At that March meeting, Smith reported that she had huddled with attorney Kirk Boersma of Tulsa. "In the current environment," the minutes noted, "it is important that we now have an ongoing relationship with an attorney to ensure that our organization is in compliance with the law in various areas as well as to prevent possible lawsuits."
Among the problems that wouldn't go away was the specter of property taxes. The board noted this potential tax liability of $10,000 a year on the commercial tenants, such as Le Peep, that still inhabited part of the mall: "We should expect to pay these taxes sooner or later."
Le Peep wasn't the only for-profit eatery on the premises. In June 1993 the board heard plans "to gear up our dining area" to include expanded activities such as a five-day-a-week hot-lunch program for the school, breakfast and lunch opportunities several times a week for staff, and meals for bible college dormitory residents. "It appears that the kitchen/cafeteria can be a profitable enterprise for the church which can provide revenue for individual departments, as well as undesignated funds for the church general fund, which is very much needed," the minutes noted.
The company had other ways of raising undesignated funds. It regularly approved "direct-mail budgets" for various foreign countries, and any excess money raised over the amount of the "budget" could be spent elsewhere. In August 1993, direct-mail budgets were approved for a "Christmas in October" $30,000 campaign for Calcutta and a "Christmas Emergency" campaign of $5,000 each for Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Haiti--a total of $25,000. Ironically, just about the same amount--$24,999.78--was submitted that December by Pat Rosales, chief of the ministry's in-house TV agency, as her tax-exempt housing allowance as a "minister of the Gospel."
Among the direct-mail appeals approved by the Hickeys' company in 1994 were two campaigns at the scheduled March meeting: $60,000 for China and $10,000 for Bosnia-Serbia.
Real emergencies, however, could be dealt with more quickly. On September 26, 1994, the board conducted a special meeting by phone to approve a request by Marilyn Hickey, chair of the board of regents of Oral Roberts University, that the company send $20,000 to the Tulsa school, which was "in crisis need of cash on an immediate basis." It was to be considered a loan, the minutes noted, but "with the understanding that if repayment is ultimately not feasible, that this loan be forgiven and considered a gift."
At its previous meeting, in August 1994, the board had apparently deemed the Rwanda crisis worth half that much; it authorized $10,000 in "humanitarian aid" to the African country. At the same meeting, the boardmembers learned they now had more than $1 million of "undesignated" money in escrow, ready to spend.
There apparently are some folks at the Happy Church who could use some "humanitarian aid" themselves. In the lowest level of the church mall is a prayer room. Before services, the room fills up with people, mostly youngsters, pacing back and forth, praying loudly, speaking in tongues, working themselves into ecstasy.
During services, however, the room is empty. The adults are upstairs in the interim sanctuary, listening to music and the Hickeys' sermons. The kids are in another room, chanting "F-A-I-T-H" under the spell of a heavy rap beat.
A bin in the prayer room is supposed to hold prayer requests submitted by congregants. On a recent Sunday, only one request rests in the box. It's laboriously written in purple ink.
"Almost everyone around me has committed or attempted suicide," it reads. "Dealing with my husband's affair. His guilt has caused him to point a loaded gun at himself and me. I saw a demon during this near death experience. My own feeling of worthlessness, shame, hurt and extreme depression. Lastly, a boss that is mentally abusive."
end of part 2
