NOTEWORTHY DEATH
Posted: July 31, 2009 at 4:46 a.m.
Evangelist who preached prosperity
LOS ANGELES - The Rev.
Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter II, who preached the gospel of material prosperity to millions nationwide as Reverend Ike, died Tuesday. He was 74.
Eikerenkoetter died in Los Angeles, minister and family spokesman Bishop E. Bernard Jordan told The New York Times. Jordan said Eikerenkoetter suffered a stroke in 2007 and never fully recovered.
At his United Church Science of Living Institute, housed in a former movie theater in New York's Washington Heights neighborhood, Eikerenkoetter preached the power of what he called "positive self-image psychology" to his 5,000 parishioners.
In the 1970s, he was one of the first evangelists to reach an audience of millions through television.
He stretched Christian tenets, relocating the idea of God to the interior of the self, with the power to bring the believer anything he desired in the way of health, wealth and peace of mind.
The philosophy did not sit well with traditional Christian ministers and civil-rights leaders who felt black churches should focus on social change rather than self-fulfillment. His critics said he preyed on the poor and conned the faithful into giving him donations that he spent on cars, clothes and homes for himself. The IRS and the Postal Service investigated his businesses.
Others defended his philosophy of mind over matter, which appealed to middle-class believers who felt their hard work should be rewarded in this life.
He was born on June 1, 1935, in Ridgeland, S.C., to an elementary school teacher and a Baptist minister from Dutch Indonesia.
He is survived by his wife, Eula May Dent, and his son, Xavier F. Eikerenkoetter, who took over the ministry when his father retired.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 12 on 07/31/2009
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