The majority of people believe in the existence of a God that will help save their souls. One of the institutions saddled with this task is the church – place of worship for the followers of Jesus Christ. Keeping this institution afloat requires a lot of money. Churches are among the oldest institutions built by man.
The history of the church is murky and complex as records show shifts, separations, and merging of various churches due to differences in ideologies through the years. Churches like the Roman Catholic Church witnessed its first split in 1054 CE according to history. The Catholic Church continued to dominate many parts of the world, thanks to factors like colonization, globalization, and missionary work. One incontrovertible area the church stood above all other faiths is that fund-raising. This can be attributed to the bloated promotion of tithes and offerings. Here are the 10 richest churches in the world:
1, – Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints- $67.0 billion
2- Catholic Church – $30 billion
3- Catholic Church Australia- $20.9 billion
4- Catholic Church Germany- $25.0 billion
5-Church of England $7.8 billion
6-Opus Dei Italy- $2.8 billion
7-Church of Scientology- $2.0 billion
Rounding up the top are the Episcopal Church in 8, the Freemasonry started in 1717, and the Kenneth Copeland Ministry in 10.
It is estimated that the Catholic Church has an operating budget of $170 billion. By comparison, in the fiscal year 2012, Apple and General Motors each had about $150 billion in revenue worldwide
None of the so-called Nigeria megachurches is on the list. RCCG, Winners, Synagogue, Christ Embassy, and so on. In fact, there is no Pentecostal church on the list. Having seen this, please let us look at the list of the richest pastors in the world.
1. Bishop David Oyedepo – $150 Million
2. Bishop TD Jakes – $147 Million
3. Pastor Chris Oyakhilome – $50 Million
4. Pastor Benny Hinn – $42 Million
5. Pastor Enoch Adeboye – $39 Million
6. Pastor Creflo Dollar – $27 Million
7. Pastor Kenneth Copeland – $25 Million
8. Evangelist Billy Graham – $25 Million
9. Prophet TB Joshua – $10 Million
10. Pastor Joseph Prince – $5 Million
Did you notice that none of the 4 richest churches mentioned have their leaders on this list of the Richest Pastors?
The Pope is not there.
The Arch Bishop of Canterbury is not there.
The Bishop of Opus Dei is not there.
The Director of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is not there.
Of the 10 riches pastors in the world, 6 are blacks whose congregants are predominantly black.
Of the 10 richest Pastors, 4 have their churches in Nigeria, the poverty capital of the world, the 147th most corrupt nation of the world, the home to the second deadliest terrorist group on planet earth, the most unsafe place to give birth in and the home to the dummiest and the most ineffectual president in the world.
Pointer: the Richest Churches are situated in
1- USA
2- Vatican City
3- England
These countries are amongst the safest, developed, less corrupt, and most prosperous nations in the world.
The main difference between properties owned by traditional richest churches in the world and non-mainstream churches is that with the former, the churches owned the properties but with modern-day churches, pastors, their families, and their associates own most of what is known as the churches’ properties.
Jesus Christ according to the biblical account sacrifices all for his followers, fed the multitude, but in Nigeria, the multitude feeds the Men of God and General Overseers. It’s a tale of ‘monkey dey work, baboon dey chop’. What a paradox!
