Diane 1611
November 17th, 2003, 02:30 PM
Here's a summary of part 2 of the Joyce Meyer series. If you click on the link, you will find links to the complete article and other related stories.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/Jefferson+County/34371496E0E8BA8E86256DE1001F8FA1?OpenDocument&Headline=Summary%3A+Money+pitch+is+a+hit+with+followers
Summary: Money pitch is a hit with followers
By Carolyn Tuft and Bill Smith
Post-Dispatch
11/16/2003
The spray on Joyce Meyer's hair and the sequins on her tailor-made pink suit sparkled in the bright stage lights before 8,000 people in the arena where the Buffalo Sabres play hockey.
Meyer's rough, homespun south St. Louis drawl thundered out to her audience, which suddenly had become silent and still.
To give is godly, she said. Never fear giving too much in the name of God, even if it means sacrificing dinners out during the three-day conference. Fear, she said, is the work of the devil.
She lectured for nearly an hour before ending with the same plea she'd been delivering for a decade: ``Make your checks payable to Joyce Meyer Ministries/Life in the Word. And million is spelled M-I-L-L-I-O-N.''
Many in the crowd flipped open their wallets or pulled out their checkbooks.
No one came forth with a million dollars that day in June. But in September, the ministry says, an East Coast woman gave stock worth that amount. Meyer then asked for more.
``I didn't have that thing for five minutes and I said, `OK, God. Next I'll take $5 million,''' Meyer later told an audience in Tampa.
It is that kind of hard-edged audacity that has made Meyer one of the biggest names in big-name TV evangelism and has endeared the Fenton grandmother to millions of faithful supporters worldwide. At 60, she shows no signs of slowing down as she stretches herself further.
In St. Louis last month, Meyer asked for a $7 million check.
"That would really bless me,'' she said.
Meyer's 20 or so conferences each year, where followers usually have their only opportunity to see and hear her live, are part old-fashioned tent revival, part motivational rally and part unrelenting sales pitch.
Meyer attracts her fans to her gatherings with promises of a free conference. The only conference with an entrance fee is her annual St. Louis women's conference, which charges $50 per person.
Yet, from the moment followers enter one of her free conferences, Meyer pushes for their money.
``God does not need our money. The giving thing is not for Him, it's for us,'' Meyer told her Detroit audience in September. ``I should not have to work to try to support myself.''
The Post-Dispatch attended four of Meyer's conferences: Buffalo in June, Atlanta in August, Detroit in September and St. Louis in October.
The newspaper found virtually identical elements at each conference -- heavy doses of modern religious music, unwavering religious faith and a strong, focused effort to bring in money.
Joyce Meyer Ministries is, without question, a well-oiled moneymaking machine.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/Jefferson+County/34371496E0E8BA8E86256DE1001F8FA1?OpenDocument&Headline=Summary%3A+Money+pitch+is+a+hit+with+followers
Summary: Money pitch is a hit with followers
By Carolyn Tuft and Bill Smith
Post-Dispatch
11/16/2003
The spray on Joyce Meyer's hair and the sequins on her tailor-made pink suit sparkled in the bright stage lights before 8,000 people in the arena where the Buffalo Sabres play hockey.
Meyer's rough, homespun south St. Louis drawl thundered out to her audience, which suddenly had become silent and still.
To give is godly, she said. Never fear giving too much in the name of God, even if it means sacrificing dinners out during the three-day conference. Fear, she said, is the work of the devil.
She lectured for nearly an hour before ending with the same plea she'd been delivering for a decade: ``Make your checks payable to Joyce Meyer Ministries/Life in the Word. And million is spelled M-I-L-L-I-O-N.''
Many in the crowd flipped open their wallets or pulled out their checkbooks.
No one came forth with a million dollars that day in June. But in September, the ministry says, an East Coast woman gave stock worth that amount. Meyer then asked for more.
``I didn't have that thing for five minutes and I said, `OK, God. Next I'll take $5 million,''' Meyer later told an audience in Tampa.
It is that kind of hard-edged audacity that has made Meyer one of the biggest names in big-name TV evangelism and has endeared the Fenton grandmother to millions of faithful supporters worldwide. At 60, she shows no signs of slowing down as she stretches herself further.
In St. Louis last month, Meyer asked for a $7 million check.
"That would really bless me,'' she said.
Meyer's 20 or so conferences each year, where followers usually have their only opportunity to see and hear her live, are part old-fashioned tent revival, part motivational rally and part unrelenting sales pitch.
Meyer attracts her fans to her gatherings with promises of a free conference. The only conference with an entrance fee is her annual St. Louis women's conference, which charges $50 per person.
Yet, from the moment followers enter one of her free conferences, Meyer pushes for their money.
``God does not need our money. The giving thing is not for Him, it's for us,'' Meyer told her Detroit audience in September. ``I should not have to work to try to support myself.''
The Post-Dispatch attended four of Meyer's conferences: Buffalo in June, Atlanta in August, Detroit in September and St. Louis in October.
The newspaper found virtually identical elements at each conference -- heavy doses of modern religious music, unwavering religious faith and a strong, focused effort to bring in money.
Joyce Meyer Ministries is, without question, a well-oiled moneymaking machine.