“Close the doors!”: Bishop Marvin Sapp's tithing ultimatum sparks outrage

Was it a fundraiser or a shakedown? The internet reacts to the gospel singer and preacher's viral sermon

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In a video clip that has gone viral, a preacher called on the congregation and online audience to donate a total of $40,000… and then, just to make sure it happened, he commanded the ushers to shut the doors until the money was handed over.

The sermon was actually delivered on July 23, 2024 at the 109th Pentecostal Assemblies of the World Convention in Baltimore, Maryland. It’s not clear why this clip only began circulating in recent days.

Bishop Marvin L. Sapp, an accomplished Gospel singer who recently performed a Tiny Desk Concert, was the speaker that night and he encouraged everyone, including the religious leaders on stage, to donate amounts ranging from $20 to $100. If the thousand people in the audience and thousand people streaming the service online gave the minimum $20 each, they would raise at least $40,000.

That in itself wouldn’t be out of place at a religious service. But it was the implied threat that made the clip stand out for all the wrong reasons:

… There's 1,000 of you—I said ‘Close them doors.’

Ushers, close the doors. Close the doors. Close the doors. We all gonna leave together. Y'all ain't going no place but to the restaurant. There's 1,000 of you tonight, and those that are watching. It's a thousand that's watching online. This is a small seed. If I get a thousand online to give this, if I get a thousand in the sanctuary to give this, that's $40,000 tonight.

I'm challenging each of you all down here to give a $20 seed…

…

Now, everyone up here, we've all sowed and seeded. But I need everyone standing up here with us—with me—to plant a seat of $100. Because, again, it costs to sit up here.

…

… And this is what I need you to do. If you're giving electronically, or even if you're giving tangibly, I'm gonna have y'all come to the altar and give it, because I need to see a thousand people moving.

…

… Keep coming. That's it. Look, look at us. Look at us. Look at us. Yeah… now, after you come up here… you can open the doors. Y'all can walk out the door after you come up here. But make sure you come this way before you go out the door. That's it. Look at God. Look at what God has done. Hallelujah.

Reactions to the clip were decidedly anti-hostage.

“Marvin Sapp would’ve saw the worst in me!” claimed one, while another said, “Marvin Sapp would be getting Marvin SLAPPED if he held me hostage for money when he could go in the studio and make my annual salary in a couple months.”

Others just mocked the whole damn thing.

Another noted Sapp’s wealth compared to that of the people watching this service, saying he had a “full Louie Vuitton outfit on” during his Tiny Desk appearance and that he should put that into the church instead of “holding your members for ransom.”

Forget the outfit. Given that his Instagram account is still up, Sapp should be donating his car:

To be clear, Sapp’s ultimatum was more of a rhetorical flourish than an improvised fire hazard. There’s no evidence people were barred from leaving the room before they donated money. But his comments were undoubtedly coercive. He didn’t just want people to give money. He wanted them to do it visibly—even asking people donating through their phones to come onstage and make a fake donation motion so everyone could see it. Because I guess Jesus can’t see what happens on Apple Pay.

Sapp has now responded to the clip on Facebook, saying it “was never my intent” to hold people hostage.

… Some have taken issue with a particular moment when I instructed the ushers, rather firmly, to close the doors during the offering. To those unfamiliar with the church context or who may not regularly attend worship gatherings this has been misinterpreted as holding people hostage as well as offensive. That was never my intent.

The truth is, when finances are being received in any worship gathering, it is one of the most vulnerable and exposed times for both the finance and security teams. Movement during this sacred exchange can be distracting and, at times, even risky. My directive was not about control it was about creating a safe, focused, and reverent environment for those choosing to give, and for those handling the resources.

Unfortunately, in this social media age, snippets are easily shared without context, and assumptions are quickly made without understanding the full picture. Conferences have budgets. Churches have budgets. And people have budgets. As the assigned ministerial gift for this international gathering, one of my responsibilities was to help raise the conference budget. That’s not manipulation, it’s stewardship.

…

So when someone challenges people to give a specific amount, it is not unbiblical. It is not manipulation. It is in order. It is consistent with Scripture.

As someone plenty familiar with “church context,” telling ushers to shut the doors unless people pay a ransom is not a “misinterpretation.” It wasn’t a joke. He was pressuring people to give even if—especially if—they were hesitant about it. He even did after suggesting they didn’t have anywhere else important to go.

Nothing about it was “safe, focused, and reverent.” Everything about it reeked of “manipulation.” There’s nothing in the Bible about Jesus locking the doors until everyone pays up.

Bishop Marvin L. Sapp (screenshot via YouTube)

If they needed to raise money for the conference, they should have charged more for the tickets or dipped into their own ministry’s account rather than pressure people to give more after they’re already in the building. It’s not hard to imagine the distress someone in that audience may have been under if they had no money to give but took this preacher at his word.

Most televangelists know they just need to guilt-trip their viewers into handing over their credit card number. Other pastors directly tell you to hand over your checking account information. They all know it’s a bad look to physically keep people in the building unless they show you a receipt. Sapp never got that memo.

I guess it could be worse. In 2015, preacher Creflo Dollar (his actual name) asked 200,000 people to give him at least $300 each so he could buy a $60 million private jet. But even he didn’t lock people in a room until they forked it over.

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