Evangelical wealth building conference accused of exploitative sales tactics lands in Spokane Saturday

Yahoo

a day ago

Jun. 5—Thousands will congregate in the Spokane Arena Saturday for the evangelical wealth building conference Life Surge, an all-day star-studded event that many describe as spiritually and fiscally fulfilling — but that also faces mounting accusations of leveraging faith and a megachurch atmosphere to lull attendees to buy $38,000 classes while even encouraging them to go into debt to do so.
Life Surge declined an interview, requested written questions and did not respond to them.
Saturday's event will be replete with celebrity evangelical speakers, most of whom have been traveling with Life Surge throughout the year or longer, such as former quarterback Tim Tebow, the Benham brothers — whose star rose in prominence after HGTV canceled their upcoming reality TV show "Flip it Forward" over statements opposing homosexuality and gay marriage — and former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany. They have previously featured TV stars from Duck Dynasty, Shark Tank and Road Rules.
But Life Surge also has a knack for recruiting high-profile sports figures from the communities where they host their conferences. At a March conference in Hawaii, the organization highlighted Marcus Mariota, quarterback for the Washington Commanders and the first Hawaii-born athlete to win the Heisman Trophy. In Philadelphia, they recruited five current and former members of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Spokane may not have a high-profile professional sports team, but it does have Gonzaga University men's basketball, so the featured regional speaker on Saturday is head coach Mark Few. Few did not respond to a request for comment; Gonzaga emphasized that neither the university nor the athletics department is involved in the event.
The events mix compelling life stories and top-notch worship music with advice that organizers say can help attendees connect with God and build wealth for "Kingdom Impact" in order to better do God's work on earth. It's all encapsulated in "The 4 W's of Kingdom Impact": Worship, Wisdom, Work and Wealth.
Since its founding in 2019, Life Surge has received hundreds of glowing reviews about its atmosphere, its musical and celebrity lineup, and its linking of Christ with financial well-being. The organization emphasizes this largely positive feedback whenever it faces criticism for the sales pitches Life Surge has sandwiched inside its conferences.
It starts with the tickets to the conference itself.
While the prices of Saturday's tickets have gone up marginally in the last three months, records of the tickets page on the Internet Archive suggest Life Surge made use of the perennial marketing trick of a steep time-sensitive discount, complete with a countdown clock that once expired appears to be immediately replaced with another timely offer.
Though the site lists the basic tickets — called "executive" — at a full price of $97, the actual sale price appears to have started at $29 and never climbed above $40. The "ultimate" package, which includes photos with Tebow, Few and other featured speakers, is now only listed under its full price of $497, up from the Early Bird Special of $249, but the sale price only seems to have expired after those packages sold out sometime in April.
Once at these conferences, attendees are reportedly pitched mid-session on further "Impact" workshops on the stock market, real estate and starting and growing a business, all for $97 dollars — an incredible deal, speakers proclaim from the stage, because the true value of the class is $1,500. This offer demands urgent action, because it is only available that very day at the conference — notably, tickets to these workshops only seem to be sold at the conference, and are not listed elsewhere, "full price" or not.
"(The speakers) said you can learn how to build wealth that will help us feed the hungry, help veterans and of course the poor," said Christian Minister John Simmons, who made a critical video comparing the event to a timeshare sales pitch after attending a 2023 Life Surge conference in St. Louis. "I watched as a majority of the room stood up and were drawn into the arms of the volunteer army of Life Surge credit card readers."
This felt exploitative, Simmons continued. The conference's prolific advertisements hadn't made mention of pitching him on future classes; they had highlighted guest speakers and Christian artists.
"That's what I thought I was getting into when I bought a ticket — I bought a ticket for this event!" Simmons quipped. "I thought the conference was supposed to help me learn how to grow in work and wealth and wisdom and worship, but they were saying, nope, this three-day seminar, this thing will do it."
Life Surge sent Simmons a cease-and-desist letter shortly after his video was posted, claiming it contained copyrighted materials from their event, he said. He has since reuploaded the video with nearly all photos or recordings from the event removed.
The biggest pitch, however, is only made to people who do sign up for these additional three-day seminars. The workshops themselves have received mixed reviews, but once there, those who find the lessons insufficient are pitched on mentorship programs that cost as much as $38,000.
For those who question whether they can afford to spend the equivalent of a down payment on a house on a wealth-building mentorship program, Life Surge reportedly has an answer: debt. Leading up to this last big pitch, from the conference to the workshops, attendees have reported being assuaged by speakers that there are two good reasons to go into debt: real estate and "wisdom."
Attendees have reported being encouraged to dip into retirement accounts to pay for these classes. If attendees don't have those kinds of assets, credit card applications are reportedly available on site, according to a recent Philadelphia Inquirer article about the organization and its founder Joe Johnson's past business dealings.
In response to critical reviews of these tactics, Life Surge has repeatedly argued that they state on their website that they offer additional services, though they don't address the lack of transparency regarding the specific offerings. When criticized specifically for encouraging people to go into debt for mentorship programs, the organization appears to double down.
"Life Surge believes in being the hands and feet of Jesus by equipping others with resources — but to do that, we must first be good stewards of the resources entrusted to us by the Lord, serving others and not being held back by a position of lack," the organization has replied to dozens of negative reviews and complaints to the Better Business Bureau.
In response to questions from the Philadelphia Inquirer, Life Surge appears to have argued that criticism of its offerings is not based in good-faith concerns about their practices, but rather an attack on their faith itself.
"Life Surge is not for everyone. It is unapologetically a faith-based organization helping people take control of their own financial future by empowering them with the skills to become successful investors," the organization wrote. "This brave, honest, and faith-filled stance can be antithetical to viewpoints of others and as such we expect criticism."