The Potter’s House (also known as Victory Chapel, The Door, and Lighthouse – all part of Christian Fellowship Ministries, also called The Fellowship) presents itself as a mission-focused movement with thousands of churches worldwide. Less well known is how this organization operates financially, and what impact that has on both ordinary members and pastors.
This article examines the financial system of The Fellowship in three parts. In the first part, we look at why members of De Deur give: tithes, (love) offerings, and world evangelism. In the second part, we explain what the church does with that money (from local spending to donating large sums to higher levels within the organization). And in the third and final part, we take a look at the top of the pyramid: the mother church in Prescott, Arizona. There, questions arise about transparency and financial misconduct.
For this article, various official documents were consulted, including contracts and court records. In addition, several individuals (including former pastors and members) were interviewed about their experiences with the financial practices within this organization.
Everything discussed in this article concerns The Potter’s House and its global structures. Even when other names are used, they refer to the same movement and the same underlying organization.
1. Why do people give?
All members of The Potter’s House are expected to give ten percent of their gross income as tithes. These tithes are often seen as a test of obedience to God and to leadership. The principle of tithing is based on a specific interpretation of the Bible, which can be found here. In addition to tithes, members are regularly encouraged to give “(love) offerings”: voluntary donations for specific purposes such as conferences and world evangelism.
During the semiannual international Bible conferences of The Potter’s House, extensive attention is structurally given to collecting money. A special sermon, sometimes lasting up to 30 minutes, is often dedicated entirely to convincing attendees to give large amounts. These sermons frequently refer to savings women keep aside for emergencies such as a broken washing machine. Attendees are urged to give exactly that money to the church.
Some pastors are specifically known for these types of “offering sermons,” which strongly appeal to emotion and devotion. For example, it may be said that “the pastor has heard from God” that someone in the audience should give an amount of ten thousand or even one hundred thousand dollars. Spiritual promises are also linked to financial offerings, such as the claim that childless couples will receive a child from God if they give a specific amount.
Remarkably, The Potter’s House presents itself as a staunch opponent of so-called prosperity theology (the belief that financial blessing is a direct result of faith and giving to God). Well-known international prosperity preachers such as Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, and Joel Osteen are often portrayed within The Potter’s House as deceivers. Yet in practice, The Potter’s House shows striking similarities to these movements. During conferences and offering moments, members are consistently told that financial offerings will lead to spiritual and material blessings. Those who give generously will “receive back” from God (sometimes even in the form of a job, a miracle, or a child). In essence, The Potter’s House preaches the same message it claims to oppose.
In practice, this means that many members structurally give more than 10% of their income to the church, often under moral pressure and with the prospect of a supernatural reward. The financial burden is heavy, while the promised blessing is not guaranteed (and the ultimate destination of their money is rarely explained transparently).
In some cases, a special offering is held for something like a new church building, but when the pastor later attends the conference in Prescott, it has happened more than once that the money (despite the agreed purpose) is handed over in full to the main church in Arizona. The local church members are then expected to give again to still be able to purchase a new building.
One example of this is described in chapter 4 of the book Escaping the Potter’s House, in which someone gave eighty thousand dollars to a pastor who had announced he was going to start a church in Papua New Guinea. When those plans were unexpectedly canceled, the money had vanished. The donor, a successful businessman, received no explanation and began to question where the money had actually gone.
There are other examples where large sums strangely disappeared. Sometimes, during conferences, a large sum is raised in one evening for the sending out of a missionary couple. There are known cases where these missionaries ultimately never left (the reason was not clearly communicated), and the collected money remained unaccounted for. In one specific case, a missionary couple in Virginia was told at the last minute that the promised funds were “no longer available” after thousands of dollars had been raised for them.
2. What does the church do with that money?
An example of how The Potter’s House handles collected funds takes place in the United States. When Sophie Libemday (formerly Foley), chair of the nonprofit Escaping the Potter’s House, filed for divorce from John Foley (son of prominent pastor Kevin Foley) in 2023, The Potter’s House did everything it could to keep parental custody with John.
Officially, the church did not arrange a lawyer. But in practice, John was indeed represented by a legal team often hired by churches from The Fellowship. These lawyers are known for defending men in divorce cases, aiming to secure custody of the children (even in cases involving domestic violence). He was also supported with church funds through a construction where he was paid under the table for work he supposedly did for the church. This allowed him to keep his reported income artificially low and thus minimize his child support obligations.
The financial support was arranged by the church in McMinnville (under the leadership of Kevin Foley). According to Sophie’s statement, John received up to $20,000, supposedly as “family support” intended for Sophie and the children, but in reality used to finance John’s legal battle.
This situation shows how The Fellowship’s income is not used for “the work of God” but for protecting power structures within the church. Under the guise of “support,” men are favored in legal conflicts, while their ex-partners (often without a lawyer) must fight against church-funded opposition. No accountability is given, no transparency is provided, and the actual destination of the money is obscured through informal payments.
Churches and foundations are required to spend money as previously communicated to donors. This means that when money is raised for a specific purpose (such as a new carpet, missions, or a church building), it must legally be spent on that purpose. If an organization does not do so, it may constitute deception or even fraud.
In the Netherlands, foundations with ANBI status are required to publish an annual public report. This must include how much money comes in and how it is spent. But in practice, these annual reports often give little insight into the actual spending. For example, The Door Zwolle publishes a yearly report stating that €935,085 was spent on “world evangelism” and €328,411 on “conference costs.” What exactly falls under these categories remains completely unclear. No specification or substantiation of the costs is given. Thus, there is no transparency about how tithes and offerings are actually spent.
In the United States, where The Potter’s House is registered as a nonprofit, there are also legal obligations. Religious institutions are normally required to file an annual Form 990 with the IRS, detailing their income, expenses, and compensation. The Potter’s House has never done this. As a result, there is no oversight of their financial activities (a serious shortcoming for a religious organization that receives millions worldwide through tithes and offerings).
It is also notable that The Potter’s House congregations worldwide operate within a system of mother and daughter churches (also called “baby churches”). A mother church plants new churches and then continues to oversee the daughter congregations. This structure is partly maintained by an upward financial obligation: each daughter church passes on tithes from its congregational income to the mother church. Those mother churches in turn pass tithes to the church they originated from. This chain ultimately leads to the mother church in Prescott, Arizona.
This financial model bears strong similarities to what in the commercial world is known as a pyramid scheme or multi-level marketing (MLM). Within this structure, every participant financially contributes to a higher level. The financial obligations are structural, often morally binding, and based on obedience to the organization. The top (Prescott) receives money flows from thousands of congregations worldwide without passing any of it on to a higher level.
Within the organization, there is blind trust in the idea that the mother church in Prescott handles the worldwide tithe flows ethically. It is assumed that this money is needed to financially support new churches (the so-called baby churches). In practice, however, we hear stories from pastors of such baby churches who have to contribute from their own pockets, often without any structural help from Prescott. They invest their own savings, bear double costs, and live on the edge, simply because they believe in the work they are doing. This stark discrepancy raises a fundamental question: what does Prescott really use all those tithes for? And what if, contrary to what has always been claimed, they are not ethical at all with the money collected worldwide?
3. What does Prescott do with all that money?
After members give and local and regional churches pass on funds, a substantial portion of the financial flow ultimately ends up at the main church in Prescott, Arizona (without them having to pass on money to a mother church). Within The Potter’s House, it is often assumed that Prescott uses this money ethically and responsibly for purposes that promote world evangelism. But how are these funds really spent? In this part, we investigate where the money actually goes (and we come across shocking stories and documents that cast doubt on the integrity of the leadership).
3a. $750,000 in legal costs for a building worth $85,000
In 2000, Wayman Mitchell, founder of the international umbrella organization Christian Fellowship Ministries (CFM), of which The Potter’s House is part, filed a lawsuit against a local pastor in Fiji, Lawrence Gregory. The dispute was over the ownership of a church building that Gregory had purchased himself. Mitchell demanded that the building be placed in the name of Christian Fellowship Ministries (CFM). The case dragged on until 2021, when the Supreme Court in Fiji definitively rejected Christian Fellowship Ministries’ (CFM) claim. The judge ruled that the ownership rights would not be changed and that Gregory would remain the rightful owner.
The judgment dismisses the main claims with the words: “I decline.” The judge recognized Gregory’s ownership and fully rejected Christian Fellowship Ministries’ (CFM) claim.
According to a witness, the organization spent about $500,000 in legal fees to claim a $40,000 building. Not because of the value of the property itself, but (as stated) to “make a point.”
This case illustrates how members’ contributions, collected under religious motives, are in some cases used for long-term legal proceedings and attempts to maintain control within the organization. Not for social aid, relief work, or community support, but for institutional control over property and loyalty.
3b. $5,000,000 spent in a real estate deal that never existed
One of the most unclear and controversial financial issues within Christian Fellowship Ministries (CFM) concerns a five-million-dollar real estate investment made by the founding pastor of The Potter’s House: Wayman Mitchell. At the time, Mitchell was reportedly in the early stages of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s when he was approached by local businessmen with an investment proposal that later turned out to be a scam. To this day, it remains unclear whether the money came from Mitchell’s personal funds or from church funds.
If it was personal money, that raises serious questions: how could a pastor with a supposedly modest income accumulate five million dollars to invest just like that? And if the money did come from the church, it is at least as serious: why, after the lawsuit was won (under the leadership of his son Greg Mitchell), was the amount not returned to the church but divided among Greg and his sisters? The lack of transparency, combined with the size of the amount, casts a serious shadow over the financial management within Christian Fellowship Ministries (CFM). Whether it was personal or church money: the absence of accountability at this level is a major red flag for leaders and members of The Potter’s House.
What if your gift funds injustice?
Members of The Potter’s House are encouraged to give generously. Tithes, offerings, and special contributions are presented as a spiritual duty and as an expression of obedience to God. This generosity is supported by the principle of stewardship: taking careful care of what God has entrusted to you.
In this article, we saw how proceeds can be redirected without explanation, how tithes from local congregations are passed on to an international top without any transparency, and how substantial amounts are used for legal power plays, personal interests, or even manipulative practices in custody cases. Members are often left financially exhausted, while the organization itself offers no transparency.
This raises a pressing question: what if your gift (no matter how well-intentioned) actually contributes to a system that enables injustice? What if your offering is not used to help people or reach the world with the gospel, but to maintain power structures or even harm individuals?
The lack of openness and accountability within Christian Fellowship Ministries (CFM) is a serious problem. Transparency about money flows is essential for any organization dependent on donations and trust. Anyone who gives should be able to expect that their gift ends up where it is needed (and does not disappear into a fog of ambiguity, power games, and personal enrichment).
Do you, as a (former) member, doubt your role or the purpose of your contribution? Do you feel pressured to give, or do you have questions about how the money is spent? Escaping the Potter’s House exists especially for (former) members, those in doubt, and others affected by The Fellowship. We believe that every (former) member holds a piece of the puzzle, and by talking together we can expose these abuses.
