RALEIGH -- Thousands of church services will take place in the
Triangle today, but none is likely to match the religious -- and
financial -- performance that has already come and gone in
Raleigh.
Through two days of four-hour services last week, a racially
diverse collection of believers crammed into Raleigh's Memorial
Auditorium to receive the Holy Spirit, sing along with a rocked-out
gospel band, and to maybe find a cure where doctors had failed.
They came to see the Rev. Benny Hinn, an international preacher
and native of Israel who claims that, through the power of the Holy
Spirit, sick people are supernaturally healed in his presence.
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Where he preaches, women cry. Men do, too. And the spirit knocks
people to the floor when Pastor Benny waves his hand.
Hinn is one of the country's best-known faith healers, with a
television ministry that claims viewership in more than 200
countries. Earlier this month, he preached in Taipei, Taiwan.
On Thursday night in Raleigh, a boisterous crowd nearly packed
the 2,300 seats of Memorial Auditorium. After a Friday morning
service that filled about two-thirds of the hall, Hinn returned
that evening to preach his Pentecostal-steeped, tongue-speaking
Christianity to a capacity crowd, with hundreds more watching on a
big-screen in the room next door.
"Hallelujah!" he would shout.
And the crowd gave it right back to him.
Hinn preaches a version of the prosperity gospel, which holds
that God wants his followers to have financial wealth. To become
prosperous, one must give money to God, who returns it
multiplied.
"The only way to get out of debt is to give to God's work," Hinn
said during the Friday morning service. He then challenged his
audience. "It doesn't take a whole lot of faith for $50."
Instead, he asked for $1,000. Those who wrote checks or filled
out their credit card information for $1,000 donations (the form
was on the outside of the envelopes distributed by the ushers) were
asked to come to the stage. About 70 did, holding their envelopes
in the air.
Hinn shouted his elation.
"Thank you, Jesus!"
Despite his success, Hinn is not universally loved. A Durham
street preacher protested outside Thursday night's service,
shouting "Benny Hinn is a false prophet!"
In an interview, the Rev. Stephen Davey of Cary's Colonial
Baptist Church was just as direct. "The long and short of it, I
think he's a con man."
Ministry tax-exempt
Hinn, 55, was born in Israel. As a teenager, his family
emigrated to Canada, where he says he was called to serve God.
Benny Hinn Ministries is headquartered near Dallas, although
Hinn lives in California, near the ministry's TV studio.
It takes money for an organization as big as Hinn's to travel
the world, sponsor orphanages in Third World countries and produce
"This is Your Day!," the ministry's hallmark television
program.
Benny Hinn Ministries is a tax-exempt organization. It does not
release specific financial reports, according to its Web site,
because the ministry is "mindful of the fact that both corporate
and ministry financial reports can be manipulated by unscrupulous
people with unsavory agendas."
Hinn travels by private jet. Several years ago, an NBC
television investigation estimated the ministry brings in $100
million annually. The envelopes passed out at his services feature
a box that givers can check if they would like to pledge $10,000.
Efforts to reach a ministry spokesman were unsuccessful.
Rock and riches
By pairing the prosperity doctrine with a rock-style praise band
and a message of general positiveness, it is not surprising that
Hinn draws such big crowds. At one point in Raleigh, the preacher
asked the audience to show some love. "Why don't you just blow the
Lord a kiss this morning?"
Hellfire and locusts, this is not.
When traveling, Hinn holds a couple of different styles of
services. In Raleigh, he organized a "Fire Conference," a series of
lengthy services designed to embolden the Holy Spirit in those who
attend. On Thursday and Friday evenings, services that began around
7 p.m. didn't end until after 11 p.m.
In other cities, he organizes "Holy Spirit Miracle Crusades,"
designed specifically for people who want to be healed.
