yt: Pastor slammed Asking churchgoers to fund his Helicopter Bishop I V Hilliard Requests $52 seed $$ || Pastor slammed for asking churchgoers to fund his helicopter upgrade

A Texas megachurch pastor is facing megacriticism after emailing his congregation and asking them to donate $52 "favor seeds" so he could upgrade the blades on his helicopter. Bishop I.V. Hilliard, who shouts from the pulpit of the New Light Christian Center, says he was told by his aviation department that replacing the blades could save the church up to $50,000. But Hilliard's email suggested that those who donated toward his heavenly chopper would receive a "breakthrough favor" from the Lord. "Scripture teaches when you give to a Kingdom need, God will raise up someone to use their power, their ability and their influence to help you," he wrote. The church has since apologized for Hilliard's letter.

This might be a bit interesting to write because my mom and a good piece of my immediate family is part of the congregation but here goes. Bishop I.V. Hilliard, head of New Light Christian Center Church has stirred a bit of controversy with his latest seed request from his congregation, asking them to donate to the church's aviation department for the replacement of helicopter blades on the church's chopper. Mind you, the only people who use said helicopter happens to be Hilliard and a select group of pastors who preach at the church's six different locations (including one in Austin).

The wording here is that if every member donates $52, they would receive a breakthrough in their favor in either 52 days or weeks. Both items caused social media and church folk to begin warring words and prompted Isiah Carey of FOX 26 to write about the issue itself, prompting a response from Hilliard himself.

"New Light Church World Outreach and Worship Centers, Inc. regularly make appeals to Special Partners, Members and friends of the church for the support of various programs and services. Occasionally, it is not uncommon for an appeal to be directed toward specific Kingdom projects or specific needs. In this instance, the appeal was directed to our Special Partners and friends who are familiar with the Biblical principles upon which we base our faith. We sincerely regret if anyone was offended by this appeal in that it was not our intent."

The newsletter below (which I have one in my inbox) can be seen below. Not to get too personal but there haven been plenty of people who have written and commented on the practices of Hilliard and the church, some who are no longer members and others who remain within among the parishon under cloak of anonymity. Curious to see how this turns out.