Marvin Sapp Criticized After Asking Church to Raise $40K During Service
Gospel singer and pastor Marvin Sapp is in hot water after a video resurfaced showing him instructing his congregation to raise $40,000 during a church service and ordering ushers to shut the doors until the goal was met.
In the post, the 58-year-old bishop can be heard telling ushers to lock the doors until the financial goal is met. “Close the doors, we all gon’ leave together. Y’all ain’t going no place but to the restaurant,” he says from the pulpit.
Sapp then breaks down his math to those in the sanctuary and those watching online: “There’s 1,000 of you tonight, and those that are watching…it’s 1,000 that’s watching online. This is a small seed. If I get 1,000 online to give this, if I get 1,000 in the sanctuary to give this, that’s $40,000 tonight.”
He encouraged everyone to give a $20 “seed,” calling the offering part of worship. But those seated alongside him in the pulpit were given a higher expectation.
“Now, everyone up here, we’ve all sowed and seeded, but I need everyone up here to sow $100 because it costs to sit up here,” Sapp instructed. At one point, he even tells congregants to “put your $20 away” and walk their offerings to the front so he could witness the effort himself, once again reminding them, “Giving is worship.”
The clip has sparked debate across social media, with many accusing the musician of manipulating his followers for money.
Social media users didn’t hold back. While some made light of the situation, including one user, who commented, “Someone said NEVER WOULDA PAID IT,” in reference to Sapp’s hit single “Never Would’ve Made It.”
However, not everyone found the matter comical, including X user @stoppfeenin, who wrote, “Marvin Sapp is clearly HUSTLING his congregation for 40k— and using God’s name to do it.”
They continued, “He’s calling for the doors to be locked? that’s not faith, that’s a shakedown and a false prophet. someone had a bill to pay, and it wasn’t to the church.” Another person chimed in, “That is unlawful detainment if it happened. These folks and greed for $$$$ is getting out of hand..”
Sapp has yet to respond to the incident.
