Jack Van Impe is far from the most successful televangelist in the world, but that doesn’t really matter. The market is wide enough for all manner of preachers to leave their mark, and there is an awful lot of money to be made as the head of a ministry. Jack Van Impe was not raised in a religious household, it was only in late childhood that he and his father embarked on their missionary work, and early in his career he played music for a wide variety of congregations. Music still plays a large role in his television program, I am glad to see, as gospel style 50s tracks are a favorite of mine. His ministry, called Jack Van Impe Presents, is listed as a non-profit organization, something of a theme with these televangelists, and thus Jack’s net worth is cut between his ministry and himself.
I’ll be taking a look at his personal fortune primarily, but I would be remiss if I didn’t discuss the value of his media empire. Being non-profit means that the information is a little difficult to find, but I have several sources that seem to fit. So let’s take a look at the man’s career,l see how he got to where he is today.
Jack Van Impe Net Worth 2018 – $2.5 Million
How Did Jack Van Impe Make His Money & Wealth?
Jack Van Impe was born in Freeport, Michigan to Oscar Alphonse Van Impe and Marie Louise Van Impe. His father was critical of religion in his early life. Jack and his father played accordion at local nightclubs, with Oscar frequently getting drunk. Jack started drinking at a young age, apparantly a European tradition to drink alcohol at the dinner table with family, and it was until Jack was twelve that his father found God. He stopped drinking and began studying the bible. A formative moment for young Jack was the night he and his father smashed all the bottles of liquor in the house, a fresh start.
Jack and his father continued to play together, this time for missionary work. The pair traveled through Michigan regularly, playing for a variety of congregations. Jack graduated from High School and went on to study religion at the Detroit Bible Institute, when he got his degree. In the early fifties Jack started preaching in earnest, and began an extensive recording career. His music at the time was primarily gospel, and in latter days he has stuck close to the style veering into beat style spoken word tracks as well. It was during this part of his career that he would meet his wife, Rexella Mae Shelton, named for her father Rex. She is an accomplished Organist and singer, and she appears in most of his recordings.
In 1970 Jack and Rexella founded Jack Van Impe Ministries as a non-profit religious corporation. It is likely that donations made to the organization made up much of their income. The range of the company was short, but Jack built a name for himself through his music and his ability to memorize bible passages. His recall on the King James Version of the Bible is said to be quite impressive.
The real crux of his career came in the mid eighties, when the ministry started producing a TV show. Jack Van Impe Presents. The format of the show is interesting. Rexella reads the news headlines from a variety of right wing publications then Jack recontextualizes the content with references to specific passages in the Bible. At certain points in the show they advertise their DVDs and other merchandise. The show is syndicated, and thus available on a wide range of networks. The claim on site is that the show is reachable by all 247 nations of the world, though I think those 30 or so folk on Pitcairn might find it somewhat difficult to stream, for the most part the claim is accurate.
While Jack’s personal fortune is listed as $2.5 million, the operating budget of Jack Van Impe Ministries International is somewhere in the $12 million range, and Jack’s listed salary with the corporation is around $100,000 per year. Considering they like to keep their overhead low, that is a lot of money for such a small firm.
Jack Van Impe Personal Life & FAQ
Is Jack Van Impe Married?
Jack Van Impe is married, to long time collaborator Rexella Van Impe, nee Shelton. The pair met while Jack was performing with Billy Graham’s Crusades, and the Youth For Christ group. The two have been together ever since.
Does Jack Van Impe have any children?
This is a tricky question to answer. There is not much out there regarding their home life, and even finding out Jack and Rexella’s birthdays was a chore. When it comes to kids there is nothing official. Though seen as he is a minister then I have to assume that he took Genesis 1:28 to heart. There is some hearsay regarding them having two kids, Karen and Ronald Van Impe, and both were disowned due to disagreements over the end of the world, but none of that can currently be confirmed.
Where is Jack Van Impe from?
Jack Van Impe is from Freeport, Michigan, a first generation US citizen, both of his parents immigrated from Belgium in 1929.
Where does Jack Van Impe live?
Where can I watch Jack Van Impe Presents?
It appears on a number of networks, but to be guaranteed a watch you need to go to the site. Most of the episodes are available there, along with additional content exclusive to the ministry website. For fans it is well worth looking up.
What Philanthropic endeavors is Jack Van Impe Ministries International involved in?
Jack Van Impe Ministries is primarily concerned with the culmination of Acts 1:8. bringing the true word to the ends of the earth. It is that mission that consumes the funds of the organization, through education materials and the production of the show. I cannot find reference to money being spent on community outreach or anything like that.
Televangelists: god’s way of keeping stupid people poor.
The majority of Christian t.v. people are actually trying to help a very worried world find something to hang on to. There are some screwballs, like any other group of humans, but if nobody at least tries to help, are we all supposed to just kill ourselves? This planet is chock-full of fear & other depressing things. I choose to believe that there IS someone who loves me for myself & is powerful enough to make a real difference in my life… let the whole world laugh at me. John.
I beg to differ. On a national level, even the ones that believe they are helping are for the most part not living the role model: Mansions, Jets, all the trappings of self-serving conspicuous consumption. The sadder part is they use all the “fear & other depressing things” to rake in the bucks. And I think the screwballs and shysters far outweigh the true believers: Tilton, all things TBN, Hagee, Bakker, Crestflo, Hinn, Jack and Rexella, Joyce, Oral, et al. And that’s just the “Christian” batch: all major religions have their Benny Hinns.
On a local level, having recently lived in two different Bible Belt markets, and traveled enough, I have seen many “local folks”. While definitely more ‘their church’ oriented, they are still selling a product (“Call now to p;edge your faith seed!!”) . Face it, proselytization is basically selling a product.
Spend your money more wisely: look up and find a solid charity that is doing good and put the services directly to the needy. No need to pass it through some huckster’s bank account first.
I would first say if u dont go to church then ur comment is irrelevant. It almost sounds like ur saying in order to be christian u gotta be broke?
It is as relevant as any thief or burglar taking someone’s money, whether or not I go to church. The televangelists and prosperity preachers prey on the gullible using religion to do so.
And I do not say “in order to be christian u gotta be broke”. Someone else may have, but I did not. I am saying is cut out the middle man, send your money where it really helps, not through Joel’s (and friends) pocket first. The “overhead” is a bit steep.
Amen John , I agree. GOD BLESS
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Don’t know much about Jack except he’s highly excitable but his wife … his wife is HOT. REAL HOT!
I would have guessed Jack and Rexella’s annual take home haul to be $500k minimum, or more likely over 2 million?
Jack is the most animated anger, rapture-to tribulation end-timer I have ever surfed across in Sunday morning’s infomercial market.
Ethnocentric righteous, bombastic…or to the incredulous surfer he must be doing cheeky self-parody?