Mega-churches and charismatic Christianity are often thought of as characteristically American phenomena. That isn’t always the case – the Toronto Blessing, as the name suggests, was a revival movement taking its inspiration from the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship in Canada.
There are also mega-churches north of the border, though generally smaller and fewer in number than those found among our neighbours to the south. In 2007, the Toronto Star published an important investigation of one such Canadian church, the Prayer Palace:
[T]he three white pastors – Paul Melnichuk and his 40-year-old twin sons, Tim and Tom – lead lavish lives in contrast to the mainly working-class black families that make up the bulk of the church.
Between them, the pastors have amassed a real estate fortune worth about $12 million. Each owns a multi-million-dollar country estate north of Toronto (Tim’s is worth as much as $5.5 million), they share a Florida vacation villa, and the pastors and their wives drive luxurious cars – among them a Porsche Cayenne SUV, a Lexus RX 330 SUV and a Mercedes-Benz CLK 320 convertible…
The Star went on to reveal further dubious financial practices, including enormous salaries and grand houses for the pastors, and the mysterious purchase of a church and properties in Florida.
The investigative report prompted protests outside the gates of the church, and defiance within. The next Sunday, senior pastor Paul Melnichuk taunted the media, promised to make a response after engaging a special PR team, and then reveled in a demonstration of loyalty:
Within moments, a woman in a burnished gold dress and head-dress ran to the stage and slapped a $50 bill onto Melnichuk’s forehead.
The move was met with cheers and, following a request by a church volunteer, congregation members started throwing money at Melnichuk’s feet.
“First the funds go the church,” said the beaming pastor. “After that, if the folks want to bless me…”
The church volunteers, acting on Melnichuk’s instructions, divided the growing pile of cash into three collection buckets; the pastor then instructed a young member who is training to be a preacher to dip in and take out “a handful of cash.”
“I hope the media got a picture of me with a $50 bill stuck to my forehead,” Melnichuk laughed.
Media and bloggers, like Benediction Blogs On, watched askance, though others, like Catholic IDer and journalist Denyse O’Leary, defended the church, noting that subsequent audits apparently turned up nothing of great interest.
Have you blogged or written about the Prayer Palace or similar religious movements in Canada? Drop us a line and let us know if we can use and link your post in full or in part.
Further reading:
Benediction Blogs On. “Paul Melnichuk of the Prayer Palace Responds…“, March 13, 2007.
Religion News Blog. “Bradenton Church Owner Investigated,” March 7, 2007.
Spiritual Pathways Ministries. “Pastor Paul Melnichuk and the Prayer Palace,” February 20, 2009.
__________. “Should Pastor Paul Melnichuk Live in Palaces…?” December 27, 2007.
achievable ends (I had television business dealings with the subjects of the article in the ’80′s. I wish I was shocked.)
If the taxation department says they are doing nothing wrong and the 90% black in the mega church are happy been ripped off. The wealthy bastards may be preaching onething and doing another.
God will have the last laugh, this is His world and He is all wise.
Mega Church preacher in Toronto had 2 heart attacks. His wife also had a tripple by pass on her heart All withing the space of three years. They did not even tell their members. Other Church members heard about it from their Pastors who got the infomation from the horses mouth.
Believe me I am very healthy, let them keep the wealth and the bad hearts. Lets see how long they will last. Will they beable to take the mansions, monies and cars with them.
I wonder what God will say to them when they meet Him face to face.
They are all going somewhere, Their flames are getting hotter by the minutes.
POOR FOLKS WILL BE LAUGHING AT THEM AS THEY SUFFER WHEN THE DEVIL GIVE THEM IRON DUMPLING TO EAT.
The good men do lives after them. They have trained their members with lots of fear. Their dogs will sniff them out of the Church if they do not agree with these robbers.
We do not have to do Gods Job. A God who has built a world like this and tells man to use it for a while has made sure that unworthy robbers have to leave it all.
We definitely make a choice in our daily Christian walk. We choose what to believe and not to believe. We choose if we believe in what we see or we believe in God.
IT IS A PITY THAT YOU ALL DON’T HAVE ANY KNOWLEDGE NOR EXPERIENCE IN WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A PART OF A CHURCH, A REAL ANOINTED HOUSE OF GOD, THE PRAYER PALACE CHURCH. PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN TO POINT FINGERS AND BLAME ANYONE ESPECIALLY PASTORS OF A CHURCH ABOUT THEIR OWN LIVES, WHICH THEY HAVE CONTROL OF. ATTENDING CHURCH, OCCUPYING SPACE ON A PEW WITH YOUR BIBLE OPENED DOES NOT AT ALL MEAN YOU WILL BE BLESSED. SHAME ON YOU IF YOU THINK THIS! DO YOU CALL YOURSELF A CHILD OF GOD?? YOU ARE NOT A BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIAN. YOU DO NOT HAVE A FULL UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORD. INSTEAD OF EASILY BLAMING PASTORS WHO HAVE ONLY WORKED HARD ALL THEIR LIVES AND CONTINUOUSLY DOING SO (THE MELNICHUKS) FOR NOT MAKING YOU A SUCCESSFUL INDIVIDUAL, YOU’VE GOT IT ALL WRONG MY FRIEND. I SUGGEST YOU PRAY HARDER AND BEGIN AT GENESIS! THIS IS THE ONLY WAY YOU WILL UNDERSTAND! DO NOT TURN TO MAN FOR UNDERSTANDING! ALL YOUR ANSWERS ARE IN FRONT OF YOU. JUST ASK JESUS TO SHOW YOU AND YOU SHOULD EXTEND YOUR HEART TO HIS. STARTING READING! TURN TO GOD, THROUGH OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR, JESUS. AMEN.
What in the world are you talking about anonymous? Did you come over to make Christians look bad?
A lot of sound and fury! After all the investigations and allegations it was found that the Melnichuks did nothing illegal. The Star exaggerated most of the “facts”. Will the Star ever apologize for the lies and innuendos?
The Prayer Palace continues to be successful. The pastors’ salaries are roughly equivalent to those of elementary teachers, so much ado about nothing. Of course a lot of us enjoy kicking other when they are down.