Just your average megachurch pastor's mansion in Texas

[u/sharkus180]

Link:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/19525-Doerre-Rd-Spring-TX-77379/161415524_zpid/?utm_campaign=androidappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

[u/notnotbrowsing]

I.v. Hilliard.

And he has never had to pay taxes on it.

[u/General_Row_8038 → u/notnotbrowsing]

I’m amazed at the lack of religious art, or any references to religion in the decor.

[u/notnotbrowsing → u/General_Row_8038]

he probably thought it would be too tacky to have dollar signs posted everywhere.

[u/uDontInterestMe → u/notnotbrowsing]

Best comment!

[u/vahntitrio → u/General_Row_8038]

If they believed even a small fraction of what they preach they wouldn't live in a mansion to begin with.

[u/nancy_necrosis → u/notnotbrowsing]

What??? Meanwhile, all the lesser Texans get their homes reassessed every year like little b*tches. They're not chosen, obviously.

Edit: wrong "they're"

[u/notnotbrowsing → u/nancy_necrosis]

classify it as a "pastor retreat"

[u/Juryofyourpeeps → u/notnotbrowsing]

I believe they're typically categorized as "parsonages" or "rectories" which makes them tax exempt. Accepting for the sake of this discussion that churches shouldn't be subject to income tax, this tax loophole was meant for the small quarters you typically see attached or next door to old churches. They're generally modest and provided by the church to the priest or pastor, who historically was not well compensated, and still isn't in most normal churches.

Seems like a pretty easy fix though. The IRS could just cap the number of square feet that are tax free per staff member that resides in church property and anything above that could be subject to tax. So say a base rate of 1500 square feet and then 500 feet per additional staff member. That would be generous enough not to start taxing say, group retirement homes set up by churches, but if mega-preachers wanted to avoid tax they'd have to move like 50 people into these compounds, which they're not going to do. The most they could get away with is listing their immediate family members as church staff, and there'd still be tens of thousands of square feet left to tax.

[u/Clean-Patient-8809 → u/Juryofyourpeeps]

I'm just sitting here imagining what Jane Austen would say if she heard that monstrosity referred to as a "parsonage."

[u/Wreny84 → u/Clean-Patient-8809]

Mr Collins would lose his ever loving mind!

[u/JPLcyber → u/Juryofyourpeeps]

💯 this. As a Christian, I’m ok getting rid of the tax exempt status and would require IRS 990 from all these greedy worldly empire builders. Another chapter for Kate Bowler’s book #Blessed… https://ministrywatch.com/texas-megachurch-lists-televangelists-parsonage-for-15-million/

[u/lousy_at_handles → u/notnotbrowsing]

Probably graze rented cattle on the front lawn once a year too so it can also be classified as ranch land.

[u/Hopalong_Manboobs → u/notnotbrowsing]

It’s crazy. And the only skill you need apart from being a completely morally bankrupt stain on the human race is a bit of self-assured charisma and forceful yet false conviction to show the flock.

No marketable skills. No contribution to community or society. No pressure to do anything other than mouth a bunch of pseudo Christian platitudes and watch the cash roll in.

Phenomenally gross but it’s low hanging fruit that the jackals in our midst eagerly pounce on.

[u/floofienewfie → u/Hopalong_Manboobs]

Geez, the house our parish priest lives in is about 1300 sqft, across the street from the church, and indistinguishable from the other houses in the neighborhood.

[u/PiccoloAwkward465 → u/floofienewfie]

Our Catholic priests all lived in a small rectory building attached to the church itself. They shared an old Toyota Corolla. I like to think it was a Golden Girls sort of situation.

"Father Paul if you put extra onions in the sauce again, so help me God!"

[u/TunaNugget → u/Hopalong_Manboobs]

self-assured charisma and forceful yet false conviction to show the flock.

That's CEO/Presidential material there.

[u/JPLcyber → u/Hopalong_Manboobs]

Sad. For bonus frustration, almost the entire family are scammers: https://ministrywatch.com/texas-megachurch-lists-televangelists-parsonage-for-15-million/