Joyce Meyer

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Pauline Joyce Hutchison Meyer

Meyer teaching at the Hillsong Conference in Kiev on October 4, 2007
Born June 4, 1943 (1943-06-04) (age 65)
St. Louis, Missouri U.S.
Pen name Joyce Meyer
Occupation Author
Speaker
Televangelist
Nationality Flag of the United States United States
Spouse(s) David Meyer
Influences
Official website

Pauline Joyce Hutchison Meyer, usually known as Joyce Meyer (born on June 4, 1943) is a Charismatic Christian author and speaker. Her television and radio programs air in 25 languages in 200 countries, and she has written over 70 books on Christianity. She is a proponent of the prosperity gospel. Joyce and her husband, Dave, have four grown children, and live near St. Louis, Missouri. Her ministry is headquartered in the St. Louis suburb of Fenton, Missouri.

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[edit] Biography

Meyer was born in the O'Fallon neighborhood in north St. Louis in 1943, and still speaks with a working-class St. Louis accent. Her father went into the Army to fight in World War II soon after she was born. Meyer has said in interviews that he began molesting her upon his return. She often talks about her experience in her meetings.[1]

A graduate of O'Fallon Technical High School in St. Louis, she married a part-time car salesman shortly after her senior year of high school. The marriage lasted five years. She maintains that he frequently cheated on her and persuaded her to steal payroll checks from her employer. They used the money to go on a vacation to California; she claims to have returned the money years later.[1] After her divorce, Meyer frequented local bars before meeting Dave Meyer, an engineering draftsman. They celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2007.

Meyer reports that she was praying intensely while driving to work one morning in 1976 when she said she heard God call her name. She had been born-again at age nine, but her unhappiness drove her deeper into her faith.

I didn't have any knowledge. I didn't go to church. And I had a lot of problems, and I needed somebody to kind of help me along. And I think sometimes even people who want to serve God, if they have got so many problems that they don't think right and they don't act right and they don't behave right, they almost need somebody to take them by the hand and help lead them through the early years.[1]

She says that she came home later that day from a beauty appointment "full of liquid love" and was "drunk with the Spirit of God" (and spoke in tongues) that night while at the local bowling alley.[1]

She began leading an early-morning Bible class at a local cafeteria and became active in Life Christian Center, a Charismatic church in Fenton. Within a few years, Meyer was the church's associate pastor. The church became one of the leading Charismatic churches in the area, largely because of her popularity as a Bible teacher.[1] She also began airing a daily 15-minute radio broadcast on a St. Louis radio station.

In 1985, Meyer resigned as associate pastor and founded her own ministry, initially called "Life in the Word." She began airing her radio show on six other stations from Chicago to Kansas City.

In 1993, her husband, Dave, suggested that they start a television ministry.[2] Initially airing on superstation WGN-TV in Chicago and BET, her program, now called "Enjoying Everyday Life," reaches a large audience.

In 2004 St. Louis Christian television station KNLC, operated by the Rev. Larry Rice of New Life Evangelistic Center, dropped Meyer's programming. Rice had been a longstanding Meyer supporter, but claimed that her "excessive life style" and teachings which often "go beyond Scripture" were the impetus for canceling her program.[3]

In late 2000, she opened "St. Louis Dream Center," a social service outreach and ministry in the O'Fallon Park section of St. Louis.

[edit] Teaching

Meyer's teaching style differs from that of many Christian speakers. She frequently talks about overcoming obstacles and finding strength to deal with difficult circumstances. She shares her views on how to deal with everyday life situations, often drawing on her own experiences.

Meyer speaks candidly and with a sense of humor, sharing with her audience her own shortcomings and taking playful jabs at stereotypical church behavior. A particular crowd favorite is the "robot" routine, in which she goes into a stiff-armed imitation of a robot chanting, "What about me? What about me?"[4]

[edit] Criticism

Critics question the legitimacy of Meyer's theological education. According to Joyce Meyer Ministries, Meyer earned her doctorate degree from Life Christian University in Tampa, Florida.[5] LCU is not accredited by a governmental agency recognized by the U.S. Dept. of Education.[6] Meyers does however hold an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from an accredited institution, Oral Roberts University, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[7]



Meyer, who owns several expensive homes and travels in a private jet[8], has been criticized by some of her peers for living an excessive lifestyle.[3] She claims that she doesn't have to defend her spending habits because "there’s no need for us to apologize for being blessed."[8] Meyer also alludes to a double standard in the criticism of her lifestyle, saying, "You can be a businessman here in St. Louis, and people think the more you have, the more wonderful it is...[b]ut if you’re a preacher, then all of a sudden it becomes a problem."[8] She claims that she receives no net salary from the ministry by earning much more from book sale royalties from outlets outside of her ministry, and then contributing the rest of it back to the ministry.[9][10]

In response to financial criticisms, Joyce Meyer Ministries claim to have made a commitment to maintain transparency in financial dealings,[11] publish their annual reports,[12] have a Board majority who are not Meyer relatives[13] and submit to a voluntary annual audit.[11][14] Currently this ministry is receiving a "C" rating (81-90) in financial transparency from Ministry Watch.[15]

In May 2001, Joyce Meyer Ministries hired a convicted child molester named Richard Leroy Jones to work as a pastor in her "Dream Center" youth ministry. The ministry was reportedly aware of Jones's criminal record when he was hired, but believed that he was not a danger to the children because he was not allowed to be alone with them. Jones left the ministry in 2003, shortly after his criminal history was reported in local news outlets.[16][17]

[edit] Post-Dispatch retraction

In 2005, Joyce Meyer Ministries complained that two articles about the ministry—one in the St. Louis Post Dispatch's May 1st edition, the other in the April 18th edition—contained factual errors. Editors reviewed a transcript from a ministry press conference held by the ministry, records cited in the stories, and Tuft's notes. They discovered what they claimed to be numerous errors and issued a 577-word apology in the June 19 edition. The paper also reprimanded the stories' writer, Carolyn Tuft, and suspended her for five days without pay.

However, the Post-Dispatch stands by its reporting in the 2003 series, much of which was written by Tuft.[18] An arbitrator later reversed the suspension, but found that Tuft's errors were serious enough to warrant a written reprimand. [19]

The primary facts of her report have not been disputed, and, in fact, it has become the basis for a Senate investigation of Meyer and other "prosperity gospel" preachers by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.

[edit] Senate Investigation

On November 6, 2007, United States senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa announced an investigation of Meyer's ministry by the United States Senate Committee on Finance.[20]Grassley asked for the ministry to divulge financial information [21][22] to the committee to determine if Meyer made any personal profit from financial donations, citing such expenses as a $23,000 commode, a $30,000 conference table and requested that Meyer's ministry make the information available by December 6, 2007. The investigation also aimed to scrutinize five other televangelists: Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Eddie Long, Paula White, and Creflo Dollar.[23]

The ministry website explains that the $23,000 commode was a chest of drawers purchased at $230.00 among 68 pieces of furniture that were purchased for their offices. Their website states, "The $23,000 purchase price of this chest of drawers was actually an errant value assigned by the selling agent after the transaction was complete for the entire sixty-eight piece lot. Joyce Meyer Ministries humbly regrets not paying closer attention to specific 'assigned values' placed on those pieces that have now led to gross misrepresentations." [24]

Joyce Meyer Ministries responded with a newsletter to its e-mail list subscribers on November 9, 2007. The organization referred to its annual financial reports, asserting that, in 2006, the ministry spent 82 percent of its total expenses "for outreach and program services toward reaching people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as attested by independent accounting firm Stanfield & O'Dell, LLP." The message also quoted an October 10, 2007 letter from the Internal Revenue Service which stated, "We determined that you [Joyce Meyer Ministries] continue to qualify as an organization exempt from Federal income tax under IRC section 501(c)(3)." The same information was also posted to the ministry website.

[edit] Books by Meyer

  • I Dare You:Embrace Life With Passion (2007), ISBN 0-446-53197-9
  • Look Great Feel Great: Joyce shares twelve practical keys that will help you look and feel great (2006), ISBN 0-446-57946-7
  • Approval Addiction: Overcoming Your Need to Please Everyone (2005), ISBN 0-446-57772-3
  • Straight Talk: Overcoming Emotional Battles with the Power of God's Word (2005), ISBN 0-446-57800-2
  • In Pursuit of Peace: 21 Ways to Conquer Anxiety, Fear, and Discontentment (2004), ISBN 0-446-53195-2
  • The Secret Power of Speaking God's Word (2004), ISBN 0-446-57736-7
  • How to Hear from God: Learn to Know His Voice and Make Right Decisions (2003), ISBN 0-446-53256-8
  • Me and My Big Mouth: Your Answer is Right Under Your Nose (2002), ISBN 0-446-69107-0
  • Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind (1993), ISBN 0-446-69109-7

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Larry King Live: Interview with Joyce Meyer", CNN, May 19, 2005. 
  2. ^ Bill Smith and Carolyn Tuft. "Meyer traces her fervor to early abuse, alcohol", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 14, 2004. 
  3. ^ a b Smith, Bill. (2004, January 2) Meyer's ministry withdraws program from Channel 24.St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved on 2007-09-25.
  4. ^ Money pitch is a hit with followers
  5. ^ http://www.jmmindia.org/jmmnew1/biography.asp
  6. ^ Questions About LCU
  7. ^ http://www.jmmindia.org/jmmnew1/biography.asp
  8. ^ a b c Bill Smith and Carolyn Tuft. "From Fenton to fortune in the name of God", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 15, 2003. 
  9. ^ Joyce Meyer Ministries — Joyce Meyer Ministries: Response to Senator Grassley Inquiry<
  10. ^ Corrie Cutrer. "Joyce Meyer Responds to Critics, Shifts Income Source", Christianity Today, January 1, 2004. 
  11. ^ a b Joyce Meyer Ministries: A Commitment to Maintain Trust and Provide Transparency. Retrieved on 2007-08-23.[]
  12. ^ Joyce Meyer Ministries: Financial Accountability.
  13. ^ Joyce Meyer Ministries: Board Members.
  14. ^ Audit report of 2005 financial operations.
  15. ^ MinistryWatch summary for Joyce Meyer Ministries.
  16. ^ Carolyn Tuft and Bill Smith. "Child sex abuser quits Meyer ministry", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 6, 2003. 
  17. ^ Missouri State Highway Patrol Sex Offender Registry entry for Richard Leroy Jones.
  18. ^ Ellen Soeteber and Arnie Robbins. ""To our readers, an apology"", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 19, 2005. 
  19. ^ TNG-CWA Arbitration Victory in St. Louis
  20. ^ "Televangelists Living Like Kings?", CBS News, November 6, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-17. 
  21. ^ "Senator Probes Megachurches' Finances by Kathy Lohr", npr.org, December 04, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-10. 
  22. ^ "Read Grassley's Letters", npr.org, December 04, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-10. 
  23. ^ "Televangelists Living Like Kings?", CBS News, November 6, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-17. 
  24. ^ Joyce Meyer Ministries — Joyce Meyer Ministries: Response to Senator Grassley Inquiry

[edit] External links