Now that a couple days have past since ABC (DFW) has run the smear story on Ed Young, I've come to a few conclusions regarding the story, the so called facts, and the man cloaked behind the hood.
Though my family has been attending a different church for the past 3 years, Fellowship Church was a huge part of my life for the 7 years prior. I played guitar on the worship team for about 6 years and was employed there full time as the webmaster for 2 years. I spent much time serving in the singles ministry where I met my wife. I was involved home teams, Jr. High ministries, and various conferences FC took part in. I would not trade those years for anything. And though I'm fully aware that having read that, most people will write me off as an FC Kool-Aid drinking insider yes man; to those I would say - not so fast.
After the story broke, I was shocked, saddened and left with many questions, some of which I was angry about. I let the harsh presentation of the story work its way into my head. But eventually I started thinking over the points.
Several years ago I was walking through the church lobby talking with a young 20's man I met at the church. The lobby had just recently had a make over with about a dozen high dollar flat screen monitors. This young man proceeded to whine and moan about what a waste of money the expensive flat screens were. He went on and on with "I can't believe this", and "I can't believe that. There are better places to put that kind of money." I let him exhaust himself. And when he was done playing the game "I'm smarter than whoever made these decisions", I chimed in with a simple snippet of information.
"All the screens you see here... they were donated." The poor attitude was quenched just like that.
This was my first experience at the church where someone didn't have all the information, and without the full understanding of the situation cast his cynicism to anyone who would listen. It wasn't long before I realized this was a common occurrence.
The story presented by ABC and Brett Shipp was not only lacking in critical information, but it also misrepresented several facts. Presenting a story in this unethical manner makes it very easy for the viewing audience to jump on the hate train.
Complete with helicopter flyover, Shipp mentions with all drama enhancing available voice inflection that Young lives in a sprawling 10,000 Sq Ft, 1.5 million dollar mansion on Lake Grapevine. ABC and Shipp missed the boat on this one. The house is 7800 Sq Ft and 1.5 million is what the taxing county has assessed its current value at today. That's no where CLOSE to what Young paid for it. How do I know? First off the land was donated to him from a personal friend. The county now assesses the land alone to carry a value of over a half a million. Just the dirt. So not only has the estate greatly appreciated in value over the last 7 years, he didn't even have to pay market value for the land. On that land, the home was more likely to be a 700K to 800K construction. Shipp makes it sound like Young cut a 1.5 million dollar check to live like the rich and famous. Now there's probably no way Shipp could have known about the land grant, but yet again - here's another lesson on why you shouldn't be caught running your mouth (especially on camera as a reporter) when you don't have all the information.
So how about the private jet? Shipp slowed his speech to make the most of this shocking number - the 8.4 million dollar luxury jet. The insinuation that the jet was bought with church donor money and kept from the congregation as a secret is ludicrous. It's great for TV ratings, but it's still ludicrous. First off, the church didn't buy the jet, so we can all forget about the jet's hefty value. The jet is leased. If you had been going to church there for a year or more, you are probably aware that Ed primarily flies privately. Several years ago, he flew on friend's jets, and then eventually found a pilot and acquired some time on the leased jet. Remember Ed has sold somewhere around a zillion books. So if he wants to fly his family to Bora Bora on a jet that the church and her donor's aren't paying for, I could not care less. On top of that, he's asked to speak all over the world year in and year out. He could have a great personal income outside of being Senior Pastor of the church. So I'm thinking, with someone who has a very full time job leading a 20,000 member church, a wife and 4 kids... can he afford to be an hour late after a 10 hour commercial airline flight that might get his baggage there with him? Especially when your career depends on you arriving on time, well rested and prepared to keynote a large conference in a few hours time with a several hour jet lag. It's just not realistic to think he could even fly commercial. Aside from the obvious logistical problems, all your big pastors in the world get regular death threats anyway. Is it not worth some extra money to make sure they always get from point A to point B safe and on time? So really, woopty do that one of his for profit companies maintains a jet lease.
Seriously, are we to believe that if you are a minister you're not allowed to fly private or have more than the 2 car garage - white picket fence suburban house with 2.5 kids?
So how about the cloaked informant? First off, ABC aired the voice manipulated segment like it was a scary movie with an evil villain. In hindsight, that display with the lights turned down, the metal chair and horror film-esq setting is laughable. For one, it's not going to hide anything. Technology is readily available to reverse engineer such amateur audio manipulation. And between Pastor Ed and Attorney Denny (the two that were thrown under the bus by the story, and two people who have resources like none of us could imagine), I would be SHOCKED if they didn't know who it was by the next morning, all while not loosing 5 minutes sleep. Some of the most talented pro audio guys I've ever known work with the church. I'd bet the farm they could crack that tape over a deli sandwich.
But I just have to go deeper on that piece of the puzzle. The kind of person that would take pleasure in presenting a smear story like that is a special person. It's a man for sure. To my knowledge only one female would have the information the cloaked man is said to have, executive salaries and what not. The CFO up to 2002 was a woman, (can't remember her name) but trust me, she wouldn't take part in such ridiculousness. So back to the cloaked man of mystery. For someone like this with probably years of pent up bitterness, the story breaking would be a victory to him. But the cloaked man couldn't celebrate because he demanded anonymity. It's so ironic. The guy finally got his day on TV (justice), but can't even be known or celebrate because he chose to be anonymous. This is the kind of stuff that bad movies are made of.
Back to reporter Shipp. I'll go ahead and forgive low quality of reporting, and him getting his "facts" mixed up and overvalued. That is easily corrected and will cause no long term damage. But here is where Shipp crossed the line. He all but gave out the pastor's address going on about the estate's title. Not cool man. You don't go around giving out mega church's pastor's addresses. It's putting a person, a husband and father at risk. That single act is extremely irresponsible. And shame on ABC for letting that information air.
Let me close with this. I've been completely unplugged from FC for about 3 years now. Do I still have lots of questions? Yes. Do I agree with how everything at the church is run (or ran)? No. I could bore you with hours of stories and situations that I personally disagree with the church's decision on. But then again, I can't think of any entity that size that I can agree on everything with. There's always stuff that I would do different. It's a good thing none of us are called to agree. And truth be told, the grey area between living above or below reproach is as wide as the continuum itself. It does no good to judge or be cynical. So with all the questions, doubts, so called secrets and what not, I have to ask myself one question: Do I deserve the answers? Do you deserve the answers? If you're still wondering, the answer is no. Last time I checked, I have exactly zero hours experience leading a mega church of 20,000 in size. I bet most of us are in that boat together. So who are we to say how things should go for a mega pastor. How things should run. Where money should be spent, and not spent. Those with successful experience running any of the nation's largest and most prominent churches, I submit to your experience, wisdom and authority on these issues.
Update from Ed Young - 2/8/2010 - 11am
Hey Matt, Nice job on this blog. I too, was really bothered by the story, probably not because I'm a Kool-Aid drinking FC follower (been out of TX for over 3 years now), but because I too have had my reservations and doubt about the leadership decisions from time to time, but bottom line: that church got my soul saved. It's amazing how smooth talks can get some people to believe anything.
Nice post Matt. Ed (along with several board members who flew in to support Ed) addressed the news story this past weekend and as you have detailed, there was a lot of mis-information in that story. Matt, really good and thoughful comments. You make me proud to be your father!
Awesome post Matt. Makes me wish I'd taken more time to shoot the bull with you when I had the chance. Great insight into a situation riddled with agenda-driven half-truth! Well said.......I couldn't agree more!!
Interesting comments, Matt. I will agree that the news piece was a little over the top with the "deep throat informant" routine. However, it sheds some light on some interesting topics and points of debate. First of all I think there is a difference between "I can do something" and "I should do something" as a Christian leader. You're right in saying there is nothing in Biblical dogma that states what income a pastor can earn, or what type of house he can live in or what kind of car he can drive. However, Paul does address the ideas of stumbling blocks and leaders being above reproach. For example, let's take maybe the top 3 most well known area pastors: Ed Young, Matt Chandler, and Tommy Nelson. Tommy drives a Chrysler (or he did at the peak of his ministry) and Matt drives an 8 year old Impala. What does Ed drive? When I was going to Fellowship, he drove a $60000 truck amongst other vehicles. Again, we can say it doesn't matter because the 11th commandment isn't "pastors shall drive used American mid-size sedans", but you also won't see Matt or Tommy in a news story like this, either. Ed leaves himself and his ministry open to attack by living within his means. Notice I didn't say 'above'. While it is certainly Ed's right to take profit from speaking engagements and book sales, he doesn't have to. Chandler doesn't. Any money he makes from speaking goes back to the Church. If you're a non-believer, which example sounds more Christlike? Ed's or Matt's? Both are dynamic gifted speakers, which is a blessing from God. One uses that gift to give back to the ministry, while one uses the gift, ultimately, for personal gain on the side. Which is more different from "the world"? It's not wrong for you or I as the lay person to make money with the gifts that God has given us, and I'm not even saying it is dogmatically wrong for a pastor to do it. I do know, that Paul says in Timothy that people of Biblical authority are held to a higher standard than you or I. I resonate a lot with Ray's comments. I'm not quite sure what to think of it all yet. Something still seems shady to me.
Matt, It doesn't seem like you looked into the main source on this story, Ole Anthony. He's extremely reputable, and his reports have held accountable several extravagant televangelists and pastors. Your viewpoint on commercial travel is interesting. I know several FC staff members who were told to keep it secret, and several others who were laid off recently who don't feel the same way you do. Again, it's between Ed and his church on this, but attacking the credibility of an Ole Anthony investigation isn't a wise move. Just read the guy's bio: Nicely written Matt, however I do disagree with just a few of your points. Some of which we will never know the real answer to. As far as the Jet vs. Commercial travel, there are millions of business men and women who fly commercially everyday and their career also depends on them being on time, rested, and prepared. I don't agree that he needs the aircraft to do his job properly. Also, if he did need an airplane, why isn't it a King Air or Citation. Something much less expensive to purchase/lease and operate. You don't buy/lease a Falcon 50 (that's what was in the video, not saying that's actually the plane) for just your basic travel needs. Rick Warren: Speaking about his "purpose driven" success, in 2005 Warren told U.S. News and World Report, "It brought in a ton of money. The first thing we decided was that we wouldn't let it change our lifestyle one bit." Even after achieving notoriety and great prosperity, Warren and his family continued to live in the same home and drive the same vehicle. He said, "Next, I stopped taking a salary from the church. Then I added up all the church had paid me in the previous 25 years and I gave it back." Living on only 10% of their income, he and his wife began to give away the rest in a type of "reverse tithing" principle.
Matt, I attended FC for a long time as well. 1991 - 2003. I find it curious that you are such a supposed FC insider but you can't remember the name of the lady who signed your paycheck or the man who succeeded her. 90 seconds on google would have reminded you of the CFO who took her place and if you are so concerned with the truth and critical of Brit Shipp's reporting couldn't you have called your contacts at FC and determined if the CFO was, indeed, fired and replace by Dennis Brewer. John, thank you for sharing. Real quick, I shouldn't be considered an "insider" as I'm pretty far removed. I just stated don't write me off as one. The lady that signed my pay check for the first year of my employment, I honestly can't remember her name because of direct deposit. I held a pay check in my hand maybe once. And I really mean maybe. She was replaced by Craig while I was working there. I know him very well. Craig is a stand up - honorable guy, and BTW, certainly is NOT the hooded fella. Craig was CFO after the woman and before Denny. That is probably fairly public knowledge. I do not want to say anything bad about Ed because I have been blessed by some of his messages. However, I am somewhat concerned by the stance that he has taken. All of this is interesting. Matt you seem to be trying to defend Ed with what you are insinuating are facts, but it is a direct contradiction to words that actually came out of Ed's mouth. In last weekend's "talk", Ed said specifically that, "He bought the land". He did not say that he was given the land or that it was donated. Seems that some "facts" got a little "mixed up". Thank you for this post Matt! I did not read that you are defending Ed as much as you are attacking the attack. The fact that a former FC employee felt the need to go to the local news with some "insider information" is a sad day for the church.....the body of Christ. God is not glorified in this on the news. There is a time and place for accountability and the local news is just not it. I don't think comparing pastors adds any value in this situation either....I hope we can all recognize that this is unfortunate for ALL believers. Whether we agree with Ed or not, Fellowship reaches tons of non believers.
ED YOUNG AND HIS HALF TRUTH: Hey Bob, If I may comment on what I see in Ed Young's delivery. He does the following non-sequential physical acts while preaching on-and-off topic, employing many verbal non sequiturs. Glorified nonsense, from a Western Enlightenment perspective. In other words, a playwright would see through the act, a true wartime scout or recon man, or a very high intellect, like a rocket scientist or Albert Einstein or whomever. Ed does this while he verbally non sequiturs. He walks left, he walks right, he walks back, he walks to the edge of the stage (will he fall?), he leans on a chest-level stand holding the Bible and places his elbow directly on the Bible, he puts his left hand in his pocket, he puts his right hand in his pocket, he puts both hands in his pockets, he stands and puts his feet at forty-five degree angles, he sits on a step, he holds a mike in left hand and five-finger points with his right, he hold a mike in his right hand and five-finger points with his left, he makes a grimace with his face, he whispers, he lowers his voice, he does this and that continually. (Hamster-Pipe Hypnotism Preaching left-and-right.... Is your soul-defense getting sleepy? GOOD! DONATE!) What is all this? A martial artist might tell you it is loading up the opponent (audience in this case) with so many goings-on that it both entertains and obfuscates. With all this action, it's hard to follow the point of the sermon. First sermon I watched, Ed set up a straw man to knock down. Ka Bam! He knocked it down! Way to go, Ed! As for the jet, he said the church doesn't own it. But he didn't answer who leases it? No answers on cost. No answers on specific use. Just obfuscation. Justification mentioned was that other jet-using televangelists want him in with the in crowd! It's not hard to see through the low-level preaching style. People love such! Only problem is, after being dumbed-down by such shenanigans, they vote for similar politicians with similar hidden-slavery techniques. And that is why we have a straw man fighting POTUS! We have straw man fighting preachers! You think Christian Broadcast technical personnel could help any televangelist see what damage they have done to souls who get taken in by such shenanigans? To witness cogency at a high level without ANY shenanigans, watch a Peter Schiff Youtube video. Here: www.europac.net/videoblog.asp?a=watch What a difference plain, high-level truth delivery makes! Would God it return to broadcast Christianity someday.... soon! I continue to be amazed that the Dallas media uses Ole Anthony and his Trinity Foundation as a credible source. Except for the Dallas Observer's "The Cult of Ole," the rest of the media continues to see him as the expert in these matters. After leaving the Trinity Foundation, I wrote about my experience In I Can't Hear God Anymore: Life in a Dallas Cult. Matt, Thank you for your input Matt. You have really stated the obvious. To all you that listened to that story on TV and actually have taken the time to worry about it….shame on you! Stop casting stones and look at your Bible for the answers. God is the only judging, not you or some news reporter. Ed may be a pastor but he is still a man. No one scrutinizes how Bill Gates spends his money so why would anyone do it to Ed? There is no rule that a pastor cannot live in a nice house and have material possessions or that a church cannot have advanced technology in order to reach their congregation. No one here can point the finger without pointing more at themselves…
The problem Jenny is the house, the salary, the housing allowance, the jet, the Maui condo, et al was done in secret with no ones knowledge except for the crony "sham" of a board of Jr's pals. I know I didnt give permission for Jr to sell my information for profit which he has done. No accountability and 100% secrets. I'm here to report that pastors do not own churches as this pastor apparently believes he does. The comparison to Bill Gates is laughable.
I can't believe the number of people on here defending Ed Young and his lifestyle. Jesus had NO place to lay his head. I think your article misses a few key points. It's nice to attack the character of the reporter but lets stick to the facts about Ed. Most of these types of evangelists are ripp-offs and take the money and run. Do we really need high salaries to spread the word of god ? Ok so its not a 1 million dollar hose only 800,000 right ok so he gets only 750,000 dollar salary ya right ? Well the people i know that are spreading the word are not into money and don't ask for your 10 per cent of your salary. This guy is a outright joke but will someday really have to answer to a higher power so enjoy your time here ED ! That church he speaks out of isn't a church at all its a flipping auditorium with no pictures of anything religious except wanting your money . I could say more but ya'll keep on giving ole ED your money !
Folks... seek the Lord... not Ed Young... and He will give you the discernment as to the truth and lies... Don't be consumed by the fun, games and diluted message which keeps everyone looking at everything but Jesus and his master plan. FC has a lot of good people in it and I would not like to see anyone's walk affected by the stumbling of the elitists in the FC. For the Lord said "if I (not Ed Young) be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me. I pray that there is repentance so that God's work can continue. Remember that covering up sin and making excuses for it... make you an accomplice of that sin. God Bless
