Televangelist asks his congregation for $65M to buy a jet

Michael H. King | WXIA-TV

Show Caption Hide Caption Minister asks congregation for $65 million luxury jet Televangelist Creflo Dollar asked his congregation to donate $300 each to raise money for a $65M luxury jet. The website was taken down after online criticism but the World Changers Church International is still accepting donations.

A Georgia televangelist is asking his congregation to prove their faith by footing the bill on a new jet.

Creflo Dollar, a pastor at the Atlanta-based World Changers Church International, asked his congregation of 200,000 to chip in $300 dollars each to pay for a Gulfstream G650 jet. Dollar explained the need for the $65 million jet in a 5-minute video posted on Creflo Dollar Ministries website.

While the "Project G650" video has been removed from the that mega church pastor's site, supporters are still able to donate to the project via the ministry's donations page.

In the video, Dollar says he needs the new jet to replace a 30-year-old Gulfstream Jet that is no longer operable, after an accident in London when the jet slid off the runway during an aborted take-off.

The video says the use of an airplane is necessary to bring Dollar's ministry to all parts of the world.

"If all of our existing partners were to sow $300 each, from all over the world, we'd be able to acquire this jet in a very, very short period of time," said Rick Hayes, identified on the video as project manager of what Dollar's ministry is calling Project G650.

By 3 p.m. Friday, the solicitation was pulled from the Creflo Dollar Ministries website, and all links to the page went to blank pages.

The G650 is Gulfstream's top-end business jet model and first flew in November 2009. The jet costs about $64.5 million, according to Gulfstream's website. It carries a crew of two, and will carry 11-to-18 passengers, depending on the internal cabin configuration and can cruise at up to 610 mph, with a range of up to 7,000 nautical miles.

Dollar ends the video with a final call to action, "Our current ministry plane is no longer useable we need your help. I ask all of our partners globally to get on board with Project G650."