABC News investigation."The Antichrist of East Dallas"
Burkhard Bilger, ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', first published on December 6, 2004; retrieved June 11, 2006.


Undercover investigation

In a November 21, 1991, promotional appearance on '' Live with Regis and Kathie Lee'', Diane Sawyer said that she had incidentally watched several televangelist programs, including ''Success-N-Life'', and was both "fascinated" and "disturbed" by them. Stressing the public's sensitivity to reporters questioning religion, Sawyer said that she spoke with other journalists, and then eventually to ABC producers, who then decided to conduct their own investigation into Grant, Lea, and Tilton.'' Live with Regis and Kathie Lee'', aired November 21, 1991, as compiled on ''The Prophet of Prosperity: Robert Tilton and the Gospel of Greed'', DVD produced by The Trinity Foundation, publication date not specified. ABC producers learned about possible resources available from Anthony and Trinity, and contacted them for information. After comparing their accumulated notes, data and details, the two groups decided to pool their efforts and began planning the undercover portion of the story. Anthony agreed to portray himself as a Dallas-based minister with a small church looking into the ways TV ministries could grow so quickly, and the ABC producers would pose as Anthony's "media consultants."


Meeting with Response Media

The team, armed with hidden cameras and microphones, arrived for a meeting at Response Media, the
Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...
-based marketing firm handling Tilton's mass mailings, to discuss a proposal sent by Anthony to Response Media about fundraising for a religious-based TV talk show. The director of Response Media, Jim Moore, described for Anthony and the hidden cameras (concealed in the undercover ''Primetime Live'' producers' glasses and handbags) many techniques used by Tilton to raise funds for his ministry. Moore also said that Tilton was doing "far better than anyone knows" and described the main strategy Tilton employed for such a high return rate on his mailings—that is, send the recipient a "gimmick" that compelled the recipient to mail something back in return, and most recipients would include some money along with it. Moore declined to disclose how much Response Media was paid for its services or how much money the mailings were generating for the Tilton ministry. However, as part of his sales pitch to Anthony, Moore disclosed that the response letters generated by the fundraising mailings Response Media sends out for its clients were never delivered to the client; instead, they were sent unopened to the client's financial institution or other institutions of choice. "You never have to touch it", Moore added in response to a clarification question from Anthony about dealing with the gimmick objects sent to the potential donors in the mails. One of the ABC producers asked whether this was a standard practice—"So the mail goes straight to the bank?"—and Moore asserted that it was: "The mail goes to the bank, and they put the money in your account. We just get the paper with the person's name and how much they gave."


1991 ''Primetime Live'' documentary ("The Apple of God's Eye")

Trinity members, acting on this information, started digging through dumpsters outside Tilton's many banks in the Tulsa area as well as dumpsters outside the office of Tilton's lawyer, J. C. Joyce (also based in Tulsa). Over the next thirty days, Trinity's "garbologists", as Anthony dubbed them, found tens of thousands of discarded prayer requests, bank statements, computer printouts containing the coding for how Tilton's "personalized" letters were generated, and more, all of which were shown in detail on the Tilton segment within the ''Primetime Live'' broadcast, titled "The Apple of God's Eye". In a follow-up broadcast on November 28, 1991, Sawyer said that Trinity and ''Primetime Live'' assistants found prayer requests in bank dumpsters on fourteen separate occasions in a thirty day period.Follow-up segment to "The Apple of God's Eye", ''Primetime Live'', first broadcast November 28, 1991.


Denial

Tilton vehemently denied the allegations and took to the airwaves on November 22, on a special episode of ''Success-N-Life'' entitled "Primetime Lies", to air his side of the story. He asserted that the prayer requests found in garbage bags shown on ''Primetime Live'' were stolen from the ministry and planted in the dumpster for a sensational camera shot, and that he prayed over every prayer request received, to the point that he "laid on top of those prayer requests so much that 'the chemicals actually got into isbloodstream, and... ehad two small
stroke A stroke is a disease, medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorr ...
s in isbrain." Tilton remained defiant on claims regarding his use of donations to his ministry to fund various purchases, asking, "Ain't I allowed to have nothing?" with regards to his ownership of multiple multimillion-dollar estates. Tilton also claimed that he needed plastic surgery to repair
capillary A capillary is a small blood vessel from 5 to 10 micrometres (μm) in diameter. Capillaries are composed of only the tunica intima, consisting of a thin wall of simple squamous endothelial cells. They are the smallest blood vessels in the bod ...
damage to his lower eyelids from ink that seeped into his skin from the prayer requests.


Further revelations

After Trinity members spent weeks poring over the details of the documents they and ABC had uncovered, sorting and scrutinizing each prayer request, bank statement, and computer printout dealing with the codes Tilton's banks and legal staff used when categorizing the returned items, Anthony called a press conference in December 1991 to present what he described as Tilton's "Wheel of Fortune", using a large display covered in actual prayer requests, copies of receipts for document disposition, and other information which demonstrated what happened to money and prayer requests which the average viewer of Tilton's television program sent him.''The Prophet of Prosperity: Robert Tilton and the Gospel of Greed'', DVD produced by The Trinity Foundation, publication date not specified. When both Tilton and his lawyer J. C. Joyce reacted to the news by claiming the items Anthony was displaying had somehow been stolen by "an insider", Anthony responded in a subsequent interview that "Joyce was our mole—a lot of this stuff came from the dumpster outside his office." ''Primetime Live''s original investigation and subsequent updates included interviews with several former Tilton employees and acquaintances. In the original investigation, one of Tilton's former prayer hotline operators claimed the ministry cared little for desperate followers who called for prayer, saying Tilton had a computer installed in July 1989 to make sure the operators talked to no caller for longer than seven minutes. The former employee also revealed very specific instructions were given to them in terms of how to talk with callers and they were told to always ask for a $100 "vow" at a minimum. Also in the original report, a former friend of Tilton's from college (who remained anonymous and was shown in silhouette) claimed both he and Tilton would attend tent revival meetings as a "sport" and would claim to be anointed and healed at the meetings. He added the two had often discussed the notion that after graduation they would set up their own roving revival ministry "and drive around the country and get rich." In a July 1992 update to the investigation, ''Primetime Live'' interviewed Tilton's former maid, who claimed prayer requests which were sent to Tilton's house by the ministry were routinely ignored until he told her to move them out of the house and into the garage; according to the maid, "they stacked up and stacked up" in the garage until Tilton had them thrown away. In the same interview, Tilton's former secretary came forward and claimed Tilton lifted excerpts from "get rich quick" books and used them in his sermons, and she never saw him perform normal pastoral duties such as visiting with the sick and praying with members.


Government involvement

Despite Tilton's repeated denials of misconduct, the State of Texas and the federal government became involved in subsequent investigations, finding more causes for concern about Tilton's financial status with each new revelation. After nearly 10,000 pounds of prayer requests and letters to the Tilton ministry were found in a disposal bin at a Tulsa area recycling firm in February 1992, along with itemized receipts of their delivery from Tilton's main mail-handling service in Tulsa rather than from the church offices in Farmers Branch, Tilton admitted in a
deposition Deposition may refer to: * Deposition (law), taking testimony outside of court * Deposition (politics), the removal of a person of authority from political power * Deposition (university), a widespread initiation ritual for new students practiced f ...
given to the
Texas Attorney General The Texas attorney general is the chief legal officer
of the
's office that he often prayed over computerized lists of prayer requests instead of the actual prayer requests themselves, and that prayer requests were in fact routinely thrown away after categorization. As each revelation became increasingly more damaging, viewership and donations declined dramatically. The last episode of ''Success-N-Life'' aired nationally on October 30, 1993. By that time, viewership had fallen 85 percent and monthly donations went from $8 million to $2 million.


Failed libel action

In 1992, Tilton sued ABC for
libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defi ...
because of its investigation and report, but the case was dismissed in 1993. Federal Judge
Thomas Rutherford Brett Thomas Rutherford Brett (October 2, 1931 – February 6, 2021) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. Education and career Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Brett received ...
, in his July 16, 1993, dismissal of the case, stated that information in Trinity's logs on prayer requests reportedly found in dumpsters on September 11, 1991, "could not have been found then because the postmark date was after September 11, 1991", but also noted that Anthony had recanted the erroneous entries in a subsequent
affidavit An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or '' deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such a stateme ...
. Tilton appealed the decision in 1993; although the findings of the original court were upheld in 1995, federal Judge Michael Burrage's opinion criticized ABC and the ''Primetime Live'' producers for their editing of the story and noted that ABC had been warned by their own religion editor, Peggy Wehmeyer (who knew Anthony from her work as a religion reporter at ABC affiliate
WFAA-TV WFAA (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Decatur-licensed Estrella TV affiliate KMPX (channel 29) ...
in Dallas), that, "Mr. Anthony could not be trusted and was obsessed with his crusade against
ilton Ilton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated south-east of Taunton, and north of Ilminster in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 854. The parish includes the hamlets of Ilford and Cad Green w ...
" Tilton once more appealed the decision, this time to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1996, but the court refused to hear the case.


Tilton sued for fraud

Several donors to Tilton's television ministry sued Tilton in 1992–1993, charging various forms of fraud. One plaintiff, Vivian Elliott, won $1.5 million in 1994 when it was discovered that a family crisis center for which she had made a donation (and recorded an endorsement testimonial) was never built or even intended to be built. The judgment was later reversed on appeal. As part of the
defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...
strategy to the fraud cases, Tilton sued Anthony, Guetzlaff and four plaintiff's lawyers who had filed the fraud cases against him in federal court in Tulsa. The tactic is known to critics as a "SLAPP" ( strategic lawsuit against public participation) suit. Tilton claimed that the individuals conspired to violate his
First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
rights under a federal statute designed to protect black citizens from the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Cat ...
. ( 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1985.) Defense attorneys Martin Merritt of Dallas and
ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". ...
lawyer Michael Linz, also of Dallas, with others, won dismissal for the six defendants in federal district court. On appeal, in ''Tilton v. Richardson'', 6 F.3d 683 (10th Cir.1993), the
10th Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (in case citations, 10th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Colorado * District of Kansas * Distri ...
affirmed the dismissal on the grounds that 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1985 did not protect a nonminority individual against a purely private conspiracy, if one existed. The fraud cases continued until the Texas Supreme Court eventually ruled that the plaintiffs could not prove damages because they could not show that, if Tilton had actually prayed over the prayer requests, the prayers would have been answered. The decline of ''Success-N-Life'' also led to the end of Tilton's 25-year marriage to his wife Marte, who had been administrative head of the Word of Faith Family Church and World Outreach Center, in 1993. Dallas lawyer Gary Richardson, who represented many of the parties suing Tilton for fraud, attempted to intervene in the Tiltons' divorce, citing the potential for the divorce settlement to be used to hide financial assets that were currently part of the many fraud cases; Richardson's petition to have the divorce action put on hold until after the fraud cases were settled was denied. Marte intervened in Tilton's second divorce from Leigh Valentine, who had asked the court to include the church and all its assets as community property in the proceedings. Under Texas law, property accumulated during a marriage is considered community property and thus subject to division between the parties in a divorce. The jury eventually ruled against the request.


Lexington Academy

Lexington Academy was a small private Christian school in Farmers Branch that was founded in the early 1980s by Robert and Marte Tilton. The name "Lexington" was chosen in honor of the
Battle of Lexington The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, ...
; the school mascot was the Patriots. The school was a member of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS), and won dozens of State Championships in Athletics, Academics, and Fine Arts during the less than twenty years of its existence, including five overall TAPPS State Championships. The school was dissolved in 1998 as a result of debts incurred from lawsuits against Tilton and his ministry.


Transitional ministry

Tilton returned to television in 1994 with a new program called ''Pastor Tilton'', a show with an emphasis on "demon blasting"
exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...
practices, usually involving Tilton shouting as loudly as possible at
demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in Media (communication), media such as comics, video ...
s supposedly possessing people suffering from pain and illness. However, this program was far less successful than its predecessor, and was cancelled by the end of the year.


Reviving ''Success-N-Life''

After moving to
Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facer ...
,
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...
, in 1996, Tilton returned to the airwaves in 1997 with a new version of ''Success-N-Life'', buying airtime on independent television stations primarily serving
inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...
areas. The new version of ''Success-N-Life'' returned to Tilton's previous message of asking for "vows of faith" from viewers instead of exorcisms. In 1998, the program began airing on
Black Entertainment Television Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...
(BET) as part of its two-hour late night umbrella rotation block of religious programming entitled ''BET Inspiration''. In 2008, ''Success-N-Life'' usually occupied the first hour of the BET programming block and also ran on
The Word Network The Word Network, also known as The Word, is a religious broadcasting network. The Word is the largest African-American religious network in the world. It was founded in February 2000 by Kevin Adell who also owns WFDF, a local urban-talk radio st ...
.The Word Network
program listing page, retrieved January 8, 2007.
Most of the shown on ''BET Inspiration'' were taped in the late 1990s—with testimonials from 1980s-era episodes interspersed throughout the episodes—but Tilton also recorded infomercials for his books at least once a year from 2003 to 2007, often appearing with his third wife, Maria Rodriguez, and their four French poodles."Bob's Back, and More Entertaining than Ever"
Steve Blow, ''Dallas Morning News'', published September 25, 2004, retrieved June 18, 2006.
The Word of Faith Family Church and World Outreach Center was finally formally dissolved by Tilton in 1996. Though Tilton was still listed as the church's senior pastor, he had not preached at the church since March 16, 1996, when he named
Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...
,
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...
, minister Bob Wright as senior associate pastor, and its membership had declined to less than 300. The church building was purchased by the city of Farmers Branch in 1999 for use as a future civic center; however, the economy suffered a downturn and the plans were scrapped, and the building was finally demolished in 2003 to make room for a new
Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and were founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minne ...
-sponsored youth hockey center. In March 2005, Tilton started a new church in
Hallandale, Florida Hallandale Beach (formerly known simply as Hallandale) is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States. The city is named after Luther Halland, the son of a Swedish worker for Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railroad. As of the 2 ...
, not far from his home in
Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which ...
. The church had already existed for some time under the pastorship of former televangelist David Epley. Tilton's new church, now called "Christ the Good Shepherd Worldwide Church", had approximately 200 members in 2007. On May 13, 2007, the church moved into a new location in
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
and was officially renamed "Word of Faith Church", much like the original church in Dallas. Tilton also established a church in
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...
,
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
, in 2005, also originally named Christ the Good Shepherd Worldwide Church. It has also been officially renamed "Word of Faith Church". The Las Vegas church's resident pastor is Natalie Vafai.


Current ministry

When Tilton returned to television in 1997, he established his ministry's headquarters in Tulsa, where his lawyer J. C. Joyce's offices were located, and set up a
post office box A post office box (commonly abbreviated as P.O. box, or also known as a postal box) is a uniquely addressable lockable box located on the premises of a post office. In some regions, particularly in Africa, there is no door to door delivery ...
as its mailing address. A woman employed by Mail Services, Inc., a Tulsa-area clearinghouse that handled mail sent to Tilton's ministry, said that when she worked for Mail Services, Inc. in 2001, prayer requests were still routinely thrown away after donations and pledges were removed."Robert Tilton: From Downfall to Windfall"
, Ziva Branstetter, ''Tulsa World'', first published May 4, 2003; quoted by The Trinity Foundation, retrieved June 17, 2006.
However, Tilton dropped the Tulsa address in late 2007 and used a Miami post office box to receive responses to his fundraising mailings. In January 2014, he was holding services at the Courtyard Marriott in
Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most ...
,
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, while having donations again sent to a post office box in Tulsa. In 1998, ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' reported that Tilton's following disappeared after the investigations but he had "joined dozens of other preachers to become fixtures on BET". Consequently, Tilton, along with Stewart and
Peter Popoff Peter George Popoff (born July 2, 1946) is a German-born American televangelist and debunked clairvoyant and faith healer. He was exposed in 1986 for using a concealed earpiece to receive radio messages from his wife, who gave him the names, ad ...
, received "criticism from those who say that preachers with a long trail of disillusioned followers have no place on a network that holds itself out as a model of entrepreneurship for the black community." Steve Lumbley, who worked for Tilton's ministry in 1991 when the original ''Primetime Live'' investigation took place, told a reporter for the ''Dallas Observer'' in 2006 that reports of prayer request disposal that were the centerpiece of the ABC exposé were highly exaggerated. In an article for the ''Observer'' blog "Unfair Park", Lumbley asserted that " e mailings all had some kind of gimmick. They weren't godly at all. But the primary allegation that came out of that—that prayer requests were thrown away—was categorically untrue, and I can guarantee you that was not a normal practice." However, Lumbley, who now runs a Christian watchdog website called ApostasyWatch.com, does credit ABC and the Trinity Foundation for exposing Tilton's unethical fundraising tactics, noting that, "God was using Ole and ABC to chastise Tilton and bring him down."The Robert Tilton Files
, Glenna Whitley,
Dallas Observer "Unfair Park"
' online blog, dated August 6, 2006; retrieved October 4, 2006.
Trinity still monitors Tilton's television ministry as part of its ongoing televangelist watchdog efforts. In a 2003 interview published in the ''
Tulsa World The ''Tulsa World'' is the daily newspaper for the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. Tulsa World Media Company is part of Lee Enterprises. The new owners announced in January 20 ...
'', Anthony estimated that with none of the Word of Faith Family Church overhead and with television production costs at a fraction of the original ''Success-N-Life'' program, Tilton's current organization was likely grossing more than $24 million per year tax-free.


Satire

In 1985, two men began distributing a video they compiled lampooning Tilton and his ostensible conversations with God. The video exploits Tilton's facial expressions and preaching style. The original video contained no title screen and was roughly edited. The video featured a medley of footage from ''Success-N-Life'' overdubbed with well-timed sound effects of
flatulence Flatulence, in humans, is the expulsion of gas from the intestines via the anus, commonly referred to as farting. "Flatus" is the medical word for gas generated in the stomach or bowels. A proportion of intestinal gas may be swallowed enviro ...
. Unofficial VHS copies of the video circulated in the U.S. through the late 1980s under such titles as ''Tooting Tilton'', ''Heaven Only Knows'' (the first title by the original distributors), ''Pastor Gas'', ''The Joyful Noise'', and ''The Farting Preacher''. After the hosts of ''
The Mark & Brian Show ''The Mark & Brian Show'' was an American radio talk show hosted by Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps, known on the air as "Mark & Brian." The syndicated program aired weekday mornings from KLOS-FM in Los Angeles, California, and blended comedy ske ...
'', a radio program in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
, mentioned the video on the air, the video's authors saw the market potential and began selling official copies of their creation. Similar videos have since been made with more recent footage of Tilton and are distributed throughout the Internet, all under the ''Farting Preacher'' name. The video distribution (including digital bootlegs distributed online) expanded public awareness of Tilton and his controversial television ministry. The song "I Know" on the
Barenaked Ladies Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reached ...
' 1996 album ''
Born on a Pirate Ship ''Born on a Pirate Ship'' (sometimes abbreviated ''BOAPS'') is the third full-length studio album by Barenaked Ladies (BNL), featuring the songs "Shoe Box", "The Old Apartment", "When I Fall" and "Break Your Heart". "The Old Apartment" would bec ...
'' includes the lines: "If a hundred monkeys each could get their own show / perhaps one day a chimp might say:
"followed by a sample of Tilton saying "and you have faith! You just need to use it, saith the Lord."
The musician Pogo created the song "Hoo Ba Ba Kanda" using the sounds and words of Tilton from his program. The comedy material of Ron White also includes mention of Tilton. In the opening to White's act in the first ''
Blue Collar Comedy Tour The Blue Collar Comedy Tour was an American comedy troupe, featuring Jeff Foxworthy with three of his comedian friends, Bill Engvall, Ron White, and Larry the Cable Guy, who had replaced fellow comedian Craig Hawksley, who performed in the fir ...
'' movie, White says that "while sitting in a beanbag chair naked eating Cheetos", he finds Tilton on TV and believes Tilton is talking specifically to him: "Are you lonely?" "Yeah." "Have you wasted half your life in bars pursuing sins of the flesh?" "This guy's good ..." "Are you sitting in a beanbag chair naked eating Cheetos?" White gapes in horror before squeaking "Yes sir!" "Do you feel the urge to get up and send me a thousand dollars?" (pause for effect) "Close! I thought he was talking about ''me'' there for a second. Apparently, I ain't the only cat on the block (who) digs Cheetos!" In the early 2000s, the Trinity Foundation put together a number of news broadcasts, including the initial ''Primetime Live'' piece, from the years surrounding the investigations into Tilton's ministry on a DVD entitled ''The Prophet of Prosperity: Robert Tilton and the Gospel of Greed''. The DVD also includes segments from ''
The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form fr ...
's'' "God Stuff" (hosted by Trinity member John Bloom, a.k.a.
Joe Bob Briggs John Irving Bloom (born January 27, 1953), known by the stage name Joe Bob Briggs, is an American syndicated film critic, writer, actor, and comic performer. He is known for having hosted ''Joe Bob's Drive-in Theater'' on The Movie Channel fr ...
), excerpts from the ''Pastor Gas'' videos, and a number of mocking music videos, as well as moments from ''Success-N-Life'' showing Tilton's more outrageous claims of "visions from God." A comedian on BET's ''
ComicView ''ComicView'' is an American stand-up comedy show that aired on BET on Tuesdays and Fridays from September 1992 to December 2008. In May 2014, BET announced the return of ''ComicView''. The show has been the launching pad for such comedians as D. ...
'' once made fun of ''Success-N-Life'', mainly because BET usually aired it immediately following their explicit music video show '' Uncut''. The name "Tilton" is referred to in the song "Cash Cow (A Rock Opera In Three Small Acts)", from the album called '' Squint'' by music artist and film director Steve Taylor, where it says: Tilton's antics are also lampooned in the area of software technology by
Douglas Crockford Douglas Crockford is an American computer programmer who is involved in the development of the JavaScript language. He specified the data format JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), and has developed various JavaScript related tools such as the st ...
. Crockford created "The Tilton Macro Preprocessor", which he describes as "one of the ugliest programming languages ever conceived".
Bruce Prichard Bruce Prichard (born March 7, 1963) is an American professional wrestling executive, booker, and producer and a former manager, commentator, and occasional professional wrestler. In addition to his corporate roles with WWE, Prichard has also a ...
, who portrayed Brother Love in the WWE, has stated that the character was largely based on Tilton's way of speaking. The comedian and satirist John Oliver criticized Tilton's televangelism ministry as fraudulent on his nationwide television program ''
Last Week Tonight A last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot. It is used by shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts typically come in pairs and have been made from various materials, including hardwoods, cast iron, an ...
'' on August 17, 2015. Oliver and his team had corresponded with Tilton's Faith Worldwide Church for seven months; it began when a $20 donation was sent to the organization. Oliver explained what happened during those months: the organization sent a letter back with a $1 bill asking Oliver to "send it back" with more offerings, leading to a slew of appeals for further donations with nothing substantive in return, according to an account in ''
The Christian Post ''The Christian Post'' is an American non-denominational, conservative, evangelical Christian online newspaper. Based in Washington, D.C., it was founded in March 2004. News topics include the Church, ministries, missions, education, Christ ...
'': Oliver set up his own "televangelism" megachurch on his broadcast, which he called Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption.


References


Further reading

* * * * *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tilton, Robert Living people 1946 births People from Miami Beach, Florida People from Dallas Religious scandals Fraud in the United States American television evangelists Prosperity theologians People from McKinney, Texas People from Farmers Branch, Texas