Copyright 2003 San Antonio Express-News San Antonio Express-News (Texas)
July 6, 2003, Sunday , METRO
July 6, 2003, Sunday , METRO
SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. 1A
HEADLINE: MILLION-DOLLAR MINISTER ; Cornerstone Church Pastor Hagee has prospered along with his organization. But while his personal income far exceeds that of other ministers, his flock isn't complaining.
BYLINE: Analisa Nazareno
Perched atop a red-carpet altar, seated on a wide white-and-blue chair, Pastor John Hagee waits until the jazz band has quieted, the 125-member choir has left the stage and the soloist has moved the congregation almost to tears.
An emotional, energetic half-hour of song praising the glory of God passes. Then Hagee tells ushers at his 5,000-seat Cornerstone Church to "take their positions."
With the dozens of men bearing glinting platters in the aisles, and six cameramen capturing the moment, Hagee instructs church members to hold their money toward the heavens. The thousands repeat after him: "Give and it shall be given."
"When you give, it qualifies you to receive God's abundance," he tells his listeners. "If God gives to you before you give to him, God himself will become a liar. ... If you're not prospering, it's because you're not giving."
He repeats, "If you're not prospering, it's because you're not giving."
For four decades, Hagee's message has motivated his members to give millions to his ministry.
And it is a message that has helped his nonprofit television arm, Global Evangelism Television, become a prosperous, global, money-making family enterprise that has netted millions year after year selling prayer, inspirational books, tapes and the promise of prosperity.
Since Hagee and wife Diana Hagee founded GETV 25 years ago, the organization has gone from a back-room operation broadcasting Sunday sermons to San Antonio-area viewers to a 50,000-square-foot multimedia studio broadcasting to 127 television stations and 82 radio stations nationwide.
"God has blessed it until it has literally reached the Earth," Hagee recently said at his studio about his television evangelism enterprise.
PROFITABLE NONPROFIT
According to income tax statements GETV filed with the Internal Revenue Service, the nonprofit organization drew $18.3 million in revenue in 2001, the most recent year the organization submitted a return to the IRS. That year, Hagee's total compensation package from the TV ministry and the church amounted to more than $1.25 million.
Like most nonprofit organizations, GETV is obligated to disclose its finances by making IRS income tax statements, called 990 forms, available to the public. In return for complying, it isn't required to pay income taxes on revenue, business and operation taxes and property taxes. It also receives a discount on bulk mailing.
And it also is able to sell products tax-free and at a 50 percent profit because selling religious books, tapes and albums fits within GETV's broadly stated mission, which is to "spread the gospel of Jesus Christ."
According to the 990 forms for GETV, the organization netted $12.3 million from donations, $4.8 million in profit from the sales of books and tapes, and an additional $1.1 million from various other sources, including rental income in 2001.
As the nonprofit organization's president, Hagee drew $540,000 in compensation, as well as an additional $302,005 in compensation for his position as president of Cornerstone Church, according to GETV's tax statements.
He also received $411,561 in benefits from GETV, including contributions to a retirement package for highly paid executives the IRS calls a "rabbi trust," so named because the first beneficiary of such an irrevocable trust was a rabbi.
The John Hagee Rabbi Trust includes a $2.1 million, 7,696-acre ranch outside Brackettville, with five lodges, including a "main lodge" and a gun locker. It also includes a manager's house, a smokehouse, a skeet range and three barns.
Taken together, his payment package, $842,005 in compensation and $414,485 in benefits, was one of the highest, if not the highest, pay package for a nonprofit director in the San Antonio area in 2001.
AMAZING INCOME
"I'm amazed at the income," said Pamela Smith, an accounting professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Smith, whose research interests include taxation of nonprofit organizations, said it's fairly common for nonprofit directors to receive what some might perceive as high salaries. Nonprofit directors are allowed to receive competitive salaries, she said. They aren't, however, allowed to get a share of profits made from the sales of products or services.
Smith said she wasn't aware of any nonprofit director in San Antonio who earned more than Hagee.
The San Antonio Express-News owns the copyright to this story. For a full copy of this story, e-mail Analisa and she will send you a clip via e-mail or snail mail.
HEADLINE: MILLION-DOLLAR MINISTER ; Cornerstone Church Pastor Hagee has prospered along with his organization. But while his personal income far exceeds that of other ministers, his flock isn't complaining.
BYLINE: Analisa Nazareno
Perched atop a red-carpet altar, seated on a wide white-and-blue chair, Pastor John Hagee waits until the jazz band has quieted, the 125-member choir has left the stage and the soloist has moved the congregation almost to tears.
An emotional, energetic half-hour of song praising the glory of God passes. Then Hagee tells ushers at his 5,000-seat Cornerstone Church to "take their positions."
With the dozens of men bearing glinting platters in the aisles, and six cameramen capturing the moment, Hagee instructs church members to hold their money toward the heavens. The thousands repeat after him: "Give and it shall be given."
"When you give, it qualifies you to receive God's abundance," he tells his listeners. "If God gives to you before you give to him, God himself will become a liar. ... If you're not prospering, it's because you're not giving."
He repeats, "If you're not prospering, it's because you're not giving."
For four decades, Hagee's message has motivated his members to give millions to his ministry.
And it is a message that has helped his nonprofit television arm, Global Evangelism Television, become a prosperous, global, money-making family enterprise that has netted millions year after year selling prayer, inspirational books, tapes and the promise of prosperity.
Since Hagee and wife Diana Hagee founded GETV 25 years ago, the organization has gone from a back-room operation broadcasting Sunday sermons to San Antonio-area viewers to a 50,000-square-foot multimedia studio broadcasting to 127 television stations and 82 radio stations nationwide.
"God has blessed it until it has literally reached the Earth," Hagee recently said at his studio about his television evangelism enterprise.
PROFITABLE NONPROFIT
According to income tax statements GETV filed with the Internal Revenue Service, the nonprofit organization drew $18.3 million in revenue in 2001, the most recent year the organization submitted a return to the IRS. That year, Hagee's total compensation package from the TV ministry and the church amounted to more than $1.25 million.
Like most nonprofit organizations, GETV is obligated to disclose its finances by making IRS income tax statements, called 990 forms, available to the public. In return for complying, it isn't required to pay income taxes on revenue, business and operation taxes and property taxes. It also receives a discount on bulk mailing.
And it also is able to sell products tax-free and at a 50 percent profit because selling religious books, tapes and albums fits within GETV's broadly stated mission, which is to "spread the gospel of Jesus Christ."
According to the 990 forms for GETV, the organization netted $12.3 million from donations, $4.8 million in profit from the sales of books and tapes, and an additional $1.1 million from various other sources, including rental income in 2001.
As the nonprofit organization's president, Hagee drew $540,000 in compensation, as well as an additional $302,005 in compensation for his position as president of Cornerstone Church, according to GETV's tax statements.
He also received $411,561 in benefits from GETV, including contributions to a retirement package for highly paid executives the IRS calls a "rabbi trust," so named because the first beneficiary of such an irrevocable trust was a rabbi.
The John Hagee Rabbi Trust includes a $2.1 million, 7,696-acre ranch outside Brackettville, with five lodges, including a "main lodge" and a gun locker. It also includes a manager's house, a smokehouse, a skeet range and three barns.
Taken together, his payment package, $842,005 in compensation and $414,485 in benefits, was one of the highest, if not the highest, pay package for a nonprofit director in the San Antonio area in 2001.
AMAZING INCOME
"I'm amazed at the income," said Pamela Smith, an accounting professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Smith, whose research interests include taxation of nonprofit organizations, said it's fairly common for nonprofit directors to receive what some might perceive as high salaries. Nonprofit directors are allowed to receive competitive salaries, she said. They aren't, however, allowed to get a share of profits made from the sales of products or services.
Smith said she wasn't aware of any nonprofit director in San Antonio who earned more than Hagee.
The San Antonio Express-News owns the copyright to this story. For a full copy of this story, e-mail Analisa and she will send you a clip via e-mail or snail mail.
