Charisma’s Prophetic Pipeline: A Case Study in Conflict of Interest and Compromise
The following post will hopefully answer some questions as we review a Steve Strang article, published back in 2013.
The pdf version available here:
A Tribute to Roy Harthern – What He Taught Me About Life and Ministry
A close reading of Steve Strang’s 2013 tribute to Roy Harthern—published on Charisma Magazine’s website—reveals a troubling web of personal, professional, and theological entanglements that cast serious doubt on the integrity of Charisma Media.
Steve Strang, the founder and publisher of Charisma, openly acknowledges that the magazine was birthed within Calvary Assembly under the leadership of Harthern, who also happened to be the father-in-law of controversial televangelist Benny Hinn. The glowing tribute highlights not only Harthern’s influence on Strang’s life but also paints a portrait of Charisma as a media empire shaped by a network of charismatic insiders, many of whom are directly responsible for some of the most damaging theological distortions in the modern church.
Photo from MyCharisma: Roy Harthern
The conflict of interest is glaring.
Strang’s media platform has repeatedly served as a public relations machine or informercial for individuals such as Benny Hinn, Jenniffer LeClaire, Rodney Howard-Browne, Mike Signorelli, T.D. Jakes, Dr. Michael Brown, Pat Robertson, Sid Roth, Kim Clement, Sean Feucht, Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Jesse Duplantis, Paula White-Cain, Morris Cerullo, Rod Parsley, C. Peter Wagner, Chuck Pierce, Cindy Jacobs, Bill Hamon, Che Ahn, Mike Bickle, Dutch Sheets, Lou Engle, Brian Simmons, Steve Shultz, James Goll, Emma Stark, Jeremiah Johnson, Lance Wallnau, Daniel Kolenda, Jenny Weaver, Isaiah Saldivar, Apostle Kathryn Krick, Todd White, Daniel Adams, Francis Myles, Mario Murillo, Mark Taylor, Johnny Enlow, Robin Bullock, Kat Kerr and many other charlatans.
Some in the above list have been implicated in financial exploitation, false prophecies, and emotionally manipulative ministry tactics.
As mentioned in the Charisma article, Hinn, (whose offices were once housed at Harthern’s church), married Harthern’s daughter Suzanne and rose to prominence under the same spiritual lineage that Strang esteems. This deeply personal connection has likely influenced the soft coverage and continued endorsement Charisma gives to Hinn, even as his scandals continue to accumulate. Likewise, Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), another platform closely aligned with this circle, purchased a local television station launched under Harthern’s ministry, suggesting a longstanding business alliance that compromises objectivity.
This is more than just nepotism or denominational loyalty—it is the systemic compromise of a supposed journalistic outlet.
Here are the relevant excerpts regarding Roy Harthern, Steve Strang, TBN and Benny Hinn:
Excerpt 1 (emphasis added):
You probably know Harthern as Benny Hinn’s father-in-law. I’ve known his daughter, Benny’s wife, Suzanne, since she was 14. I first heard Roy preach when I was a teenager. My wife, Joy, knew him most of her life since he preached services for her father, an Assemblies of God minister, in the 1950s. When Joy and I moved to Orlando, we visited Calvary Assembly partly because Harthern was the pastor, and we never went anywhere else.
Excerpt 2 (emphasis added):
He taught me to be open to the entire body of Christ. When Harthern came to Calvary Assembly, it was a typical small-to-medium Assemblies of God church. By the time Joy and I came in 1973, it had grown to 600 members. Later, it grew to 6,000 members, one of the biggest in the nation at the time. Those were the early days of the charismatic movement, and Harthern welcomed people from other denominations who would often attend only on Sunday nights to hear his Bible teaching on end-time prophecy. Often these people would start attending full-time, especially if their denominational church was not open to their new experience in the Spirit. Only in this environment could a magazine that serves the entire body of Christ have been born.
I learned how to be innovative, expand and have dreams and visions. When Joy and I came to Calvary, it already had begun a radio program. In the next few years, Harthern built a new auditorium and began raising funds for the church’s current 5,000-seat auditorium. In the 1970s, Calvary started and hosted Jesus Festivals, drawing thousands of youth. Calvary sent Festival of Praise, led by prolific musical director Thurlow Spurr, to maybe hundreds of churches. It built a high-rise for the elderly that is still fully functional. Calvary got a license and founded Channel 52, bought years later by TBN. And did I mention starting Charisma magazine? All of this and more happened in a span of only 10 years.
Roy Harthern attracted talent and recognized ability. When Thurlow Spurr joined Calvary as its minister of music in the mid-1970s, he was already nationally known. (Did you know Thurlow was on the first cover of Charisma because he was recognized enough to write about, even in a fledgling church magazine?) When a young evangelist from Canada named Benny Hinn first came to America, he could have gone anywhere, but he was attracted to Harthern and Calvary. (He had his offices at Calvary at one time.) Hinn was drawn to Harthern as a leader before he met or fell in love with Harthern’s daughter. Harthern also attracted successful businesspeople like Alex Clattenburg to get involved in the church as youth pastor. Later, Alex left the business world to go into full-time ministry and today is one of the most successful pastors in Florida. There are many others too numerous to mention who have gone on to establish successful churches and ministries. And it all grew out of Calvary.
He took a chance on me and Charisma. Into this environment came a young, newly married newspaper reporter with a heart to be something great for God but with no experience, no money and, frankly, not a lot of business ability. But when this young man (me) asked the church leaders if they would like to publish a little church magazine, Harthern and the other leaders said yes. Little did they know (nor did I know) that God would use it to spawn an international media ministry. I’ve said publicly many times how much I appreciated Roy Harthern’s belief in me and the dream I had to publish a little magazine called Charisma.
Roy Harthern also taught me about vision. He had a vision to build a great church. He had a vision to build a 5,000-seat auditorium that was unheard of at the time. He must have been influenced by big thinkers like Dr. Yonggi Cho of Korea, whose church grew to several hundred thousand members (and he served on Cho’s board). He became a good friend to Derek Prince and other major ministers of the era. As a young man, I was first exposed to men like this through him. Slowly, I began to understand as I watched Harthern that God had given me a vision too.
He also taught me about walking in faith and believing God for finances. Faith was so important that he made it part of a 10-week new believers class. He asked me to team with a medical doctor to teach it. We taught the class on faith and another one on finances. We took turns teaching each class, and we used Harthern’s notes from which he taught us and all the other instructors. In teaching the material, the Scriptures and truths being taught became part of my life. As a 20-something, I benefited from teaching it far more than my students likely did.
Excerpt 3 (emphasis added):
Roy Harthern was a great man, a visionary and a great leader. But he was not perfect. Even in the darkest chapter of his life, I saw him over time deal with it with integrity and grace. After a difficult situation came to light (on which there is no need to elaborate), he submitted to correction, worked through the situation in his life and held his family together. To my knowledge, his life after that was a model of integrity. He didn’t quit the ministry, even in the face of great disappointment. He did the right thing, and in the end he finished strong.
That’s been an example to me, and I hope it is to you.
Steve Strang is the founder and publisher of Charisma. Follow him on Twitter @sstrang or Facebook (stephenestrang).
Source: Steve Strang, A Tribute to Roy Harthern: What He Taught Me About Life and Ministry, Charisma Magazine Online, https://mycharisma.com/blogs/the-strang-report/a-tribute-to-roy-harthern-what-he-taught-me-about-life-and-ministry/, Posted July 12, 2013. (Accessed March 20, 2024.)
Charisma purports to report on matters of spiritual significance, yet fails to disclose the personal and financial relationships that clearly shape its editorial direction. Biblically, this kind of partiality is condemned. Proverbs 24:23 declares, “To show partiality in judging is not good,” while James 2 warns against favoritism that caters to the powerful at the expense of truth. 1 Timothy 5:21 calls young Timothy (and many see this as instruction to believers) to do nothing “out of favoritism,” especially in matters involving church leaders. By ignoring these commands and promoting unverifiable spiritual experiences over Scripture-based discernment…
Charisma becomes complicit in misleading the body of Christ.
The result is a “gag-rag” outlet that functions more like a propaganda arm of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) than a credible news source. Since it’s inception, it has forfeited the responsibility to “test the spirits” (1 John 4:1) and instead provides a glossy, uncritical platform for dominionist ideologies and false prophets who seek political power and personal wealth. Charisma has become a high-gloss echo chamber for those who manipulate faith for fame—completely contrary to the biblical model of gospel humility, accountability, and transparency.
Therefore, Christianity (especially in the Charismatic sect) must awaken to the manipulation and make a deliberate effort to disengage from Charisma Media and its affiliate platforms.
Its editorial slant is not driven by truth but by theological loyalty and compromised relationships. If you care about biblical fidelity, sound doctrine, and journalistic integrity, you must resist this machine of spiritual propaganda. As many have rightly said, Charisma is not the voice of revival—it’s the mouthpiece of a movement that hijacks it. Reject the hype. Return to Scripture. And warn others before more are led astray.
(In another article, we will be examining Steve Strang and the Charisma empire shapeshifting to distance themselves from those they once platformed to give the impression they stand for truth, justice and the bible to give the impression they are against corrupt churches to support and advocate for SA victims. This is in spite of the fact they’ve platformed impostors, predators and sexual abusers over the decades, ignoring voices calling out the very people Charisma platforms.)
Email all comments and questions to c3churchwatch@hotmail.com
“Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?” Galatians 4:16
Categories: Benny Hinn Ministries, Charisma Magazine, New Apostolic Reformation (NAR)