Bishop Eddie Long's Long Reach, by Anthea Butler, The Guardian, September 30, 2010

Bishop Eddie Long's Long Reach

By Anthea Butler
The Guardian
September 30, 2010

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/sep/30/bishop-eddie-long-prosperity-preachers

Bishop Eddie Long prepares to speak at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church near Atlanta.

The most compelling story in religion this week is that of Bishop Eddie Long, pastor of the 25,000-member church New Birth, located outside Atlanta, Georgia. Accused of sexual coercion in four separate civil lawsuits filed by four men, Long's ministry has come under intense media scrutiny.

What makes this a story is Long's prominence in social and political realms. He presided over the funeral of Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King Jr's wife, at his church and four US presidents attended the funeral. Bernice King, daughter of MLK, is an assistant pastor at New Birth. Long also opposes same-sex marriage and homosexuality, holding a march opposing gay marriage in Atlanta drawing 5,000 marchers and earning him the title from the Southern Poverty Law Centre as "one of the most virulently homophobic black leaders in the religiously based anti-gay movement".

Long's troubles are not simply about his potential hypocrisy in preaching against homosexuality while allegedly engaging in same-sex acts; it is also about money. Theologically, Long and his church are rooted in the prosperity gospel, a belief that promotes giving tithes and offerings to God in a covenantal relationship. A church member gives, and God enters into a covenant with the believer that prospers them financially, physically and spiritually.

For Long's members, financial blessings are a sign of God's favour. So it should come as no surprise then, that the bishop lives a lavish lifestyle, replete with a private jet, a mansion on the church property and flashy jewellery accentuating his form-fitting clothing. Long's conspicuous prosperity garnered the attention of a US senator, Chuck Grassley, who attempted to scrutinise Long and other prosperity televangelists with a summons to show their financial records. Long refused. Now that lawsuits have been filed outlining how Long spent money on these men, Long finds himself as he phrased it in his Sunday sermon, "like David against Goliath".

Long's story, however it may turn out, has implications for not only American Christianity, but Christianity worldwide. The prosperity gospel and its purveyors are worldwide, and account for the rapid growth of Pentecostalism, the global religious movement prosperity preachers come from. Long has associates in the UK such as Matthew Ashimolowo, pastor of Kingsway International Christian Centre. Ashimolowo hosts a conference called the International Gathering of Champions, a conference for prosperity preachers, and Long spoke at the gathering this year.

Long also is associated with a controversial New Zealand pastor, Brian Tamaki, who considers Long to be his spiritual father. One of the claimants in the case stated that Long took him to New Zealand and had sexual relations with him there. Tamaki is also anti-gay and his emphasis on male headship and leadership comes from Long's belief system.

Conferences and technology link these preachers, and their members not only gain access to their pastor but to a network of pastors who espouse the same teachings and offer a myriad of study materials and media that support the prosperity gospel. Long's story may be a local nightmare, but it lights up a global religious movement that has turned the gospel into a capitalist endeavour. I am not quite sure that is what Max Weber had in mind, but even in the midst of a potentially ministry-ending scandal, Long is generating media attention and making money for advertisers.