Excerpts of the letter:

We have been informed of the many recent articles on the internet stating that Prophet T.B. Joshua is one of Nigeria’s richest pastors. We have a few words to say on the issue.

First, we do not understand how those involved came to their conclusions. There are many who are wealthy in Nigeria and around the world and there is nothing at all wrong with having money. Money is a gift and the richest have that blessing. But we are not among them.

Since the inception of this ministry we have given out all we received from God’s generous hands. We have made it our daily habit to give to those in need – the widows, widowers, physically challenged, little people, fatherless and rejected in society. All of this can be seen on Emmanuel TV – a station established to change lives, change nations and change the world by examples of how to spend more on others and less on ourselves.

Full letter here: http://www.myweku.com/2011/06/richest-pastors-in-nigeria-prophet-t-b-joshua-and-the-scoan-hit-back/

Funny what mass communication can do. The world is getting smarter and more inter-connected (thanks to globalisation).

A good PR expert would have suggested - leave it alone and let it die a natural death. This just gives the story more legs

I dnt see anything bad in the "defence" letter. If the Synagogue is actually spending so much back into the society, there's nothing wrong in her wealth status. My question is this, is it Pastor T.B. Joshua that the wealth is credited to or the Church herself? I guess its the church and if Emmanuel TV proves that the church is giving so much back to the society, thats a credible thing and worthy to tell the world. On the contrary, it doesnt put legs to the story as someone stated above, but rather enlightens those in genuine need where to go. I respect this man T.B Joshua as much as I respect Pastor Adeboye. Am not a church goer, but a strong believer in the existence of God and His Genuine Prophets.
Let me as well seize this opportunity to advice the Authorities of some church run school, that they should provide free education to their members, at least to one child of their congregations. I discovered that some churches are running schools with so high school fees that is beyond the common people. Our Lord Jesus Christ will not subscribe to this, cos its a separation between the rich and the poor. Rather let the school fees of church run schools be like usual church contributions. The earning of most churches are enough to pay Well qualified teachers and run a perfect educational tutorials for the christian children which may as well be extended to non-believers as well.

A good PR expert would have suggested - leave it alone and let it die a natural death. This just gives the story more legs[quote][/quote]

If you get accused of being rich i don't think you should necessarily demand a retraction. Besides the person who was said to own a jet was not TB Joshua but Pastor Oyedepo.

The person who wrote that letter did not even get that right

You dont understand the meaning of PR. You use it to foster good will and mutual understanding between you and your publics.
If TBJ does not recant this, it will harm the regular donations and contributions from local and international members, and besides, been filthy rich as a man of god gives you multiple image: 1. well, he's rich through his ignorant congregation 2. how did he come about such wealth when christ didnt accumulate more than his robe and enough to get him through the day.

I think pastor TBJ has done the right thing. He should even go as further as to write this bloggers and seek to get his name off future lists. I understand Bishop Oyedepo is another man who likes been overblown. In most cases, things like this are counterproductive.

Public relations (PR) is a field concerned with maintaining a public image for businesses, non-profit organizations or high-profile people, such as celebrities and politicians. That letter and the subsequent publicity it causes does not aid in maintaing the public image og TB, does it?

You need to brush up on what PR means before you start "teaching" my friend

He should even go as further as to write this bloggers and seek to get his name off future lists. I understand Bishop Oyedepo is another man who likes been overblown. In most cases, things like this are counterproductive.

Spoken like a man who would rather sacifice transparency and accountability for keeping his dirty linen well hidden. No wonder our leaders get away with murder,

in my opinion it does in yours it does not. no worries.
no PR machine can please eeryone

@erniewhez

Only in The Synagogue Church of All Nations that has given back to the society. He has given millions scholarships to none members of the church and even tell them to go back to their respective churches to worship. He has given all his most valuable gifts to humanity. The handicapped Nigerians who went to the Olympics in India were all rewarded and given cars and 1 million naira with bags of rice to go and live a normal life. The Federal government or other churches has not emulated this man of God to render love to mankind. He has exhibited true LOVE Jesus Christ preached and also what God Almighty created this world for. To love our friends and even our enemies as ourselves. I do not worship there. I have seen the Muslims, rejected persons and beggars, given money and food to establish and stop begging and also preach and instruct them to go back and worship in their mosques. The widows has been given hope and life and all widows that comes from anywhere will be rehabilitated and all their children given scholarships from the nursery to the University and also do tell them to go back to where they worship and worship there. I saw a guy who came to the church from Christ Embassy to seek for financial assistance to go to school. He gave him scholarship to the University and also instructed him to worship in Christ Embassy where he worships. He did not ask him why? Other people like that. I saw a widow with 7 children; he gave them all scholarship through from nursery to the University level. I further saw a white woman who is a widow, he gave her money, thousands of dollars. He is e genuine man of God. One thing is that we do not appreciate what we are blessed with, until this man T. B. Joshua departs from us when his time comes. Just like what happened when Jesus Christ came and His people rejected him and it was after He left, that they realized who He was.

I have been trying to picture who this man is and I have come to the conclusion that truly he was sent by God.

But is it wrong for a pastor 2 b rich? Nobody can deceive me, I'll still continue in my plan of bein a pastor

But is it wrong for a pastor 2 b rich? Nobody can deceive me, I'll still continue in my plan of bein a pastor

"Being rich isn't a sin. It does however increase the chances of a heavenly audit."

The rest of us can’t help but feel a little uneasy about super pastors. Gone are the days when pastors were satisfied with flying (never mind economy class) business or first class on their travels to win souls. Now they need a jet and signed copies of the Forbes magazine to shoo us (mere mortals) out of the way to reach their half starving flocks faster?

If he's asked to sacrifice and give all his wealth back to the church will he do it? ?
draw your own inferences from there.

.

Our rich Pastors want us to believe different thing about them when we all see the display of their wealth everyday. This people still think they are infallible and believe that all they say and do must be from God, because God speak to them all the time about us? lol, No, no, no, Some of us know that they are still humans and can make mistakes, and when it is about money no one can be trusted not even TB Joshua or Pastor Chris and Adegboye,, may be some can be moderate with their money acquisition scheme, non of them is an Angel because the products from which they can make money from are based on human numbers with reckless faith and beliefs that can transcend logical and human comprehension,

Only in The Synagogue Church of All Nations that has given back to the society. He has given millions scholarships to none members of the church and even tell them to go back to their respective churches to worship. He has given all his most valuable gifts to humanity. The handicapped Nigerians who went to the Olympics in India were all rewarded and given cars and 1 million naira with bags of rice to go and live a normal life. The Federal government or other churches has not emulated this man of God to render love to mankind. He has exhibited true LOVE Jesus Christ preached and also what God Almighty created this world for. To love our friends and even our enemies as ourselves. I do not worship there. I have seen the Muslims, rejected persons and beggars, given money and food to establish and stop begging and also preach and instruct them to go back and worship in their mosques. The widows has been given hope and life and all widows that comes from anywhere will be rehabilitated and all their children given scholarships from the nursery to the University and also do tell them to go back to where they worship and worship there. I saw a guy who came to the church from Christ Embassy to seek for financial assistance to go to school. He gave him scholarship to the University and also instructed him to worship in Christ Embassy where he worships. He did not ask him why? Other people like that. I saw a widow with 7 children; he gave them all scholarship through from nursery to the University level. I further saw a white woman who is a widow, he gave her money, thousands of dollars. He is e genuine man of God. One thing is that we do not appreciate what we are blessed with, until this man T. B. Joshua departs from us when his time comes. Just like what happened when Jesus Christ came and His people rejected him and it was after He left, that they realized who He was.

I have been trying to picture who this man is and I have come to the conclusion that truly he was sent by God.

Well said. i agree with you.

let Adeboye, Bakare, Oyakilome, Ashimolowe, Lazarus Muoka Adeyemi and Oyedepo (and the upcoming rich pastors) compete on giving back to society rather than how many private jets they have, how many business empire they control, my house is bigger than yours,  and endless vain competition

Milking the gullible desperate congregation dry and hypnotize them with fighting witches and wizards on their behalf.

Chei, Nigerians can believe anything and anybody in the name of church. Poverty is not good!

hey guys mind the way u talk to God s anointed, leave am make God judge am
abi no b whre person dey work na him e go chop. abi make e beg u .
nigeria we dont want progress. essy

mmmm an Innocent cock in the mist of cockroaches

This reply is totally unnecessary IMO. He should face the task which he believes he's been called to do and forget the distractions.

prohet t b joshua is a true man of God and also very modest when it comes to spending,he would rather give back to the poor,the dejected and better the lives of those in need than to acquire a million private jets or having universities that is beyond the reach of the poor or middle class.i.m.o he has no point to prove because he has given so much back to the society.let those billionaires men of God with millions of private jet pin piont what they ve done to improve the living standard of the society they live in.

hey guyz but this man has given out more than any pastor in this country.
i watch his emmanuel tv and going by what i have seen so far what they said was the truth and nothing but the truth.
even my own church, winners can not compete with that man in terms of giving to the needy.
he gives to nations too.
unlike christ embassy that bore you to the bone marrows with one giving or another they always have one project or another if it is not rhapsody day it will be partners day or father's day, cell day, pastor's birthday, ministry day, healing school day, internet day, the list is endless and they never give back to the helpless poor from whose pockets these moneys are been milked from. last year they collected gate fee of 1000 naira from people to attend their 31st nite program and they called it crowd control measure. would christ do that if he was still walking the surface of this earth bodily?
buh i hardly see something like that in synagogue or winners.
T.B definitely out shines all of them in terms of giving.

rover321:

A good PR expert would have suggested - leave it alone and let it die a natural death. This just gives the story more legs

Too much sense for many to figure out.

This is a what i call a man showing the virtues of a real pastor, he was acclaimed one of the richest pastors in Nigeria but he had to reject that even when it looks like its true. Like they rightly mentioned, they give what they received, these guy has invested in the poor within Nigeria unlike those we all know are the richest

SCOAN is not my church; I have also not been there b4. But to me, TB Joshua is practising more of what Jesus Christ taught than all these other imposters robbing people to make themselves rich, while millions around them (including their church members) are languishing in poverty. Even if TBJ is a sinner, Jesus I am sure will forgive him for his works of charity ("hear o, Israel, the Lord is God, the Lord is one. You shall love, ".

Secondly, denouncing the "Rich pastor-Private-jet-pastor" syndrome which is now the order of the day in d Christiandom is most wonderful. People need to tell pastors of today that Christianity is not about Abraham, and David and their riches, else what is the difference b/c Christianity & Judaism? Tell the pastors, they are turning the Bible (I mean Christianity) upside down!!!

ikoha:

hey guyz but this man has given out more than any pastor in this country.
i watch his emmanuel tv and going by what i have seen so far what they said was the truth and nothing but the truth.
even my own church, winners can not compete with that man in terms of giving to the needy.
he gives to nations too.
unlike christ embassy that bore you to the bone marrows with one giving or another they always have one project or another if it is not rhapsody day it will be partners day or father's day, cell day, pastor's birthday, ministry day, healing school day, internet day, the list is endless and they never give back to the helpless poor from whose pockets these moneys are been milked from. last year they collected gate fee of 1000 naira from people to attend their 31st nite program and they called it crowd control measure. would christ do that if he was still walking the surface of this earth bodily?
buh i hardly see something like that in synagogue or winners.
T.B definitely out shines all of them in terms of giving.

To say the truth,Christ Embassy is never a church and i pity her ignorant or hypnotized followers.

These pastors are purely business men and capitalist to the core, so what do you expect from them?

I have a question. Why do they have to advertise their good deeds on tv? Doesn't the Bible say something about not letting your right hand know what ur left hand is doing? Or something like that. I mean there is no need to publicize what u do. People will talk about them n pple will know.

Prophet temitope balogun joshua has for a long time been one of most admired pastors.if he chooses to recant the so called list,i think its a good step.thats a good PR step to assure the partners of emmnuel tv that their donations have not been cornered by the pastor.prophet joshua is one of the most humble pastors i know.he never dresses extravgantly or display vast wealth.the only way people know he is wealthy is by his various charitable deeds.its also imperative to know that his charitable works are not stereotyped in that anyone in need of genuine assistance is at any point in time can walk into the synagogue and will be assisted.
@egba girl
jesus said donot let your left hand know wat your right hand does as reference to flaunting the things you do.the same jesus also said to spread the good news to the world.there's no better way to spread the gospel of jesus,which includes salvation,love and charity as displayed by prophet joshua,than the mass media

so many fools on this thread. Y do u all like to criticise these pastors? If u work in a super market and after threating a customer well he decides to give me #100 will u give it to your boss? If i pastor a church and someone comes to my house after services and gives me money as a personal gift will u expect me to pay the money into the church account? These guys are pastors but they have their own private lives. They are entitled to a space on forbes list if they have the money. They are humans like us and they have their own families. Why do u morons expect them to act the same way Jesus christ did? Oyedepo is a writter. He has written many books. I'm sure he has sold over 30million copies of his books world wide. If a copy cost #1000 on the average that's 30billion. You morons should not forget he owns convenant university. It doesn't belong to the church so u can't expect him to make it a charity organisation.

@Jaidey-one

you said

Why do u morons expect them to act the same way Jesus christ did?

All christians are expected to act the way Jesus did - that is why it is called CHRISTIANITY.

It would do you good if you did not throw insults around recklessly as you have done - it has a way of coming back thick and fast.

You morons should not forget he owns convenant university

Covenant University is owned by the church NOT by Oyedepo.

Jaidey-one:

so many fools on this thread. Y do u all like to criticise these pastors? If u work in a super market and after threating a customer well he decides to give me #100 will u give it to your boss? If i pastor a church and someone comes to my house after services and gives me money as a personal gift will u expect me to pay the money into the church account? These guys are pastors but they have their own private lives. They are entitled to a space on forbes list if they have the money. They are humans like us and they have their own families. Why do u morons expect them to act the same way Jesus christ did? Oyedepo is a writter. He has written many books. I'm sure he has sold over 30million copies of his books world wide. If a copy cost #1000 on the average that's 30billion. You morons should not forget he owns convenant university. It doesn't belong to the church so u can't expect him to make it a charity organisation.

u really lacked home training and i pity your elders, make ur point wtout bn insultive.

Delafruita, what exactly is the good news we are supposed to spread? I'm sure you know its not about the miracles and healiings n all that? Its not also helping the poor cause anyone can do good deeds. Good deeds don't malke a good Christian. The good news is the gospel which is Salvation - The birth, death and resurrection of Christ and the significance of these.

When we do good deeds, or help the poor etc, we do them out of love. We do them as an act of worship. I don't think the apostles went about talking about the mircales they performed. They went about preaching Christ. Asking pple to repent. It is your salvation that takes u to heaven. And no, I'm not against helping people and healing the sick. We shouldn't be running to Jesus cause he can solve our problems. That's what a lot of us do today. hristianity is not for show but a lot of us hve forgotten our first love - God.