Elevation Church lead pastor Steven Futrick has always been questioned about his wealth, given the fact that he lives in a whopping 16,000-square-foot home on 19 acres valued at $1.6 million despite only having a pastor's salary.
Futrick and other church officials insist that he bought the home for only $325,000. The megachurch pastor even commented before that his home is "not that great of a house," although he and his family consider it as a "gift from God."
When he was asked about his salary recently during a rare interview by WCCB-TV, the "prosperity gospel" pastor remained tight-lipped, saying that to disclose that information would go against the teachings of Jesus Christ.
"I know that we have to have integrity and we have to be generous, and I know the extent of which that is true for me and Holly," Futrick said, referring to his wife of 13 years. "So to go on record and say here's how much money we've given and here's what we do with our finances, to me, that would be the most arrogant thing I could do and it would rob me of the blessings of what Jesus said, which is that when you give, you don't get up and tell everyone how much you've given."
Even though his fellow church members have shared information about their congregation's finances, Futrick insists that he will not go against God's Word.
"So when you give one part of a picture, whether that's how much one of the staff members, what they make, that's between them and God," Furtick said. "That's not mine to release, and the same with my family. I wouldn't do that to my wife and my kids. I wouldn't do that to one of our staff members."
Elevation Church actually posted some financial details on its website, revealing that it took in $33.5 million in offerings last year, but gave away about $3.8 million in outreach and spent $9 million on personnel. It declared $13.9 million in cash assets.
His church might choose to be open about its finances, but Futrick will "never make a decision about the church's finances based on the agenda of a reporter."
At the same time, Futrick does not mind that Elevation Church is now considered a megachurch, with 20,000 worshippers coming in each week. They are actually batting for 100,000 followers, but Futrick said that task is something that his children should build on.
"Some of the churches that would have the greatest impact wouldn't be the ones with the largest attendance," Futrick said. "They might have a mega-impact, but maybe nobody knows their names. Some of the people who are making the greatest difference aren't really known, aren't really famous, so I don't know if we can quantify a church's impact by the size of it."
