Creflo Augustus Dollar Jr. (born January 28, 1962) is an American pastor,

televangelist Televangelism (from ''televangelist'', a blend of ''television'' and ''evangelist'') and occasionally termed radio evangelism or teleministry, denotes the utilization of media platforms, notably radio and television, for the marketing of relig ...

, and the founder of the non-denominational Christian World Changers Church International based in

College Park, Georgia College Park is a city in Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton and Clayton County, Georgia, Clayton counties, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, adjacent to the southern boundary of the city of Atlanta. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

, a suburb of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. Dollar also heads the Creflo Dollar Ministerial Association (formerly called International Covenant Ministries), Creflo Dollar Ministries, and Arrow Records. He has been criticized for living a lavish lifestyle.

Career

Dollar began developing World Changers Ministries Christian Center in 1986. He held the church's first worship service in the cafeteria of Kathleen Mitchell Elementary School in College Park, with eight people in attendance. He later renamed the ministry World Changers Church International (WCCI), and the congregation moved from the cafeteria to a dedicated chapel. Four services were held each Sunday, and Creflo added a weekly radio broadcast and the television show '' Changing Your World''. On December 24, 1995, WCCI moved into its present location, the 8,500-seat facility known as the World Dome. The church has said that the nearly $20 million World Dome was built without any bank financing. , the congregation reported having around 30,000 members, and $70 million in revenue (gross cash collections) for 2006. In October 2012, Creflo Dollar Ministries leased Loews Paradise Theater in

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

for a new church location in New York. In November 2018,

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

listed WCCI as the 29th largest megachurch in the United States with about 15,000 weekly visitors. Dollar also speaks at conferences and writes about his

gospel of wealth "Wealth", more commonly known as "The Gospel of Wealth", is an essay written by Andrew Carnegie in June of 1889 that describes the responsibility of philanthropy by the Nouveau riche, new upper class of self-made rich. The article was published ...

and his involvement in

televangelism Televangelism (from ''televangelist'', a blend of ''television'' and ''evangelist'') and occasionally termed radio evangelism or teleministry, denotes the utilization of media platforms, notably radio and television, for the marketing of relig ...

Personal life

Dollar and his wife Taffi have five children and reside in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. In June 2012, Dollar was arrested for an alleged attack on his fifteen-year-old daughter, according to the

Fayette County, Georgia Fayette County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 119,194, an increase from 106,5 ...

, Sheriff's Office. Dollar was accused of choking and punching the girl, a story corroborated by Dollar's older daughter, and Fayette County police released details of a subsequent 911 call. The charges were dropped in January 2013 after he attended anger management classes.

Finances and prosperity gospel teachings

Dollar is known for controversial teachings regarding

prosperity theology Prosperity theology (sometimes referred to as the prosperity gospel, the health and wealth gospel, the gospel of success, seed-faith gospel, Faith movement, or Word-Faith movement) is a belief among some Charismatic Christians that financial bl ...

. He has long been criticized for living a lavish lifestyle. He owns two Rolls-Royces, a private jet, and high-end real estate such as a million-dollar home in Atlanta, a $2.5 million home in

Demarest, New Jersey Demarest is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 4,981, an increase of 100 (+2.0%) from the 2010 United St ...

, and a home in Manhattan that he bought for $2.5 million in 2006 (equivalent to $ million in ) and sold for $3.75 million in 2012 (equivalent to $ million in ). Dollar has refused to disclose his salary. For declining to disclose any financial information to independent audit, Creflo Dollar Ministries received a grade of "F" (failing) for financial transparency by the organization

Ministry Watch MinistryWatch is an independent American evangelical Christian organization that evaluates protestant ministries for financial accountability and transparency, and to provide independent advice to individuals considering making donations to these ...

. Dollar was among six televangelists who were the subject of a 2007 investigation led by United States Senator

Chuck Grassley Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate since 2025, a role he also held from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Re ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

as ranking member of the

Senate Finance Committee The United States Senate Committee on Finance (or, less formally, Senate Finance Committee) is a standing committee of the United States Senate. The committee concerns itself with matters relating to taxation and other revenue measures generall ...

. Grassley asked for financial information to determine whether Dollar made any personal profit from financial donations and requested that Dollar's ministry make the information available by December 6, 2007. The investigation also asked for information from five other televangelists:

Benny Hinn Toufik Benedictus "Benny" Hinn (born 3 December 1952) is an Israeli-born Palestinian-American-Canadian televangelist, best known for his regular "Miracle Crusades"— revival meeting or faith healing summits that are usually held in stadiums i ...

Kenneth Copeland Kenneth Max Copeland (born December 6, 1936) is an American televangelist associated with the charismatic movement. He is the founder of Eagle Mountain International Church Inc. (EMIC), which is based in Tarrant County, Texas. Copeland has also ...

Eddie L. Long Eddie Lee Long (May 12, 1953 – January 15, 2017) was an American pastor who served as the senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, a megachurch in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, from 1987 until his death in 2017. When ...

Joyce Meyer Pauline Joyce Meyer (née Hutchison; June 4, 1943) is an American Charismatic Movement, Charismatic Christian author, speaker, and president of Joyce Meyer Ministries. Joyce and her husband, Dave, have four grown children and live outside St. L ...

, and

Paula White Paula Michelle White-Cain (née Furr; born April 20, 1966) is an American televangelist, nationally known evangelical leader in the Charismatic movement, and longtime spiritual advisor to President Donald J. Trump She also is married to famed r ...

. Dollar contested the probe, arguing that the proper governmental entity to examine religious groups is the IRS, not the Committee on Finance. Dollar and three others were not cooperative, and the probe concluded in 2011 without any charges. In May 2015, Dollar asked his congregation to buy him a $65 million Gulfstream G-650 jet which caused scrutiny. In response to his critics, Dollar said in a sermon, "If I want to believe God for a $65 million plane, you cannot stop me. You can't stop me from dreaming, I'm going to dream until Jesus comes." It followed the loss of a previous Gulfstream aircraft he owned on 24 November 2014, which left the runway during takeoff at

London Biggin Hill Airport London Biggin Hill Airport is a minor Commercial aviation, commercial airport serving Biggin Hill in the London Borough of Bromley, located south-southeast of Central London. It specialises in general aviation, handling a spectrum of traffic ...

. There were no injuries. Investigators concluded that the pilot had misidentified lights marking the edge of the runway, believing them to denote the centreline.

Tithe retraction views

Over the years, Dollar has written books and made video recordings about the obligation for Christians to pay

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...

in the churches. However, in July 2022, he publicly retracted his views on tithing confessing that he has misled people with these teachings, stating that it was not biblical to tithe but up to individuals to offer according to their heart and ability. Dollar received praise and criticism for these statements.

References

External links

Creflo Dollar
at Creflo Dollar Ministries
World Changers Church International
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dollar, Creflo 1962 births African-American Christians American Pentecostal pastors American television evangelists Living people North Central University alumni Oral Roberts University people Pentecostals from Georgia (U.S. state) People from College Park, Georgia Prosperity theologians University of West Georgia alumni