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Without Walls Trying To Fill Void

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By BAIRD HELGESON and MICHELLE BEARDEN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 11, 2007

Special Report: Of Faith, Fame And Fortune

Randy White stood before the congregation of Without Walls International Church and fretted about paying the $38,000 power bill, just one of many bills coming due.

Speaking at a Sunday service in late October, the co-founder of the embattled megachurch said he would tally the weekend's offerings and decide which to pay.

He urged those in the sanctuary to give all they could.

These are not the best of times for Without Walls. Damaging revelations, one after another, have stung church faithful in recent months.

In May, Tampa Tribune reports revealed financial problems and broken promises at the nondenominational ministry, ranked as one of the fastest-growing in the nation in 2005. Then in August, church founders Randy and Paula White announced they would end their 18-year marriage.

The most potentially damaging news came last week when U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, challenged the ministry's nonprofit status and the Whites' lavish lifestyle. He requested detailed financial information on their expensive homes, cars, private jet and plastic surgeries. They have until Dec. 6 to comply.

The revelations have prompted one Christian radio personality to say the Whites must step down from their ministries.

"A divorce is an indication of deeply personal, spiritual struggles that would warrant a minister stepping aside," said Paul Edwards, who hosts a Christian radio program in Detroit that featured Paula White as a guest in October.

In the meantime, congregants are leaving and the offering baskets don't overflow like they used to.

In the church's heyday two years ago, those who didn't come early could expect to watch the 11 a.m. Sunday service from a television monitor in the lobby.

Today, latecomers find ample space in the cavernous sanctuary. At recent Sunday morning and evening services, worshippers barely filled half the seats.

Many who have followed the church wonder whether it will ever regain its vibrant ministry.

"I am waiting for the church to close," said Charles Lucas, a former member who attended for three years and participated in a program to identify leaders in the church.

Randy White offered a rosier picture.

The slump in attendance after the divorce announcement wasn't as bad as he had feared.

"We've lost 21 families, and offerings are down about 11 percent from the same time last year," he said in an interview this month. "Our church is going very strong and will continue to grow."

The couple finalized their split about a month ago, he said. He wouldn't say where the legal documents were filed, only that they're not in Hillsborough County.

Randy, 49, has no intention of leaving Without Walls, and he has put his plans for a Malibu, Calif., ministry on hold, he said. He also intends to make the church less independent and more involved in the community. This year, for the first time, it's joining several Bay area congregations in partnering with Metropolitan Ministries to provide food and volunteers for the shelter's annual holiday assistance program.

"We're still here, focusing on evangelism and restoration," he said.

That's not always easy, he acknowledged. On his darkest days, Randy does sometimes think, "I really don't need this in my life."

But then, he can't walk away from his calling - or his sheep.

"What people don't always realize is that I'm a successful businessman away from the church. You don't get the cars I drive or the houses I've owned with church offerings," he said. "But I wanted to remain faithful to my people, the way they've been faithful to me for 14 years."

The church difficulties are only part of it. His private heartbreak is even more consuming, he said.

His daughter Kristen, 30, had surgery for a malignant brain tumor. His father had open-heart surgery, and his daughter Angie, 28, was diagnosed with an ovarian tumor. All of that happened this year.

But Randy has reason to hope.

Kristen's prognosis is good. The surgery removed 90 percent of the tumor, and she's undergoing chemotherapy. Angie just found out she's pregnant with her second child. White's father, a retired minister, is on the mend.

The Loss Of Paula

In May, the Tribune published several stories about financial and legal troubles at the church, which reported a revenue of nearly $40 million in 2006. Along with facing at least five lawsuits stemming mostly from unpaid bills since 2000, the Whites borrowed $170,000 from an elderly widow in 1995 and did not keep promises to care for her or pay it back. The church also failed to give a home to a single mother who believed she won it in a 2002 church-sponsored contest.

The Whites have since paid back the widow and bought the mother a home.

The congregation weathered the allegations of financial mismanagement with minimal fallout, members said.

But the Whites' divorce dealt a blow. The split severed the spiritual bond of the pastoral union, Bishop Randy and Pastor Paula.

Paula, 41, enjoys enormous success as a televangelist and life coach, selling her story of overcoming childhood sexual abuse. Her powerful preaching and worldwide television ministry drew countless fans and admirers to their home church. With the divorce, she stepped down as church pastor, though Paula White Ministries keeps its headquarters at Without Walls.

Randy fashioned himself as the rock-star church CEO. He regularly preaches in jeans and designer shirts, and over the years he has driven a fleet of exotic luxury cars, most recently a Bentley convertible.

Some wonder whether the church can survive without Paula, who has a $3.5 million condominium in New York's Trump Tower and recently purchased a $681,000 home in San Antonio, Texas.

Several current and former attendees praised Randy for his vision and ideas, but they said he's no Paula. Her preaching filled the seats.

"He's a great ringmaster, but as a speaker of the word, well, no, that's not his thing," Lucas said.

Randy said it's difficult to compare styles.

"I consider myself a local pastor. Paula is a televangelist and life coach," he said. "People who sat under my teaching would probably say I'm the stronger preacher."

The proof is in the 4,000-seat sanctuary.

At three services the Tribune attended after the announcement of the couple's breakup, Without Walls never came close to filling the auditorium. Seats remained empty even with the arrival of the Rev. Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., who spoke at two services Oct. 21.

Richard Levy, who left Without Walls a couple of years ago to help his father start a church, said the ministry will recover.

Without Walls is essentially two churches, Levy and others said. The one Randy represents is showy, caters to high-profile members and is generally focused on money.

But the congregation quietly leads what some see as a second ministry. That church is an alliance of fiercely committed members who feed the community's hungry and care for the poor.

"The best part of the church has always been the people and the good deeds they do," Levy said.

That church, he added, continues to thrive.

$91 A Month

Having fewer people has meant less money for the ministry. The church is $22 million in debt, according to a 2006 audit. Randy attributed most of that to the purchase of the Lakeland campus and building Paula's television ministry.

Recently, Without Walls launched a fundraising campaign. Associate Pastor Dan Brockman told worshippers God had spoken about the debt to Randy, who was then inspired by a passage in Psalm 91.

"Because he loves me," says the Lord, "I will rescue him."

Brockman asked every family to pay $91 a month to clear the debt, and he passed out payment booklets.

Asked about Brockman's appeal, Randy said he "absolutely" didn't speak with God about paying off the debt.

"Danny just gets carried away in the moment. He gets inspirational," he said.

That said, Randy isn't shy about merging Scripture with dollars. The church wages similar stewardship campaigns every two years.

For those turned off by the church's emphasis on money, he makes no apologies.

"If you're unhappy, there are a lot of great churches in the community that don't focus on economic empowerment. We deal with a lot of indigent people who haven't been taught how to balance a checkbook. We're here to empower them and teach them about economics."

The troubles extend beyond declining attendance and offerings. The Whites' divorce, the second for both, polarized Christians nationally.

Critics in magazines, blogs and on the radio have lambasted the couple for preaching about the importance of marriage, then appearing so casual about the split. The Whites said they underwent counseling for several years but couldn't salvage the union. They said they remain the best of friends.

That angered many evangelical Christians who believe divorce is a last resort and justifiable only in the most abusive relationships.

Paula wasn't able to dodge the issue when she appeared on a Detroit Christian radio program in October to promote her new book, "You're All That!"

Edwards, the host, spent the first few minutes asking her about the breakup and its effect on the congregation. Paula tried to steer the conversation away from the topic.

Edwards, an ordained minister, has long taken issue with her preaching of the prosperity gospel, a theology that maintains God wants believers to be "abundantly successful" in every way, including financially.

Rather than answering Edwards' questions, Paula criticized him for not asking about the welfare of her stepdaughter Kristen, whom she described as having a "death sentence."

The outburst stunned Edwards.

In an interview with the Tribune last month, Paula declined to discuss her personal life. She said she preferred not to focus on the negative.

"Life is a constant transition," she said. "The challenge is how you handle leaving one thing and go on to another. It can be perceived as a loss, but most of the time, it really is a gain."

She said she's amazed by the success she has achieved, but she was quick to give credit to God.

"I so trust him," she said. "I am shocked at what Paula has done, but not what God has done."

The Whites' supporters remain fiercely loyal and see only good things ahead.

"Of course it hurts," said David Ramos, who has attended the church for 14 years. "But that doesn't change the mission of the church. We're still clothing the naked, feeding the poor and reaching out to the community."

Nga Robles said she and her husband, Anthony, owe everything to Without Walls. When they came to the church 14 years ago, she was a former stripper and he was a former drug dealer.

"They gave us a vision. We got the restoration," she said.

Today, the Robles own a house in upscale Cheval and are raising eight children - five of their own, two of Anthony's and another whose parent went to prison.

"Pastor Randy and Paula taught us everything we know about God, economics and living right," she said. "He particularly has been a hands-on pastor for us."

The sanctuary is starting to fill again, she said, and Randy is getting traction as the sole leader, she said.

"He's come back on fire," she said. "He's like the comeback kid."

A YEAR OF CHANGE

MAY: The Tampa Tribune reports that at least five lawsuits have been filed against the church since 2000, mostly for unpaid bills. The same month, the Tribune reports that church founders Randy and Paula White reneged on a promise to repay and care for Ruth McGinnis, an elderly widow who lent them $170,000 to buy a home. The paper also reports that Without Walls failed to give La- Shonda Dupree a home she believed she won in a church-sponsored essay contest in 2002.

AUG. 11: Without Walls buys a four-bedroom, two-bathroom Riverview home for DuPree and her four children. "Even though it didn't first happen the way I thought, I am thankful that it finally worked out," she said.

AUG. 22: McGinnis says the Whites repaid the money they owed her, with interest. "Everything's been settled between Pastor Randy and me," she said.

AUG. 23: Randy and Paula White announce at a service that they are divorcing after 18 years of marriage. They describe each other as best of friends but say their lives have taken different paths.

NOV. 5: U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, begins to investigate how church donations are spent at Without Walls, Paula White Ministries and five other multimillion-dollar ministries. The organizations must submit detailed financial information by Dec. 6 or face possible Senate hearings or an audit by the Internal Revenue Service.

Reporter Baird Helgeson can be reached at (813) 259-7668 or bhelgeson@tampatrib.com. Reporter Michelle Bearden can be reached at (813) 259-7613 or mbearden@tampatrib.com. Keyword: Without Walls, to read past stories.

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