“Howard-Browne apparently follows the same playbook as some of his fellow TV preachers who are running churches and ministries that are not accountable to the public or even to their own congregations,” Evans said. ![]() Religion has clearly been profitable for Howard-Browne and his family, said Pete Evans, an investigator for Trinity Foundation, a nonprofit church watchdog organization. The Greek revival mansion, with red brick facade and imposing white columns, sits on 26 acres. In 2004, the couple paid $1.8 million for a five-bedroom, six-bathroom home in Webster, just west of the Hernando-Sumter line, county records show. The River is not a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, an association that provides accreditation to churches that publicly disclose financial audits, among other requirements. It’s unclear how much the Howard-Brownes make from the ministry they’ve built.Ĭhurches are not required to disclose their spending. She and husband, Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne, right, founded the church in Tampa in 1996. Pastor Adonica Howard-Browne bursts into laughter as she leads a prayer at the River at Tampa Bay church on March 29. She said the word of God commands them to meet, and she believes the church took precautions to keep the congregation safe. Hall and her husband attended both services on March 29, two days after Hillsborough County officials approved a safer-at-home order. “Everyone that I know that has personally met and experienced the kindness of Pastor Rodney and Pastor Adonica have nothing but good things to say about him," Hall said. She called Howard-Browne “probably the most humble and generous man I have ever met in my life" and said he has given his own money to the needy. KrisAnne Hall, who has attended the church with her husband and son since 2012, said the church provides spiritual and physical nourishment to its congregation and community and has given her own family life-changing support and guidance.Ĭhurch volunteers feed some 900 families a week and visit poor neighborhoods to distribute food and other necessities like clothes, diapers and furniture, Hall said. The couple has conducted “soul-winning efforts” in 57 countries through campaigns, revivals and tours, according to the church. Howard-Browne called himself “the Holy Ghost Bartender.”Īlong with the River, the Howard-Brownes also co-founded and run Revival Ministries International, the River Bible Institute, the River School of Worship and the River School of Government. It was the start of a “Holy Ghost laughter” revival movement that would spread across the world. Howard-Browne’s visit lasted about four months, cameras rolling as he whipped up the crowds in the 10,000-seat sanctuary. "Rodney would just look at me and I’d go down on the power of God.” “I was on the carpet about half the time," Strader, who died last month at age 91, told the Tribune. As Howard-Browne walked the aisles preaching, pointing to people and urging them to drink of the Holy Spirit, some fell to the ground, convulsing in laughter. In 1993, Pastor Karl Strader invited him to speak at Carpenter’s Home Church in Lakeland. Howard-Browne spent most of the year on the road while his wife home-schooled the children in hotel rooms. citizens, established the Rodney Howard-Browne Evangelistic Association in Louisville, Ky. The Howard-Brownes, who eventually became U.S. Related: Coronavirus hoaxes, conspiracies and false reports: All of PolitiFact's coverage in one place He has called climate change “garbage" and claimed Donald Trump would delay the arrival of the New World Order and the Antichrist. Howard-Browne sprinkles scripture readings with conspiracy theories, and his own predictions and pronouncements. His actions have drawn the scorn of more mainstream pastors who call him a false prophet. Now a megachurch pastor and author, he has cast himself not just as a faith healer and evangelical saver of souls but also a crusader against what he describes as a globalist agenda to destroy the church and steal Americans’ liberty. His story began in his native South Africa, where he decided to come to America to spread God’s word. Howard-Browne’s sermons and nightly shows reach thousands on television and online, but he’s drawn little mainstream notice over the years. The next day, deputies showed up at Howard-Browne’s Hernando County mansion and arrested him for holding services, thrusting the church - and its pastor’s beliefs - into national headlines. Scores of people in the sanctuary shot to their feet and cheered. "We’re not worried about our life! We’re not worried about our safety!” ![]() “The church is not going to sit hiding on a back burner somewhere in some dark corner because the pastors lost the fire and are more worried about their life,” he shouted into a headset microphone.
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