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Boot camp for the spiritual battle

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 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."

----------
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.

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

Area pastor puts business where his faith is

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT

The Call

Sun, 01 Jun 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Economic Empowerment Summit

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Preacher's purchase

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 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."

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.