Pastor publicly shames woman for donating “only” $1,235 to his church

Preacher Marvin Winans' “Day of Giving” turned into a public display of greed and religious manipulation

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In a stunning display of Christian greed, Pastor Marvin Winans, who runs Perfecting Church in Detroit, rebuked a woman who donated $1,235 to his church—during a public spectacle, no less—for not giving at least $2,000.

On Sunday, during what the church was called a “Day of Giving,” Winans explained that he wanted everyone to sow “$1,000 plus one”… which was his way of saying “$1,000 plus $1,000.” He fully expected members of his congregation to give him $2,000 each. Not only did he want the money, he asked everyone to come to the center of the aisle in his church and announce their donations publicly, perhaps hoping the peer pressure would encourage others to give more.

Marvin Winans wants more of this woman’s money (screenshot via YouTube)

One woman and her son stood in line with money in hand. When it was their turn to give, Pastor Winans let them have it with a response only Ticketmaster could love.

MCCOY: I, Roberta McCoy, give in faith and stand in unity with the vision of Perfecting Church of sowing this seed of $1,000 plus $235 and receiving the blessings to come to all that participated.

WINANS: Now, that’s only $1,200.

MCCOY: Yes.

WINANS: Y’all not listenin’ to what I’m sayin’. If you have a $1,000 plus $1,000…

MCCOY: Well, I’m going to work on the other 800.

WINANS: Well, that ain’t what I asked you to do.

…

WINANS: Touch a neighbor and say, “This is the Day of Giving.” I’m trying to do it orderly. So if you’re in the line, and your total doesn’t equal $2,000, you can just slip out when ain’t nobody looking right now, and we gonna call you to come back.

While McCoy appears to laugh off the rebuke in the video, people who saw the clip were furious. (It’s not often that a sermon clip makes its way to TMZ.) What right did any preacher have to demand $2,000? (In this economy?!)

(Some articles note that this particular clip was “pulled from the church’s livestream of the service.” That’s not accurate. In fact, that very link takes you to the sermon where you can find the segment in question.)

Why did he need the money, anyway? Apparently, Winans is trying to fundraise to expand his church complex, though it’s hardly an urgent matter. He’s been trying to do it for over two decades, leading to plenty of legal problems along the way.

The Atlanta Black Star summarized the controversies like this:

The ambitious plan, approved in 2004, called for a 158,550-square-foot sanctuary with more than 4,200 seats, a chapel, and a fellowship hall.

Construction began but stalled after the 2008 recession derailed financing. By 2023, the city sued, calling the half-built megachurch a public nuisance. A settlement later that year set new deadlines. A revised 164,800-square-foot design with 3,365 seats and 659 parking spaces was expected to reach substantial completion by spring 2025…

The Michigan Chronicle has more on that lawsuit over non-compliance and all-around ugliness, but both sides eventually reached a compromise, and now the church needs to make sure it has enough money to build the damn thing.

I’m not sure publicly trashing donors is the best strategy but what do I know.

Winans is also making headlines because he’s not some random guy. He’s a longtime member, with three of his brothers, of The Winans, a Gospel group that has won multiple Grammys.

Oh wait! There’s more. Winans was also sued by the church’s housekeeper in 2018. She claimed she was fired by Winans for not paying enough in tithes from her $18,000/year salary and not chipping in for gifts for church leaders. Winans allegedly said to her, “You owe us $1,800,” and when she said she didn’t have that kind of money, he threatened to withhold that money from her paychecks. She said no. Then she was fired. That lawsuit, however, was dismissed by the courts years later.

You may recall that this exact sort of public shaming ritual over money has happened before. Just over a year ago, Bishop Marvin L. Sapp (also an accomplished Gospel singer!) asked his congregation and virtual viewers to hand over $20 each—and then demanded the doors be shut until he had $40,000 in hand.

One Reddit user responded: “If I had a nickel for every church pastor gospel singer named Marvin that displayed the greed they talked about in the Bible towards their congregation and had it immortalized online, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t much, but it’s weird that it happened twice.”

In a separate incident, Pastor Keion Henderson of Lighthouse Church in Texas asked parishioners to give $2,100 each to raise enough to rebuild the church (and then some) after Hurricane Beryl. It was unclear why insurance money wouldn’t help rebuild the church… or why Henderson, a multi-millionaire, wasn’t pitching in more himself.

This method of guilting churchgoers into giving large sums of money—in view of everyone else—is truly a disturbing method of religious manipulation. It’s not enough that you believe in God. It’s not enough that you give what you can. Unless you give a precise amount—that not everyone can afford!—this church will not treat you with the dignity you deserve. You have to wonder if Winans would have been happier had the woman gone into debt to give him the other $800 he wanted.

There’s no reason to attend a church like this, much less find it worthy of your donations.

Interestingly enough, in 2007, the Pew Research Center found that 85% of Black adults identified as Christians, with 59% attending a historically Black Protestant church. By 2014, those numbers had dipped to 79% and 53%, respectively. And now, those numbers are at 73% and 44%. With more people calling out Black preachers for religious manipulation, and with religion increasingly being seen as a tool of oppression rather than freedom, it’s no wonder the numbers are heading in that direction.

As of this writing, Winans has not said anything publicly in response to the viral clip.

This whole situation is a perfect example about how religion can often overlap with exploitation. When faith leaders weaponize guilt and turn sacred spaces into stages for financial coercion, they’re no longer preaching any gospel message worth hearing. They’re just performing a con openly. It’s so much worse when it’s happening in communities where faith has long been a cornerstone of strength and identity.

No one owes a man in a pulpit a cent more than they can freely give. And no one should be pressured into giving any of it. When pastors shame their followers for not financing their vanity projects, they betray whatever elements of faith might have been worth taking seriously.

You want a “Day of Giving”? Just wait until members of the church give themselves permission to walk away—from greed, from guilt, and from anyone like Winans who dares to sell salvation at a markup.

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