David Epley
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David Epley (born 1931 in Kentucky) is a healing evangelist and former televangelist who broadcast his weekly Christian TV show across the United States in the 1970s and 1980s, after initially gaining fame through his regular broadcasts on the now defunct Border Radio stations such as XERF.
His ministry has been considered fraudulent by many - Christians and non-Christians - ever since he held a successful 'Miracle Revival' at the Dinner Key Auditorium in 1964.
In the book 'The Faith Healers' by James Randi, a section is devoted to Epley and makes reference to his use of the Word of Knowledge, a spiritual gift referred to in the Bible, which apparently allows the minister to call people out of the congregation and accurately tell them things about their life, such as their ailment, their name and address. According to Randi, who studied Epley's ministry as part of the book, Epley used the same method for faking the Word of Knowledge as evangelist W.V. Grant, Jr. This consisted of informally gaining information about congregation members before the service began and then feeding the information back during the service to make it appear divinely inspired.
Epley ceased his television ministry in the late 1980s, not long after having surgery for the removal of a brain tumor, but continued to pastor his church in South Florida, where his ministry is still based. Raised as a Baptist, Epley became a Pentecostal after his conversion as a young man but chose to name his church the Baptist Church of the Good Shepherd, although it was a Pentecostal church.
He continued holding Miracle Services across the nation into the mid 1990s and turned his dwindling church over to televangelist Robert Tilton in early 2005. Tilton renamed it 'Christ The Good Shepherd Worldwide Church' but relocated his new congregation from Hallandale to Miami in 2007, leaving the Hallandale building vacant.
In the summer of 2007, Epley formed a ministerial relationship with Hallandale based evangelist D.S. Mundell and also W.V. Grant, Jr. At present, Grant is holding revival services twice a day in Epley's church auditorium at 680 W Hallandale Beach Blvd, while Epley ministered alongside Mundell in a weeklong crusade in St Louis, Missouri in early October and is joining Mundell on his regular nationwide radio broadcasts.
However perhaps the most controversial aspect of Epley's ministry, and the one which is the main focus of his ministry today is the many personalized fundraising letters he sends out to the thousands of supporters on his mailing list. Each letter is personalized by computer to make it appear as if Epley personally wrote it to the recipient, even including statements such as 'I'm only sending this letter to you, my treasured friend, and no-one else.' The letters always include a gimmick such as a piece of cloth, a coin, some mustard seeds, a red cord, a candle, a ribbon or a packet of gold-dust to give a few examples. The recipient is generally instructed to use the item as per Epley's instructions and then return it to the Good Shepherd Ministries in Hallandale along with the entire letter and an amount specified by Epley, which generally ties in with a Bible verse, such as $33.03 for Jeremiah 33:3.
For several years, Epley has also sold these letters on to controversial televangelist Peter Popoff for several thousand dollars per letter. Popoff then puts his name at the end of the letters and uses them to raise funds for his own ministry.
Allegations of mail fraud have followed David Epley for decades. Manuel Gutierrez, his former graphic designer, stated in a news report in 1990 that Epley had become a multi-millionaire as a result of his mailings and also stated in 2007 that he knew for a fact that Epley never even read the letters and prayer requests that were sent to him, but instead "built a luxurious life out of suffering and desperate people."
Epley is also known for his Gospel singing and some of his LPs from the 1960s and 1970s have recently surfaced on eBay.
