Unlike many American households, in Rev. Creflo Dollar's house there seems to be proper order -- a divine Trinity -- which includes God the father, Jesus, and Dollar himself, the father in the flesh. Rev. Dollar is the master of his domain, and with Rev. Taffi Dollar at his side, the two run a tight, two-parent, multi-colored ship.
Dollar and his World Changers ministry have expanded their church to reach tens of thousands in Atlanta and New York, developing programs around faith, responsibility, strict interpretation of the Bible and clear rules for day-to-day living.
Evangelical, charismatic, folksy, organized, and powerful, Rev. Dollar's tele-ministry reaches millions weekly. You may have seen him on the tube, or may have heard about him around the
"prosperity gospel," a rather new phenomenon which includes (some would say emphasizes) material wealth as a large part of the church culture.
However you view the man -- pastor of a large flock; charlatan; neo-Daddy Rich, or humble servant of God -- to five, he is
just dad. Reverends Creflo and Taffi Dollar are the proud parental unit of five children and several grandchildren. Dollar’s first son, who is white, was adopted when he and Taffi were engaged. He says taking his first son helped him to "break the spirit of racism."
What is the most significant thing your father did for you?He taught me responsibility. I remember when my car broke down when I was in college and I brought the bill to him and told him he needed to get it fixed for me. He said, "No, it's your car, and you're responsible for it and I’m not going to do anything." I couldn't believe it. Here I am in college, trying to get a degree and you won't do this? So I got mad at him and he was real cool about it. And I figured it out. I had a little credit card with a little three hundred dollar balance on it; I called and got the car pulled in and got it repaired and I was so proud of myself because I could figure it out.
Why did you choose to have a family before marriage and why adopt white children when there are so many black children languishing in foster care?I asked the same question -- it was God's solution for my racist attitude (laughs). I grew up in a household where we had a problem with white folks. And when the spirit of God told me to [adopt], he said I'm going to resolve some of your past issues and at the same time, use it as an example to really break the spirit of racism; not only in your life, but in the lives of other people. I've had an opportunity since then to be able to teach a lot of people for how to overcome a spirit of racism, which is really a spirit of division. But then later on, we went ahead and adopted a black kid too. Now the boys that I've adopted are
planning to adopt one kid themselves, because of what happened to them.
What about corporal punishment? Spare the Rod, spoil the child.I came up in a household, you did something wrong, you're going to get your butt whipped. And it sure didn't damage me. I believe there is a place for spanking but I believe it needs to be done a certain way, you need to be in control, you need to explain to your kid what's going on, and you need to be there after the spanking to hug on them, reinforce your love and the significance that they have in your life. It's done wonders in my house.
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