Who Is Creflo Dollar?

Mega churches with members that number in the tens of thousands usually augment their weekly worship programs with television broadcasts, counseling, seminars and missionary outreaches. Creflo Dollar is the founder and president of one such church.

Identification

Creflo Dollar is the senior pastor of World Changers Church International, a church with 30,000 members in College Park, Georgia, near Atlanta. He is also the founder of Creflo Dollar Ministries, a nonprofit organization. Dollar got his bachelor's degree in education and proceeded to obtain a master's degree and a doctorate in counseling. In 1998 he received an honorary doctorate in divinity from Oral Roberts University. He is married to Taffi Dollar, and the couple has five children.

Features

Creflo Dollar ministries and the World Changers churches subscribe to a literal interpretation of the Bible. They believe that its words are infallible. They are non-denominational evangelical Christians who, in addition to working in the United States, are active in Australia, South Africa, Nigeria and the United Kingdom. An affiliated World Changers Church meets in New York that is attended by 6000 members. The church services in both New York and Georgia are translated into Spanish, French, Portuguese, and American Sign Language. Special programs for children and teens are provided at both congregations.

Benefits

In addition to holding services, Creflo Dollar Ministries publishes "Change Magazine," which has a circulation of 100,000. The ministry televises its services around the world. They report that their programs are viewed in 1 billion homes. Taffi Dollar is the CEO of Arrow Records whose work is featured in the services and broadcasts. The ministry also sponsors missionary work in Mexico where it has a small congregation and in Cameroon where there is a vocational school, a medical clinic and a church.

Significance

The College Park, Georgia, mega church meets in a building that they call the World Dome. The cost of building the World Dome, $18 million, was entirely met through donations so that no bank financing was needed. The ministry boasts that this shows God's blessing on what they are doing. They also teach that God wants you to be rich, and they hold seminars about the principles of prosperity that can be found in the Bible. They even provide an online School of Prosperity but no students are admitted who live in the United States.

Expert Insight

Creflo Dollar Ministries has a motto: "giving more of self to others; empowering the spirit, soul and body." Many people have found a great deal of help through the books, conferences and message of this organization. Even though it seems that there is a large emphasis on the "prosperity message," the ministry considers it to be only one aspect of a healthy Christian life.

Resources

• Creflo Dollar Ministries