Kenneth Copeland, American evangelist and author
Kenneth Max Copeland (born December 6, 1936) is an American televangelist, and author associated with the charismatic movement. The organization he founded in 1967, Eagle Mountain International Church Inc. (EMIC), is based in Tarrant County, Texas. Copeland's sermons are broadcast across the US and worldwide on the Victory Channel. Copeland has also written several books and resources.
He has been identified as preaching the prosperity gospel and as part of the Word of Faith movement. Copeland has written that parishioners will get a "hundredfold" return on their investment through giving to God. He has been criticized for his use of donations and tax exempt status to finance a mansion, private jets, an airport and other lavish purchases.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Copeland claimed that the pandemic had ended or would soon end and that his followers would be healed from the virus. He stated that followers should continue paying tithes if they lost their jobs in the economic crisis that the pandemic caused. He later made claims to have destroyed the virus and to have ended the ongoing pandemic.