By Pamela Miller, Minneapolis Star Tribune, February 11, 2007
12 Feb 2007 // Pastor Mac Hammond's congregation at Living Word Christian Center in Brooklyn Park reacted strongly Sunday to his appearance in the wake of a watchdog's group complaint to the Internal Revenue Service that he violated federal tax law and a front-page Star Tribune article examining his financial dealings:
Worshipers gave him a prolonged, cheer-laced standing ovation.
"Y'all better sit down; I'll get too choked up to minister," drawled Hammond, 63, pastor of the nondenominational megachurch, which has almost 10,000 members. He called questions about his financial dealings "a misunderstanding" of his prosperity-gospel ministry, which holds that following God's word leads to spiritual and economic bounty.
Hammond was not available for comment afterward, but an associate pastor, Marc Redman, who provided a CD of the sermon, said he received standing ovations at two services Saturday night and two on Sunday and that and the publicity "won't hurt the church one bit."
"On the contrary, we believe it is an opportunity to give increased visibility to the gospel of Jesus Christ and the positive impact Living Word's ministry has had in the lives of thousands of people," he said.
Last week, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington complained to the IRS that Living Word made eight loans worth $1.9 million at favorable rates to Hammond and gave him sweetheart deals on a plane lease. The church said all contracts and financial dealings are reviewed by its law firm and that it makes "every effort" to comply with the law.
Sunday's Star Tribune article examined Hammond's rise from financial struggle to rich man and his championship of the prosperity gospel.
In a sermon peppered with "hallelujahs" from Hammond and "amens" from the congregation, Hammond said some of the accusations in the IRS complaint and news story "are inaccurate ... and many paint a picture of the ministry that is grossly inappropriate."
However, he was not specific about inaccuracies except to say that he has two houses in Florida, not two condos. He said he has no control over the board that sets his compensation and that his pay is scrutinized by attorneys.
He got one of many laughs when he said the Star Tribune story had "left out" his two motorcycles. He also quipped that his Porsche has been "an expensive ministry tool" because a State Patrol officer who gave him one of four speeding tickets he has gotten in it went through church membership classes. He said he buys expensive clothes because "if I look decent, I preach better, so I'm really doing it for you, amen."
Hammond said that he has repaid all loans and that if he got favorable terms, it was in place of compensation. He said he would welcome an IRS audit because he has strived to "dot every i and cross every t" on tax rules.
The congregation was presented with the annual report, which said the church had $34 million in gross revenues last year and gave $3 million to charitable causes and evangelism.
He praised reporter Jon Tevlin, saying, "I not only like [him] but am convinced [he] wants to print the truth." But, he said, the news media have "a hard time figuring out what a ministry like us really is," partly, he said, because "a lot of the time I inadvertently stick my foot in my mouth."
Hammond said the media and many Christians don't understand the prosperity gospel. "God says if you base your life on his covenant, these blessings are gonna overtake you; you can't do anything about it, friend. [What was once] flocks and herds is in today's parlance stocks and bonds.
"It takes wealth, folks, to establish God's covenant on this Earth. You and I will never get so spiritual that we don't need money to get more influential in the world we're in."