Kenneth Copeland Ministries has come under fire for failing to fly disaster relief supplies to Haiti's earthquake victims after allegedly promising aviation assistance in the event of natural disasters.
The international organisation, which is also under scrutiny by the Senate Finance Committee for possible abuse of its nonprofit status, has been accused of "unfulfilled" pledges and unaccounted donations.
"While there is a huge crisis going on in the nation of Haiti right now Kenneth Copeland's promised Angel Flight 44 ministry is nowhere to be found and the money he collected to start that ministry has not been accounted for," said Rich Vermillion, co-author of Angel Flight 44.
Angel Flight 44 was birthed in 2006 during the Southwest Believer's Convention. Vermillion, Glen Hyde (co-author) and Kenneth Copeland announced in a live simulcast the formation of a new disaster relief ministry in which they would provide ongoing aviation aid. It was announced following KCM's relief efforts in 2006 in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Vermillion – who started kennethcopelandblog.com, what he calls a "minister to errant-minister open rebuke" – says Copeland promised to form the aviation ministry but now believes it was never created.
"It is as if Kenneth Copeland had never said such a ministry had already been formed, nor had repeatedly promised that such an aviation support ministry would be further developed and ready for disasters – such as that which just occurred in Haiti a few days ago," he said last month.
The Texas-based organisation has rejected the allegations, calling them "misleading" and "potentially damaging misinformation".
"Kenneth Copeland Ministries is one of the premier Christian ministries in the world today and is run with the utmost integrity," it said in a recent statement. "The church has an annual independent audit and there are no funds that have been misused or unaccounted for."
In the statement, KCM highlighted that it did make "one of its aircraft available" during the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2006 and "also investigated the possibility of providing such assistance for future disasters".
