Kenneth Copeland

 Kenneth Max Copeland, born on December 6, 1936, is an American televangelist who is also an author and a member of the charismatic movement. The organization he founded in 1967, Eagle Mountain International Church Inc. (EMIC), is based in Tarrant County, Texas. His sermons are broadcast throughout the US and worldwide on the Victory Channel.Copeland has also written a number of books and resources.He is regarded as preaching the prosperity gospel, and as part of the Word of Faith movement. Copeland affirms that the parishioners receive the benefit of a "hundredfold return" from their investments in God-given giving. Copeland has come under fire for his use of donations and tax exempt status to finance a mansion, private jets or an airport as well as other extravagant purchases.During the COVID-19 pandemic in the year 2020, Copeland claimed that the epidemic had passed or was likely to be over soon and said that his followers would be free of the virus. He advised that his followers continue to pay tithes, even if they lost their jobs in the economic downturn that the epidemic caused. He later made claims to have eradicated the virus and to have stopped the current pandemic.