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The Call

Sun, 01 Jun 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Mega-Church, mega-success

Tue, 04 Oct 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Mega-Church, mega-success

By TOM HOLMES

File photo
Packed house: A huge crowd came out to see the 2002 Faith Conference, pictured here. Those who could not see the stage watched through televisions positioned throughout the sanctuary.

The attendance at Living Word Christian Center ’s six day long Chicago Faith Conference three weeks ago was over 9000. Pastor Bill Winston, who brought his ministry to Forest Park fifteen years ago, has seen his congregation grow to over 15,000 members.

Located in what used to be known as the Forest Park Mall on Roosevelt Road —which the church purchased for four million dollars—Pastor Winston has created a ministry that reaches hundreds of thousands of people.

The Living Word sanctuary/auditorium, which seats over 1,500, is filled three times every Sunday. Pastor Winston draws people from all over the Chicago Metro area and beyond. Only about three per cent of those attending the Faith Conference live in Forest Park . Half came from Chicago with around ten per cent coming from Oak Park . Attendees traveled from as far away as Portage , Indiana and Joliet .

What accounts for this tremendous sucess?

The medium

Bill Winston is media savvy. At the Faith Conference, five TV cameras—two fixed on raised platforms, one shoulder held, one mobile on wheels and one on a moveable thirty foot boom—captured images which were projected on 225 square foot screens on either side of the stage. Pastor Winston is as comfortable in front of TV cameras and an audience of thousands as is David Letterman. The sound system is first rate, and the fast paced format made the two and a half hour program last week Monday seem like it lasted only an hour.

Winston’s message is broadcast weekly on the GOD Channel, Miracle Net, BET, DAYSTAR, the WORD Network, WCIU Channel 26, WJYS Channel 62, WFLD Fox Channel 32, WGN Channel 9, WMLW Channel 41 in Milwaukee and WTVM Channel 9 in Columbus , GA.

Bill Winston Ministries project an image of success. Pastor Winston’s office contains memorabilia from his days as a fighter pilot in Vietnam and a leading sales rep in a nationally known computer company. The seven lead singers at the conference all looked like corporate executives—attractive, groomed immaculately and dressed in tailored suits. At the end of the voice mail messages of some of his staff members, you will hear, "Have a blessed and prosperous day."

The music, which is at the core of every service and produced by five to ten talented musicians, is upbeat but not over the top. Band members call themselves a "praise band." They say that Pastor Winston restrains them from being too exuberant. What they provide is a joyful energy which begins and sets the tone for every worship experience.

Living Word is a class operation. The ushers, all dressed alike in brown three piece suits, are professional and courteous. Even the traffic control people get cars out of the parking lot efficiently after the service.

Like fusion cuisine which is hard to categorize, the style of worship at Living Word borrows from more than one church tradition. The energy of Pentecostal churches is present, but speaking in tongues, though present at times, is not emphasized. The music is appealing to the mainly black audience, but band members report that some folks have accused them of being "too white." Living Word states that it is a full gospel church, but its emphasis on prosperity is not necessarily characteristic of that tradition.

The authority of the pastor as a chosen and inspired agent of God is an important key to understanding the ministry at Living Word. Bill Winston will frequently use the words, "the Lord told me," and scrupulously attributes every statement to a religious or authority or backs it up with a Bible verse. Jerry Savelle, the featured speaker at the Faith Conference on September 12, told about the three times he had personal visitations by the Lord. He made statements like "I got it by direct revelation" and "I came tonight with a prophetic word." In Bill Winston’s leadership, "the Word" can refer to either the Bible or what he is preaching.

The message

Prosperity is a central if not the central message at Living Word Christian Center . In the Bible study he led before introducing Jerry Savelle, Bill Winston declared, "I’m not going to let anyone talk me out of the prosperity God has planned for me. There’s no sense in the church being as broke as it is. You got to start thinking big."

He preached that God wants believers to be prosperous, not by the world’s way but by God’s way. And God’s way of becoming prosperous is to first give to God, and then God will return what you give a hundred fold. "God ordained a way to make money," Winston said, "and believers begin by planting seed, by giving to God. To get to the harvest you have to listen to God and that involves obedience and discernment. This is not giving to get but giving to receive."

He did acknowledge that sometimes the harvest comes in ways we don’t expect, but he insisted that "when people sow the Word of God first, it changes the way they look at everything."

Jerry Savelle continued this theme by stating that everyone understands that God gives faith to be saved and to be healed but not everyone knows that God also gives faith for breakthroughs. He told a story about how he began his ministry with only one second hand, out of style suit, and when he gave that suit away to a poor young man, God responded by giving him two brand new suits and a top coat.

He told about starting out traveling in an old station wagon, giving that away and getting a used airplane. When he sowed that airplane, or gave it away to another ministry, God gave him a twin engine plane, and when he gave that one away, he received a jet.

He taught the audience that there are divine laws that govern this process. He said that first, you begin with a prophetic Word from God. Second, you receive that Word and obey it. And third, you need to sow "a significant seed," that is a "seed" that is valuable to you, something that is an expression of greatest faith. He set out a spiritual law: "The depth of your prayers will determine the magnitude of your breakthroughs."

Savelle then challenged the two thousand people listening to him to trust the authority of his word right then. He said that they were going to have a second offering none of which would go to him but to the Ministry of Living Word. He exhorted the audience to sow a significant seed and to believe that within 24 hours many of them would already be reaping a harvest. "You sow a significant seed," he proclaimed, "and the God of the break through will visit your house in the name of Jesus. You sow into another man’s break through, and God will sow into yours."

The envelopes handed out for the offering had the following "Giver’s Confession" printed on the front:

Father, in Jesus’ Name I confess that I obey and serve You. I will spend my days in prosperity, and my years in pleasures. Lord be magnified, for you take pleasure in prospering me your servant. I am a giver, I walk by faith and the blessings of God are overtaking me. Father, you giveth me power to get wealth, therefore, I decree that I have abundance and no lack. My lifestyle is that of supernatural increase because of the Anointed One, Jesus Christ. My vine will bear much good fruit in the field and the same measure that I mete shall be measured back to me again, in Jesus’ Name.

He then repeated the spiritual principle, "the depth of your prayers will determine the magnitude of your break throughs," and the crowd went nuts— shouting and applauding, some weeping or speaking in tongues, for two or three minutes.

When Jerry Savelle finished speaking, Pastor Winston ended the evening with an altar call and a prayer of blessing.

Whether you agree with Bill Winston’s theology or not, something significant is happening at the corner of Desplaines and Roosevelt Road . Sunday services are at 7:00 , 9:00 and 11:00 every Sunday morning. To reach Living Word call 771-8188.

Pastor plans additions to religion/retail center

Tue, 13 Dec 2005 00:00:00 GMT

12/13/200510:00:00 PM

Pastor plans additions to religion/retail center
New clothing store managed by graduate of in-house business school opens at FP Plaza

By SETH STERN

With the new year just around the corner, Pastor Bill Winston of the LivingWordChristianCenter is planning some major moves in his quest to make his vision of a "one stop shop for the spirit, soul and body" at the Forest Park Mall a reality.

In addition to the new high-end clothing retailer David Samuel, which opened in November, Winston plans to bring a health care clinic, an office and computer supply store and a bank into the mall in the first quarter of next year. The new additions will join already up-and-running establishments including the Ultra Foods grocery store and the Royal Christian Bookstore.

The medical and dental clinic, Winston said, will be geared toward uninsured or underinsured people who need basic treatment but cannot afford a $500 ER bill.

"We want it so you can come in and get quick care. It’s for people who have minor ailments—strep throat, for example, or small accidents," he said. "We’re looking at charging people between $25 and $45 in cash."

The clinic, which has not yet been named, will be staffed mainly by doctors who are among the 15,000 or so members of Living Word’s congregation, and will be located in the retail area of the mall facing Roosevelt Road, west of David Samuel, according to Winston.

Though details are still sketchy regarding the bank, Winston said that it has been in planning for over three years and is on track to open with FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) accreditation in early 2006. A sign for the Guaranty Bank is already up at its future site on the east end of the mall.

The professional store, Winston said, will also offer computer service as well as six-week computer training courses geared toward senior citizens. Later in the year, Winston said, he hopes to open a gym and fitness center at the mall as well. He already has several staff members actively researching equipment.

Winston’s retail operations fall under the umbrella of City Services, Inc., the for-profit division of his empire which he began in 1997 before purchasing the mall for about $10 million. Winston, a native of Tuskegee, Ala., started his ministry in 1989 with a congregation of 12.

Forest Park officials remain cautiously optimistic regarding Winston’s vision for the future of the mall. "Development has been coming along at a nice pace, though it would have been nice if it was a bit quicker," said Mayor Anthony Calderone.

Calderone acknowledged that the village does take a slight hit due to the church itself being exempt from property taxes as a religious institution. "Anytime you take any property off the tax rolls it’s certainly going to have some effect overall," he said.

JosephBusinessSchool

As he seeks to bring more businesses into the Forest Park Mall, Winston may not need to look far, as he has an eager crop of entrepreneurs right in the building. The Illinois Department of Education-certified Joseph Center for Business Development has been providing 9-month crash courses in business at the mall since 1998.

The center, according to director Mark Muse, combines practical instruction by visiting lecturers from top business schools, including Harvard and Northwestern with bible-based lessons in business ethics. Winston is a constant presence at the school, and teaches three classes each term.

The school’s students, who range from recent GED recipients to licensed attorneys, either enter the school with a vision for their future business or develop one soon after beginning the course. Their proposed business plan is then put through a "feasibility study"—which Muse said ensures that students are not confusing hobbies with businesses—after which students are guided through the necessary steps toward making their business a reality.

In addition to lectures, which are held every Saturday morning, students are taken on field trips to explore successful area businesses and are able to intern at existing businesses in the mall, while participating in the planning stages of future undertakings, including a bottled water company.

The 9 month course costs $2,625.

In response to an "inundation" of phone calls and e-mails from around the country as well as interest in the school expressed to Winston during his travels around the world, Muse said, the school is working to develop an interactive component which would allow students to view videotaped lectures and complete the course online.

Those who need some extra guidance after graduating from the school are able to rent space in the JosephCenter’s "incubator program," also located on the lower level of the Forest Park Mall. There, students are able to rent office space at a nominal fee for up to two years, taking advantage of secretarial support and business consultation offered through the center.

"Most entrepreneurs who don’t succeed either don’t have a strong plan or are undercapitalized," said Muse. "We can assist with that."

Muse joined the Living Word congregation in 1997 after visiting the church with his sister, who was already a member. He soon began volunteering and "before I knew it was spending more time volunteering than on my own business, and from there it evolved into a full-time paid position."

More information on the school is available at www. josephcenter.com.

Pastor as entrepreneur

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

4/4/200610:00:00 PM

FPR file photo
Bill Winston speaks at a conference at LivingWordChristianCenter in 2002.

Pastor as entrepreneur
Minister’s conference at Living Word

By TOM HOLMES

If your pastor told you that he/she was going to a conference for ministers who want to improve their performance as clergy, what would you tell him/her to study? Would you say preaching or administration or counseling?

The message at the 2006 Ministers and Missions Conference, March 29-31, at LivingWordChristianCenter was that what is needed is a complete paradigm shift. Bishop Tudor Bismark, one of the conference speakers, declared that ministers needed to get out of churchianity, or to stop using old ways of doing things as a means for solving problems that have never been seen before.

The model promoted at the conference was the church as a business and the pastor as an entrepreneur. Bismark argued in effect that if you are on the Titanic, you don’t need to learn how to improve the menu or to rearrange the deck chairs. What you need is a new ship. He called it a new system to meet the challenges of these changing times.

Right now in Forest Park there are three kinds of polity or organization at play in congregations. One is known as congregational polity. Much like a New England town meeting, every member in this kind of congregation has a vote. The members of the congregation own the church building and have the power to hire and fire the pastor. Likewise, the pastor has to gain permission from the congregation for any major changes in the life of the church.

A second model is called Episcopal polity. In this model, the diocese owns the church building and appoints and removes the pastor. The pastor needs to gain permission from the bishop before making any major changes.

In the model Dr. Bill Winston is advocating, however, the pastor as entrepreneur asks permission from no one before making significant changes. Like a CEO of a corporation, the pastor has the authority to make quick decisions in response to rapidly changing markets. The only vote members have is with their feet. They either attend or go somewhere else on Sunday morning. And if a critic might protest that the church should not be a business, Pastor Winston can respond that Living Word has five times as many people at worship on Sunday morning than all of the others churches in town combined.

Tudor Bismark offered the analogy of a car to communicate this new model of being church. He said that a Mercedes is a quality car because of two things. It has a quality body which he referred to as the model and at the top of the line it has a powerful twelve cylinder engine which he called the prophetic driver. The model, if we follow the analogy, is the congregation organized as a business and the engine or prophetic driver is the pastor.

The pastor as prophetic driver must have several characteristics. One is thinking big. Bill Winston came to Forest Park almost twenty years ago with only twelve people in his congregation, but he had a vision for much bigger things. Now he is the pastor of a congregation of 15,000 members, which worships in a 2,800 seat auditorium and is the owner of a 13 acre site which includes a shopping mall.

Tudor Bismark challenged the 500 pastors and church leaders at the conference to go back home, find the biggest building in your town, buy it and stretch their ministries to fill the building. Mark Muse, the director of the JosephCenterBusinessSchool at Living Word, informed the participants at his workshop that Living Word had already outgrown the present site and is planning to move to a large campus at sometime in the future.

Another characteristic the entrepreneur needs is authority. Several times during the conference the main speakers could be heard using language like "God told me" or "the Spirit informed me" or "I command that ..." Bismark at one point declared, "I command that Living Word will grow to have 50,000 members, have a stadium size worship center, own its own communication satellite and its own TV studio." And, he added, all obstacles to this happening will be removed by the Fourth of July this summer.

A third characteristic of the prophetic driver is faith. "We are believing God to provide ..." is a statement heard often at Living Word. That is, Pastor Winston believes that God will provide the financing for ministries that are consistent with a prophetic vision. Winston once said that no chicken has given its life to build LivingWordChristianCenter. In other words, he did not rely on chicken dinners or bake sales to raise money for the church.

Fourth, pastors who want to "take it to the next level" must have a global vision. Among the main speakers were Bishop Tudor Bismark from Zimbabwe and Dr. Jorge Lopez from Guatemala.

A fifth characteristic of successful pastor-entrepreneurs is that they demand excellence. In fact, the theme of the conference this year was Excellence in Ministry. Printed on the conference schedule was a tagline to the theme: "excellence, n: The attention to detail that gives rise to superior performance which leads to promotion in life."

The Rev. Dr. William Winston demands excellence at Living Word. If you ever watched him relate to his staff, you will see a CEO who is respectful of his people but demands that they perform. If they don’t, they won’t be working at Living Word. Bill Winston ministries has the best of everything. It’s worth the "price of admission" just to hear the band. Four TV cameras project images on the two huge screens flanking the stage and recording his teaching for later broadcast. Even volunteer ushers are all dressed in suits and are professional in the performance of their duties.

If the pastor is the engine of the Mercedes, the top of the line automobile must also have a body of the highest quality. In other words, the church must be organized as a high performance system. The model is that of a Fortune 500 corporation.

In his workshop, Mark Muse said that Pastor Winston’s vision for the church is that it would meet all of the people’s needs: spiritual, physical and economic. For example, in addition to the kinds of ministries found in most congregations like Sunday school, ushers, pastoral care and music, Living Word conducts ten what they call non-traditional departments and ministries. They have a housing ministry which provides education in areas like finance, credit, home ownership and home maintenance. The housing ministry description provided by Living Word states that its objective is to "rebuild and revitalize the West side of Chicago and the West Suburbs."

Living Word runs the JosephCenter, with the purpose to "develop Godly leaders with character, wealth and the obedience to do business God’s way." It operates a K-8th grade day school, a store in the mall called David Samuel which seeks to provide "Christian clothing," the Royal Christian Book Stores, and a bottled water company call Rain Fresh, which director Joseph Bender says is as the closest thing to the water available in the Garden of Eden. And, soon after May 18, Living Word says it will open the New Covenant Community Bank.

Muse noted that through these kinds of ministries, Living Word has created hundreds of jobs and generated thousands of dollars in tax revenues for the village. In addition, these ministries teach people to fish for a lifetime instead of giving people a fish for a day, or instead of giving charity to people, Living Word tries to empower people for success.

Workshop titles included Developing Volunteer Excellence, Breaking the Non-Profit Church Paradigm, Using Technology to Advance the Kingdom, Developing a Pre-Marital Curriculum, Developing Global Vision, and Kingdom Business: The Role of Entrepreneurship in the Church. Every participant in the conference received a CD-ROM in the packet they got as the registered. It contained a whole "tool kit" of ministry descriptions, form templates and sample policy guidelines.

Printed on the cover of the CD-Rom were the words, Excellence In Ministry: Following God’s Blueprint For Ministry Success

Living Word Christian Center ‘looking and praying’ for new location

Tue, 11 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

4/11/2006 10:00:00 PM
Living Word Christian Center ‘looking and praying’ for new location
Congregation has outgrown current facility; no word on future of retail space

By TOM HOLMES
Bishop Tudor Bismark had hinted at the possibility earlier in the Ministers Conference when he predicted that Living Word Christian Center would be moving into a 20,000 seat auditorium and that all obstacles would be removed by the Fourth of July this summer.
Mark Muse, the director of Living Word’s Joseph Center for Business Development, said it straight out at the workshop he was leading on March 30. Living Word had outgrown its present facility on Roosevelt Road and was looking for a new site on which to build a campus for all its ministries.
Muse explained that right now the congregation needs to schedule three services in their 2,800 seat auditorium every Sunday in order to accommodate the over 6,000 people who worship there every week. Pastor Bill Winston would prefer to have the whole congregation present at one time.
In addition, Living Word and Bill Winston ministries are scattered over several sites in the near western suburbs. The offices are located at 7306 Madison Street. The auditorium, book store and Joseph Center are in the Forest Park Mall on Roosevelt Road. And the elementary day school is in Bellwood.
Muse said that though no site had as of yet been identified, Pastor Winston realized that the present site was no longer large enough and that he was in the process of looking for a new site. As far as he knew, no decisions had been made regarding Living Word’s for profit businesses in the mall or whether the mall would be put up for sale.
Winston, a native of Tuskegee, Ala., started his ministry in 1989 with a congregation of 12. As the congregation grew, he began the process of converting the Forest Park Mall into a "one stop shop for the spirit, soul and body."
In recent months, this has included the November opening of David Samuel, a high end clothing store, which joined establishments such as the Royal Christian Bookstore and Ultra Foods grocery store in the revitalized mall. Winston has said he will open New Covenant Community Bank in 2006 and a health care clinic geared toward uninsured or underinsured people who need basic medical treatment in the near future.
The Joseph Center, which has operated in the lower level of the mall since 1998, provides nine-week courses in business administration as well as an "incubator" program which allows students to rent office space at a nominal fee for up to two years and offers secretarial support and business consultation through the center while attempting to get their business off the ground.

Illinois church to refurbish

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Montgomery Advertiser, The (AL)
Montgomery Advertiser (AL)
June 7, 2006
Illinois church to refurbish
Author: David Irvin Montgomery Advertiser
Edition: 01
Section: B
Page: 08
Estimated printed pages: 2
Article Text:
dirvin@gannett.com

Tuskegee mall Jordan Crossing Shopping Center has lost its two major anchors and most of its smaller shops
An Illinois-based megachurch will begin refurbishing the Jordan Crossing Shopping Center in Tuskegee this month, about a year after it purchased the property.

The religious group's founder and pastor, Bill Winston, is a Tuskegee native. He wants to help revitalize the mall and generate jobs in the area.
"Our vision is to attract national businesses and retailers, provide jobs for local residents and restart the increased flow of money and other resources back into the community," Winston said in a news release.

Before starting the Living Word Christian Center in 1990, Winston distinguished himself as an Air Force pilot and businessman.
Kim Clay, a spokeswoman for the Living Word, said the church will revitalize and "remodelize" the property, making it more modern in its style and amenities.

But most of all, she said, the religious organization wants to rebuild the community.

Diane White, grants administrator for the city of Tuskegee, said since its construction in 1982, Jordan Crossing has lost its two major anchors and most of its smaller shops.

"It's not in bad shape, it's just empty," White said.

The 12-acre Tuskegee mall is the second property owned and managed by the church. The church first purchased Forest Park Plaza, a 33-acre shopping mall in Forest Park, Ill., and brought in tenants like Kmart, Taco Bell, Quizno's Subs and several apparel stores.

The church's properties are operated under a separate, for-profit entity set up by church management. Profits from its business go toward fueling the church's ministries and to building up the existing properties, officials said.

A groundbreaking ceremony at Jordan Crossing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday.

Record Number: mnt14042649

Officials in symbolic breaking of ground for Washington Plaza in Tuskegee

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 00:00:00 GMT

A kingdom on Earth

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT

10/3/200610:00:00 PM

Book signing: Bill Winston appeared at Wal-Mart recently to sign his newly released book.
Photos by Frank Pinc

Sermon: Bill Winston preaches to a crowd of worshippers.

A kingdom on Earth
Living Word pastor Bill Winston has amassed his own fortune through prayer and says you can too

By TOM HOLMES

Dr. Bill Winston, the pastor of LivingWordChristianCenter, has been successful at almost everything he has attempted in ministry. His Christian center has grown from a dozen members to more than 15,000 within 20 years. His daily television program, "Believer's Walk of Faith" can be seen on the BET Network, Daystar Network, The Word Network and the God Channel.

He has rejuvenated the mall on Roosevelt Road, opened a 250-student elementary school, started a bank and is trying to revitalize a mall in his home town of Tuskegee, Ala.

Crains Chicago estimated the annual income of all of Winston's ministries to be $10 million.

Now, in his first hardcover book "The Kingdom of God in You," Winston is attempting to provide an instructional manual outlining the principles he said have led to his own success.

"Under the pressures of the world's system, we may be struggling with rent or car notes," Winston writes. "However, with the knowledge of the kingdom, we can get the struggle out of our lives. When we operate in God's system there is more than enough for us… The kingdom allows us to live as though we were already in heaven."

Hundreds of mostly Living Word members stood in line at Wal-Mart on Sept. 23 Winston's book signing event. Many admitted to not having read the book but were there because "we love our pastor" and wanted to support him.

Kim Clay, director of marketing and communications at Living Word, said 16,000 copies have sold since the book became available in August.

Winston's message-in his book as well as in his preaching-is fairly simple. He views the world as having two competing systems, the kingdom of God and Satan's kingdom, and people have to choose under whose rule they want to live. Satan's kingdom, according to Winston, is built on lies.

God's kingdom delivers what Satan can only promise-real prosperity. What he exhorts his people to do is switch kingdoms.

"As you trust in God and His Word…the kingdom of God inside of you is designed to produce for you everything you have need of in this earth in abundance," Winston writes. "You can literally tap into an inexhaustible supply from heaven and live like heaven on earth. All you need to do is switch from the world's system to God's system!"

For Winston, becoming a citizen of God's kingdom is like becoming the owner of a house in which all of the closets contain everything you would ever need. The trick is finding the key to unlock the closet doors. The key, he teaches, is the Word of God and faith.

"Jesus gave us all authority in His name," Winston writes. "Yes, He knows [what we need], but He is waiting for us to express our faith by praying His Word and will into the earth… He wants to bless us financially, but if we never pray His Word over our job in faith, He has nothing to work with."

Living Word's pastor uses his own life to illustrate his teaching.

In his book there is a story about the time he felt called to leave his job at IBM and go into ministry full-time. At first he could not respond to the call, because he was too "bound to the world's system." But finally, Winston said he received the revelation that he couldn't have it both ways. He quit his job immediately and trusted God completely. That decision, according to Winston, was the key that unlocked the door to God's abundance.

Many of the Living Word members standing in line at the book signing had similar testimonies to share. Sheila Johnson, a Living Word member for the last seven years, said since she began giving 10 percent of her income to God through the church, she has purchased a home and gained financial security. She said people never go broke when they're living in the kingdom of God.

William Miller has been with Living Word for four years. He watched the Roosevelt Road mall die and then come back to life when Winston took over. He said putting his pastor's principles to work in his life has helped him prosper.

"There's definitely been an increase in my life since I've been under his ministry-spiritually and financially and in relationships with my family," Miller said. "It's working. The Word is working through him."

When Winston exhorts his people to switch systems, he is departing from the road traveled by most churches in this country. Conservative churches tend to idealize the American way of life, saying that the founding fathers were inspired by God when they wrote the Constitution.

That is why they want to conserve the system which is already there.

Liberal churches in contrast, want to change the system to make it more just and compassionate. More radical than both conservatives and liberals, Winston wants to replace the system altogether.

"The highest worldly kingdom…is an authoritarian…type government in which one ruler rules the kingdom," Winston writes in his new book. "The kingdom of God is a theocracy, not a democracy, because the One Lord is in charge."

Winston's solution to poverty and blighted neighborhoods, for example, is neither welfare nor welfare reform but putting the kingdom of God in the hearts of people who live there. God is not in the business of "financing poverty" but of destroying it, according to Winston.

Winston has acknowledged criticisms for becoming rich at the expense of his parishioners. When he preaches the necessity of sowing a seed, he is asking parishioners to give 10 percent of their income to his ministry. To his critics, Winston said that, sure, he has made a good living preaching the message of prosperity, but primarily his ministry is not about enriching himself.

When parishioners sow their seed of financial giving to their church, God multiplies what they have given back to them, Winston said. And the fact is it takes money to spread the Word of God around the world.

"I understand the vision and the concept of prosperity," Miller said as he waited in line for his book to be signed. "We need prosperity for God's covenant to go out throughout the whole world. My understanding of prosperity is that we are blessed to be a blessing. It's not just for your self. There is a greater purpose than just to have the bling-bling."

Economic Empowerment Summit

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Church-ownership a miracle for mall ; Once downtrodden site gets a revival

Mon, 28 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Church-ownership a miracle for mall ; Once downtrodden site gets a revival
[Chicagoland Final Edition]
Chicago Tribune - Chicago, Ill.
Author: Russell Working
Date: May 28, 2007
Start Page: 1
Section: News
Text Word Count: 1345
Document Text

The front side of the Forest Park Mall could belong to any shopping center on Roosevelt Road. Behind a stucco facade, customers hunt for groceries at Ultra Foods, shower curtains at Kmart, phones at a US Cellular store.

But enter the mall and follow the beat of a gospel band, and you'll find yourself in a 3,500-seat sanctuary where worshipers from the Living Word Christian Center are clapping and singing hallelujahs. Rev. Bill Winston preaches while cameras project his image on giant video screens.

This is the landlord's side of the building.

Combining Bible and business acumen, Living Word has transformed what was once an eyesore listed on a Web site called Deadmalls.com into a thriving if unusual hybrid: half mega-church, half shopping mall.

Since the nondenominational church bought the dying mall in 1998, Living Word has more than doubled to 15,000 members while creating a facility divided between a state-of-the-art worship center and the church's commercial subsidiary at 7600 W. Roosevelt Rd.

Both sides of the mall speak to the church's mission: not only saving souls, but also modeling economic development for a largely black congregation. Living Word has established a business school, a broadcast media center, a Christian bookstore, a kindergarten- through-8th-grade academy and its own clothing stores selling business apparel.

The church-owned Forest Park Plaza Inc., which runs the mall, has built a new facade for the building and earns rent from tenants like Kmart and Old Country Buffet.

"I truly believe that if a person is a Christian, that they, according to the Scriptures, are the seed of Abraham," Winston says. "And as the seed of Abraham, everything I lay my hand to is going to prosper."

Along the way, Living Word has transformed a block that village officials had feared would become a blight on a major commercial strip in the western suburb.

"Pastor Winston and his team have just done a phenomenal job," Forest Park Mayor Anthony Calderone said. "The mall was absolutely deserted when Living Word purchased that property. ... It was terrible, absolutely terrible."

The revival has had a spinoff effect. Winston says the mall sustains 400 jobs and creates $100 million a year in taxable income, a figure Calderone says sounds about right.

Living Word is trying to replicate its mall-church at a 12-acre shopping center it bought in 2005 in Winston's hometown of Tuskegee, Ala. And his ambitions go even further. The church has raised nearly $5 million in its attempt to buy a bank, and it is planning to start a military academy.

A new water-bottling plant, which will double as a teaching model for students at the business school, is expected to be running this summer. Winston is chairman of the bank and is listed as principal in most of the church's enterprises.

Business interests like Living Word's are more common in black congregations than white, says John N. Vaughan of Church Growth Today, a mega-church research and consulting center in Bolivar, Mo. Whereas major white churches tend to shy away from economic ventures, African-American churches have promoted economic empowerment by establishing credit unions, retirement centers, and even, in the case of a church in Houston, a shopping mall.

"The black pastor has been a champion for their people since they came out of slavery," Vaughan says. "Within the African-American community, this is much more common because it is part of their DNA to be socially responsive."

The man behind the mall's revival was born in 1943 in the hometown of the Tuskegee Airmen, America's first African-American military pilots.

The town was home to what is now Tuskegee University, established by one of Winston's heroes, Booker T. Washington. A former slave, Washington taught that blacks needed to pursue their own economic advancement to achieve civil rights -- a philosophy that influenced Winston.

After graduating from Tuskegee in 1967, Winston entered the Air Force and served as a fighter pilot in Vietnam. In March 1971, he piloted an F-4E Phantom that struck anti-aircraft batteries deep in North Vietnamese territory. The mission won him the Distinguished Flying Cross.

After the Air Force, Winston worked for IBM's Minneapolis office, he says. While at the company, he met his wife and fellow pastor, Veronica, and they married in 1983 (they have three children). Winston was called to the ministry in 1984, beginning at a church in Minneapolis. He attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa for several months in 1996 but did not receive a degree, the school reports. He also studied at Logos Bible School.

Winston's book, "The Kingdom of God in You," says he earned an honorary doctorate from Friends International Christian University, a California-based school whose accreditation is not recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Reached by phone, a university official said it by policy cannot confirm the degrees it awards, but Winston is listed on its Web site as an alumnus.

Living Word opened in 1988, and its first church was in a windowless building in a high-crime West Side neighborhood. The door was propped open for ventilation. Rumbling trucks interrupted the sermons.

The low point came when someone stole Winston's Oldsmobile. "We were in there having a service one night, and came out, and the car was gone," he says. "I tell people that we were casting out demons and one of them got out there and drove my car away."

The church promises its followers strength in their battles with Satan. A prayer formerly posted on the church's Web site offered the power to break free from "curses, fetishes, charms, vexes, hexes, spells, every jinx, all psychic powers, sorcery, bewitchments, enchantments, witchcraft, love potions, and psychic prayers that have been put upon me, back to ten generations on both sides of my family."

The talk about empowerment through faith isn't limited to the church. Downstairs in the mall, the Joseph Business Center is directed by Mark Muse, who holds an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. The center offers a nine-month program for $2,600, and it hosts seminars ranging from investing in gold to starting a business. This year, 66 students were scheduled to graduate.

The church plugs the center through video infomercials during services. This caught the attention of Quentin and Akilah Townsend, former Romeoville residents who own a real estate company in Georgia. In 2004, the couple bought the Atlanta Vision -- an American Basketball Association franchise -- for $500,000. The team made its first profit this season, he said.

"We wouldn't have bought the basketball team without the education that we received from the Joseph Business School," Quentin Townsend said. "It taught us how to identify a business structure. So we felt comfortable moving forward as far as looking at the financials, looking at the performance."
The churchgoers have made a difference at both Kmart -- the sole anchor left in the mall when the church moved in -- and at its nearby competitor, Wal-Mart. Both stores report an increased customer flow, especially on Sunday.

"At services, Winston demonstrates the kind of faith, charisma and fundraising skills that allowed the church to buy and revive a $5 million mall. He leads worshipers from the Garden of Eden to the Gospel of Mark as they call out "Amen!" and "That's right!"

Members will need to pitch in to fix the heating and air- conditioning system, he says. He believes they can raise the cash in three weeks. They need $236,000.

"Say to your neighbor, 'That's nothing,'

" Winston tells the crowd.

"THAT'S NOTHING!"

It is faith like this that has turned the Forest Park Mall into a marketplace for both Bible and business. And Winston has ambitions of promoting these products beyond his congregation.

"I tell people if I can get you fixed on the inside," he says, "you can go to your neighborhood and fix it on the outside."

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rworking@tribune.com
Credit: By Russell Working, Tribune staff reporter
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Abstract (Document Summary)
"At services, Winston demonstrates the kind of faith, charisma and fundraising skills that allowed the church to buy and revive a $5 million mall. He leads worshipers from the Garden of Eden to the Gospel of Mark as they call out "Amen!" and "That's right!"
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.