Monday, August 31, 2009

Fleecing the Flock, or Victim of Stereotype?


Hammond used his Sunday morning, 2/11/07 platform to further respond to the complaint filed by CREW and the resulting news coverage.

KARE-11 TV, the station on which LWCC’s church service was being broadcast at the time, put a story on its website.

A nationally known pastor from Brooklyn Park dramatically defended himself and his church Sunday morning.

Mac Hammond spent nearly his entire hour-long sermon, which is broadcast on KARE 11, refuting allegations made by a Washington watchdog group.

That group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, claims the Living Word Christian Center broke federal tax laws by arranging certain lucrative financial deals for Hammond.

"I can understand why a lot of people would look at us with skepticism," Hammond said.

Hammond says because of the church's success, he may be falling victim to a common stereotype.

"Irresponsibly using the pulpit authority to fleece the unsuspecting flock of God," Hammond preached. "That's very often the stereotype that is attached to a ministry such as we are."

...

"We have gone to every extreme to make sure every legal requirement, every regulatory statute has been addressed, amen," Hammond said.

The watchdog group says it has provided the I.R.S. with "startling" information that should lead to an investigation.


Video of a portion of Hammond’s “sermon” on the charges was later posted on YouTube:


In the video, Hammond can be seen arguing that his “compensation” or “salary” is reviewed by attorneys and compared with the compensation at churches of similar size, and that his compensation is within “safe harbor.”

[My thought: Here’s another straw man argument. The CREW complaint did not deal with Hammond’s compensation or salary, but rather with the many lucrative side deals, special loans and leases that benefited him as an insider.]

Hammond said, “I would almost welcome an IRS audit” because “when you’ve dotted every I and crossed every T you can’t wait” to show it.

I've labored for 25 years to dot every legal I and cross every legal T, and if they came and did an audit, I would like to know if there's something wrong. I want to change it, man, because I want to comply with the law. Amen.
Hammond claimed that “the board is an independent entity. They don’t answer to me.”

[My thought: Again, he was not fully honest. He neglected to add that the board consisted of Hammond himself, his wife, the minister of an LWCC franchise church in northern MN, the son of his friend Kenneth Copeland, and other close associates.]

Hammond said that the real question is not what someone makes, but what he does with the money. “I’m the largest contributor in the history of this church,” over 25 years, he said. He said that he and his wife Lynne had given LWCC $2 million over the previous 5 years.

As for the bankruptcy of his aviation business, which preceded the founding of LWCC, he explained that “I was personally liable” for the corporation’s $100,000 in “unpaid employee withholding taxes.” He added, “Every dime of that was paid.”

[In other words, the business he owned and ran before he founded LWCC was not paying its employee withholding taxes for quite some time, if a balance of $100,000 was allowed to accrue.]

The Porsche, he said, he paid for with "four speeding tickets and a suspended license."



4 comments:

  1. So. . . Hammond is saying he has done everything right. "every i dotted, every t crossed", and he would welcome an audit as long as the IRS goes through the correct procedures to do so. Nothing bad there. I wouldn't show my check book or wallet to just anyone that asks me. There has to be some standard for gov't agencies to follow. I'm happy to see someone hold the IRS accountable for ouce. How far in debt is our nation again? Just curious?

    As for "side deals". It hardly appears to be an issue. Hammond discloses the details of those loans and really, it benefited both parties, the church and the pastor. If the IRS has issue with proper use of policy, than they should change it. . .or maybe they should spend more time auditing other gov't agencies so we can start getting out of this billion dollar hole we're in as a nation.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Irene,
    You mentioned that this blog is about openness regarding church leadership and financial dealings.

    Out of curiosity, how open are you to the idea that your comments and ideas about Mac Hammond and his dealings with Living Word could be wrong? Your personal comments about these past articles are becoming a little more direct, and I'm curious if you're willing to be wrong or if you're set in your opinion.

    If you're not open to being wrong, then posting here could be worthless. If you are open to it, continued discussions and comments could be a good thing.

    I'd appreciate a reply. Thank you!

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  3. All that I know is that I felt an irritation when Mac spent 15-20 min. initially demanding tithe of 10% from the congregation and claiming that it was God talking to the people then. My husband and I tried to attend his service twice. Both times we walked out. The church is not suppose to PROFIT from the congregation. Those that communicate the word are not to PROFIT. I hope it all comes out.

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  4. that figures, comments are audited unlike his false religious representation in regards to yet another interpretation of what the scripts are communicating for church leaders compensation.

    ReplyDelete

 
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