PUBLISHED MONDAY NOVEMBER 17, 1997
Copyright 1997 The Pensacola News Journal. All rights
reserved
Kilpatrick rules over revival
Revival provides pastor with luxury lifestyle
By John W. Allman
News Journal staff writer
PENSACOLA - Pastor John Kilpatrick likes to be
in control of his congregation.
He has said so in his sermons, on revival videotapes and
in his autobiography.
Whether it is leading his people in prayer for revival
or denouncing dissenters from his pulpit, Kilpatrick has made it clear
he is in charge.
In the 2 1/2 years since the Pensacola Brownsville Revival
began, however, Kilpatrick has yielded to a higher power.
He says he has seen visions -- angels, healing bubbles,
strange projectiles -- that he cannot explain. He has talked to God. God
has talked to him.
Kilpatrick has found himself addressing his congregation
in an unfamiliar language -- not quite speaking in tongues, yet not quite
English.
He acknowledges that God powers the car, but it is clear
that Kilpatrick is still at the wheel.
He has refused to disclose his salary, not even to his
own congregation, although pastors in most other denominations readily
make that information known.
He has used his pulpit to prophesize dire retribution
against revival critics.
He has told people who left his church they were "devil
possessed" even though some were his strong supporters before the revival
began.
The News Journal, during a four-month investigation of
the revival and its leaders, has found other things that Kilpatrick likes
besides control:
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Privacy -- Kilpatrick said he moved his family to
Seminole Landing, in Baldwin County, Ala., in 1996 to get away from revival-goers
who, he said, constantly drove by his Pensacola home. He has an unlisted
phone number and he no longer keeps office hours at the church, opting
instead to work in his home, at a location he did not disclose to his congregation
until three days after the News Journal questioned him.
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Property -- Kilpatrick and his wife, Brenda, have
taken out a $300,000 mortgage for two acres in Donovan's Landing, also
in Baldwin County, where they are building an expansive home and a towering
two-story garage-guest house. The Kilpatricks also have a $200,000 mortgage
on their present home.
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Possessions -- Kilpatrick's newly created nonprofit
corporation, Feast of Fire Ministries Inc., bought him a $310,000 motor
coach last year to use for travel because he does not like to fly.
Kilpatrick dismisses criticism of his lifestyle.
"I have always strived to set an example by not living
above the means of my people," he said in an interview with the News Journal.
A number of neighbors, former friends and former church
members disagree. While they are willing to talk about his excesses, and
in most cases provide documentation, they insisted they not be named because
they fear retaliation.