GREENVILLE, S.C. — A pastor who said he did not use church money when he bought his wife a $200,000 Lamborghini as an anniversary gift lives in a $1.8 million house paid for by the church.
Pastor John Gray, who leads megachurch Relentless Church and is an associate pastor at Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church, was widely criticized in December after spending $200,000 on a Lamborghini for his wife as an anniversary gift.
"This is not anything new," Travis Hayes, chief financial officer for Relentless, told the Greenville News. "This is a practice that is done with every denomination in the nation. That's what this is. This is an asset that belongs to the church."
He defended the lavish purchase, saying he bought it as a husband, not a pastor. At the same time, Gray was living in a $1.8 million house purchased by the church in October, the Greenville News reported.
Gray did not comment to the Greenville News.
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