Matthew 19:24 famously says, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” – but they never said anything about private jets, right?
In Les Misérables, Victor Hugo imagines his Bishop of Digne as a consummate “Man of God.” He exemplifies kindness, compassion, grace, and forgiveness, and is so charitable he foregoes his own priestly carriage to spend that money on the needy in the name of God and goodwill toward men.
These “Men of God” have a different idea.
In 2015, John Oliver ran a story on Last Week Tonight about popular Evangelists and their exorbitant spending, with private jets being one of his focuses. A decade on, little has changed – if anything, the fleets have grown.
There is something undeniably odd about the combination of pastors and private jets. Whatever your personal views on Jesus, Christianity, and Religion, there is no denying that the Jesus of the Bible is a figure who lives meagerly and repeatedly opposes the rich and powerful.
Yet, for many mega pastors across America, it’s all part of their “Prosperity Gospel.” This Word of Faith theology – rooted in Charismatic and Pentecostal traditions – asserts that things like massive wealth, as exemplified by, say, private jets, are a sign of God’s favor.
Of course, these pastors typically claim to have good, godly reasons for wanting private jets. So, who are these pastors, what are their private jets of choice, and why do they claim to “need” them?
1. Kenneth Copeland: Gulfstream V
Copeland frames his purchase of a private jet as a “team” effort, announcing to his followers on January 12, 2018 that “WE HAVE SOWN A GV as a team and God wants that kind of prosperity” for his team of “Partners.” The Gulfstream V in question was acquired from filmmaker Tyler Perry later that same year.
At least God has good taste in private jets. The Gulfstream V is capable of Mach 0.885 and can comfortably carry more than a dozen passengers. And that’s not all – Copeland’s ministry also operates a Cessna Citation 550 and a Citation X, giving him a three-aircraft fleet based at his private airstrip in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Citation X caused a moment of awkwardness when, in a 2016 sermon in which Copeland invited members to “claim” things in the name of God, an audience member shouted, “I claim your $25 million Citation X in the name of Jesus!”
2. Jesse Duplantis: Dassault Falcon 7X
Copeland and his fellow mega pastor Jesse Duplantis share a bond on the subject of private aviation – asserting in a 2016 broadcast that their need to fly on private jets stemmed from commercial planes being full of “demons.” Hard to argue with theology like that.
In 2018, Duplantis made headlines by asking his congregation to help fund a brand-new Dassault Falcon 7X, priced at $54 million – because, as he explained, Jesus himself would have done the same. “Now, I’m not asking you to buy it,” he clarified, “I’m asking you to believe God for it.” His ministry ultimately acquired a Falcon 7X, reportedly for around $21 million.
It’s a fitting aircraft for a prosperity preacher. The Falcon 7X entered service in 2007 and remains one of the most sophisticated large-cabin jets in the sky, featuring a trijet design with three Pratt & Whitney Canada PW307A engines, a 5,950 nautical mile range, and seating for up to 16 passengers in typical configuration. It is also an exceptionally quiet aircraft, a fact presumably lost on the demons left behind on those commercial flights.
3. Jerry Savelle: Cessna 500
Jerry Savelle, who died in May 2023, had been on the evangelist circuit longer than most of the names on this list – and his jet of choice reflected that seniority.
The Cessna 500 dates back to the early 1970s and is definitely one of the smaller planes on this list, with a crew of two and room for five passengers, and a top speed of “only” Mach 0.705. Modest by mega-pastor standards.
If you’re a baseball fan, you’ll recognize the name Thurman Munson – the 1970s Yankees catcher and captain who tragically died while piloting his personal Cessna 500 in 1979.
4. Joyce Meyer: Gulfstream IV
Once upon a time, Joyce Meyer took to the skies in a Bombardier Challenger 600. Facing criticism over this, she replied that “there’s no need for us to apologize for being blessed.”
Apparently that “blessing” wasn’t sufficient to serve the Lord, however, and so a few years – and a Senate investigation into her ministry’s tax-exempt status later – she traded up to a Gulfstream IV.
Blessing or no, the Gulfstream IV is a top-flight private jet, with a crew of two, room for up to nineteen passengers, and a top cruising speed of Mach 0.85. The Gulfstream line is clearly the preferred marque among prosperity preachers.
That’s fitting, as fellow Gulfstream owners Kenneth Copeland and our next entry, Creflo A. Dollar, were also swept up in that same 2007–11 Senate inquiry into the financial practices of six major televangelists.
5. Creflo A. Dollar: Gulfstream G650
When you preach “Prosperity Gospel” and your last name is literally “Dollar,” perhaps it was only a matter of time before you set your sights on the most expensive private jet on the market.
In 2015, Dollar’s ministry launched a campaign asking 200,000 of his followers to donate $300 each toward a brand-new Gulfstream G650 – then listed at around $65 million. Dollar was unapologetic: “If I want to believe God for a $65 million plane, you cannot stop me!” The campaign drew widespread ridicule, but the ministry ultimately received its G650.
And it is, to be fair, one of the finest private jets ever built – seating up to 18 passengers, with a range of 7,000 nautical miles and a top speed of Mach 0.925.
Dollar’s jet history has not been without incident. A ministry aircraft skidded off the runway at Biggin Hill Airport near London in 2014. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured.
6. Paul and Jan Crouch: Bombardier BD-700-1A10
The late Paul and Jan Crouch were the founders of Trinity Broadcasting Network, one of the most powerful Christian TV channels in the world. Paul died in November 2013; Jan followed in May 2016. Between them, they built an empire – and furnished it accordingly.
Part of that fortune went toward a fleet of private jets, including an $8 million Bombardier BD-700-1A10 – better known as the Global Express. First introduced in 1999 and crewed by three to four people, it can host between 13 and 17 passengers depending on configuration, and is powered by Rolls-Royce BR700 engines.
Paul reportedly earned $400K annually as president of TBN; Jan, $365K as co-founder. The jet, by those standards, was practically a rounding error.
7. Paul and Jan Crouch: Hawker 800XP
One jet wasn’t enough for the Crouches. What’s a married life preaching “Prosperity Gospel” without matching His and Hers private jets? While Paul favored the Bombardier BD, Jan tended to fly in the couple’s Hawker 800XP.
The Hawker 800XP can reach Mach 0.81 and carries eight to thirteen passengers – smaller than its stablemate, but no less comfortable. Military variants are operated by Mozambique, Japan, and Nigeria, among others.
Hawker 800s typically sell for $10 to $13.5 million. Then again, given the Crouches’ lavish lifestyle of multi-million dollar mansions, private jets, and allegations by Jan’s granddaughter of financial impropriety at TBN, it was likely just another line item.
8. Pat Robertson: Learjet 35
Pat Robertson, who died in June 2023 at the age of 93, was among the most divisive figures in American televangelism. Over his decades on air, he called non-Christians “termites,” described Hinduism as “demonic,” and blamed the 9/11 attacks on, among others, feminists, LGBT people, and the ACLU. He also had a private jet – naturally.
Robertson’s aircraft was a C-21 Learjet Model 35, first introduced in 1973. Learjets have been a fixture of American business aviation for decades, though the model has not been without tragedy – golfer Payne Stewart died aboard a Learjet 35 in 1999, and a 2014 crash in the Bahamas claimed nine lives, including a pastor and his wife. A Learjet was also shot down during the Falklands War in 1982.
Robertson used his ministry’s jet extensively for decades of broadcasting, political advocacy, and international travel. As of 2018, used Learjet 35s were available from around $500,000 – a bargain by the standards of his peers on this list.
9. Mark Barclay: Cessna Citation III
We close with the self-described “Preacher of Righteousness,” Mark Barclay. The standard justification for a pastoral private jet is that it enables more preaching, more travel, more ministry – and that’s the line Barclay takes too. His ministry’s FAQ even lists “sowing toward the jet fuel-burn cost” among the expenses speakers must cover to have him preach.
That isn’t the only jet-related thing he has asked followers to “sow towards,” either. In May 2013, Barclay was revealed to have asked followers to help cover $79,000 to repaint his Citation 650 – referred to in the appeal as “the Lord’s jet.”
The Citation III 650 is on the older and smaller side, with a crew of two and seating for six to nine passengers. That said, they still command well over a million dollars on the used market – a fact that presumably requires no theological justification.
10. Benny Hinn: Gulfstream G-IV “Dove One”
Few names in televangelism carry as much baggage – or as much luggage – as Benny Hinn. The faith healer built his ministry on dramatic crusades, claims of miraculous healing, and the Prosperity Gospel conviction that God rewards the faithful with earthly riches. His aircraft was a fitting symbol of all three.
Hinn’s jet was a Gulfstream G-IV, tail number BHM777, christened Dove One. He funded it in part through donations – and to thank his most generous supporters, he had custom desk-model replicas of the aircraft manufactured and sent to anyone who gave $1,000 or more toward the purchase. Nothing says “thanks for the jet” like a miniature version of the jet.
The Gulfstream G-IV is one of the most capable large-cabin jets in its class: a crew of two, seating for up to nineteen passengers, and a top cruising speed of Mach 0.88. It is, in other words, a lot of airplane for a ministry that also asked followers to believe God for miracle cures.
The story has a twist, however. In 2019, Hinn appeared on his nephew Costi Hinn’s YouTube channel and declared he was done with the prosperity gospel. “It’s an offense to the Holy Spirit to place a price on the gospel,” he said. “I’m done with it.” He also claimed he hadn’t flown private in years. Whether that represents a genuine change of heart or simply a change of strategy is a debate that continues in Christian circles – but Dove One has become one of televangelist aviation’s most iconic aircraft either way.
11. Keith Moore: Dassault Falcon 7X (Three Jets and Counting)
Most pastors on this list are content with one private jet. Keith Moore, senior pastor of Faith Life International in Branson, Missouri, currently operates three.
His ministry’s fleet includes a Dassault Falcon 900 EX, a Raytheon 390 Premier, and – acquired in 2024 after a fundraising campaign targeting $10 million from his congregation – a second Dassault Falcon 7X, listed on the market for $17.5 million. Moore is a licensed pilot certified to fly all three aircraft, though both Falcon jets require an additional pilot in the cockpit.
The Falcon 7X needs little introduction at this point in the article. In case you skipped ahead: trijet design, three Pratt & Whitney Canada PW307A engines, up to 16 passengers, range of nearly 6,000 nautical miles. It is one of the best private jets money – or a congregation’s faith pledge – can buy.
The Trinity Foundation, which has tracked televangelist aircraft spending for decades, calculated that the $10 million Moore raised could alternatively have purchased 26,178 commercial airline tickets. Moore’s ministry has not commented on that particular comparison.
12. Mike Murdock: Two Cessna Citations
Mike Murdock, founder of The Wisdom Center ministry in Haltom City, Texas, is perhaps best known for his “Seed Faith” teaching – the idea that financial donations to his ministry will unlock divine financial returns for the giver. It is a theology that has served him well.
In a sermon that has circulated widely online, Murdock bragged to his congregation about buying two Cessna Citation jets outright, with cash. When members of the congregation failed to respond with sufficient enthusiasm, he turned on them directly: “Act happy,” he told them. “Act like you’re glad for me.”
John Oliver, who dedicated a substantial portion of a 2015 Last Week Tonight segment to televangelist excess, described Murdock simply as “that asshole with two planes.” It is, arguably, the most efficient character summary on this list.
The Cessna Citation family covers a wide range of aircraft, from compact light jets to large-cabin long-range models. Murdock has not publicly specified which variants he owns, but given his preference for cash purchases and congregational showmanship, it is safe to say they were not the budget options.
That said, prosperity has its limits
By 2023, the Wisdom Center’s aircraft were gone – sold off quietly, with no sermon to mark the occasion. Whether God’s idea ran its course, or the jets simply became more trouble than they were worth, Murdock has since returned to flying commercial. John Oliver’s “asshole with two planes” is, for now, an asshole with none.
13. David Oyedepo: A Fleet of Four
Most entries on this list involve one pastor and one jet. Bishop David Oyedepo, founder of the Living Faith World Outreach Ministry – better known as Winners’ Chapel – operates on a different scale entirely.
Oyedepo, widely regarded as Nigeria’s wealthiest pastor with an estimated net worth of $150 million, owns a fleet of four private aircraft: a Bombardier Challenger 604, a Grumman Gulfstream I, a Gulfstream IV, and a Gulfstream V. His ministry also runs Dominion Air, a private aviation company based on his church’s campus in Ota, Nigeria.
His explanation for the fleet is refreshingly direct. “God has blessed me richly,” Oyedepo has said, adding in a 2023 statement that has since gone viral: “We change private jets like bicycles.” When pressed on whether church funds were involved in the purchases, he denied it – insisting the jets were the product of divine provision rather than the tithes of his millions of followers across Africa.
Whether or not you find that convincing, Oyedepo’s fleet puts most of his American counterparts to shame. While Kenneth Copeland operates three aircraft out of his Fort Worth airstrip, Oyedepo has an entire aviation company. The prosperity gospel, it turns out, is a global enterprise.
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