| Joseph Prince | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 15, 1963 Singapore |
| Nationality | Singapore |
| Spouse | Wendy Prince |
| Children | Jessica Shayna Prince |
| Congregations served | New Creation Church |
| Title | Senior Pastor |
| Website | |
| Joseph Prince Ministries, Inc. | |
Joseph Prince (born May 15, 1963, Singapore) is the senior pastor of New Creation Church in Singapore, one of Asia's biggest churches.[1] He was one of the young pioneers who founded the church in 1983.[2]
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Joseph Prince, the son of a Sikh priest of Indian origin and a Chinese mother,[3] spent his primary school years in Perak, Malaysia.[3]
Prince chose to change his name, from his birth name to Joseph Prince, prior to his appointment as a full-time pastor in the New Creation Church. [3]
A highly sought-after international conference speaker, Prince has been invited to preach at churches in Australia, London, Canada, Norway, Netherlands, South Africa and Indonesia.[4] Notably, he was invited to preach at the Grace & Favour Seminar at Hillsong Church[1] Sydney and Hillsong London[5] in 2006. In 2007 and 2008, he was invited to speak at the Hillsong Conferences in Sydney and London. In 2009, he was invited to speak, alongside Joel Osteen from Lakewood Church, at the 2 Days of Hope Conference held in Johannesburg, South Africa.[6]
Prince's TV program "Destined to Reign" is broadcast in more than 150 countries. [7] His broadcast program is also streamed online through Internet and podcasts for viewers.[8]
Prince publishes books, CDs and DVDs.[9] In 2007, his book Destined to Reign: The Secret to Effortless Success, Wholeness and Victorious Living, which contains teachings from his ten years of preaching from 1997 to 2007, was published in Singapore [10] the US. Six months after the book's US release, it was listed as one of Christian Retailing's Top 100 Books.[11] In 2010, Prince's latest book "Unmerited Favor" was published worldwide by Charisma House.[12]
Prince was featured in the cover story of the June 2010 issue of the Charisma (magazine), which covered his preaching and teaching ministry.[13]
On October 29th 2011, Prince ministered in the US for the first time at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. He also preached at two more services the day after.
In 2004, Prince asked New Creation Church to stop paying him a salary. The church's council members,however, refused his request.[14][15]
On 5 October 2008, in an interview with The Sunday Times, Prince, the executive chairman of the church council, while acknowledging that he was "well-paid", added that "money doesn't have a hold on me". He dismissed allegations that his salary was $50,000 a month, saying "It could have been $50,000 if I had not voluntarily taken all the pay cuts through the years. There was a system of payment that would actually enrich me greatly but as the church grew, I refuse to accept that system of payment."[3]
On 30 March 2009, The Straits Times reported that a check revealed that New Creation Church paid one employee between $500,001 and $550,000 in its last financial year of 2008. Singapore's Code of Governance for charities [16] requires all charities and non-profit organizations in Singapore to disclose top executives' salaries to the Commissioner of Charities. While the church would not confirm that the amount in question had been paid to Prince, church officials told The Straits Times that the church's policy is to "recognise and reward key contributors to the church and Senior Pastor Prince is the main pillar of our church's growth and revenue."The New Creation Church's income was reported to be $55.4 million for the financial year ended March 2008.[17]
On 7 June 2010, The Straits Times and Channel News Asia reported that Joseph Prince has not been on the church payroll since 2009.[14][15]
Joseph Prince is married to Wendy Prince.[3] They have a daughter, Jessica Shayna Prince.[18]