It was a clip that had all the makings of viral outrage: A famous Black gospel singer and pastor seemingly standing at the altar, instructing ushers to “close the doors” — all while soliciting a $40,000 offering. But as the video blew up on X and TikTokkers remixed it with their hot takes, any context evaporated — leaving only the optics of a spiritual shakedown.
The online firestorm over a video of Bishop Marvin Sapp during a fundraising appeal has become a case study in how social media’s speed leaves no room for nuance — and spreads dangerous misinformation. It has also sparked reflections about transparency in church giving and the realities of church hurt.
To some, it’s much-needed dialogue. But, according to Sapp, now people are taking their anger over what they think they’re seeing into the real world — harassing and threatening him and causing disruptions at his church.
A Hostage Situation?
The clip, which began making the rounds on various platforms, shows Sapp requesting a $20 offering from what seems to be attendees at a church service. He tells the ushers to “close the doors” and sets a fundraising goal of $40,000. Social media critics said Sapp crossed a line, they compared what happened to a hostage situation, and said it explains why some folks have left the church.
“Church folk do stuff like that and then wonder why Millennials and Gen Z’s aren’t going to church,” one commenter wrote on Facebook.”The constant begging for money, along with the homophobia and misogyny is aggravating.”
Indeed, as many as 66% of the people who stop attending church do so due to personal conflicts, or abuse.
However what wasn’t shared as the video went viral is that it’s a July 2024 clip from the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World International Summer Convention with 4,000 attendees — not Sapp’s church — and PAW asked Sapp to raise money to defray the convention costs.
Misinterpretations and Assumptions
Given the intensity of the online conversation Sapp quickly took to Facebook to explain.
“Some have taken issue with a particular moment when I instructed the ushers, rather firmly, to close the doors during the offering,” Sapp wrote on March 26. “To those unfamiliar with the church context or who may not regularly attend worship gatherings this has been misinterpreted as holding people hostage.”
Clips like this go viral on social media “without context, and assumptions are quickly made without understanding the full picture,” Sapp wrote. He was, he wrote, simply trying to help raise money for the conference budget. “That’s not manipulation, it’s stewardship.”
Traditional churchgoers, like Markell Williams, pastor of Full Gospel Apostolic Faith Church in Indianola, Mississippi, also insisted on Facebook that the controversy was overblown. Williams, who was present at the event, urged critics to “stop making something out of nothing and let’s talk about the amount of people that think it’s okay to leave the house without wearing deodorant.”
The presiding prelate of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc., also issued an official statement about the video, explaining that they asked Sapp to proceed “in receiving a free-will offering that would go toward expenses incurred for this gathering and our organizational operations.”
PAW noted that closing doors ”is an internal security protocol that was, unfortunately, taken out of context. No doors were locked and no one was held in the room against their will. We do not force or coerce anyone into supporting the operations of our organization.”
Yet, despite these explanations, the memes, jokes, criticisms, and conspiracy theories continued to swirl online. “Marvin Sapp started playing on my pandora and now my car doors won’t unlock,” one Facebook commenter quipped.
“People have called my church and cussed me out.”
Marvin SAPP
In an exclusive interview on Monday with radio host Rickey Smiley, Sapp admitted that, “looking at the video, maybe I was a little more assertive than I should have been, and I can apologize for that.” But he said the “clickbait” narrative being spread is not only incomplete, but also dangerous to the safety of his church and family.
“People have called my church and cussed me out,” Sapp said. “My staff are afraid because I’ve received death threats over $20 and ‘shut the door.’ People have come to our campus — they have come to my church to try to cause problems, issues, challenges.”
His children read the comments on social media “and they are afraid,” he said.
Sapp reiterated that no doors had been locked and he’d simply been trying to help a faith organization fundraise. None of the money raised at the convention came to him, and he told Smiley he didn’t actually know how much PAW raised.
Sapp believes the extreme reaction is due to people who have “been church hurt” and “that’s the reason why they have a certain level of vitriol and bitterness as it pertains to the church.”
“I never got paid a dime”
Marvin Sapp
Smiley asked where he earns his money overall and Sapp explained that most churches are small and preachers have to have side-hustles to make ends meet. Sapp — who gave an NPR Tiny Desk concert in March — has sold millions of records as a gospel artist. He said at the church he founded and pastored in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in “16 years of pastoring, I never got paid a dime.”
Sapp admitted he’s laughed over some of the memes, but he also hopes an incident like this can be avoided in the future. It’s always smart to do your “due diligence” and verify information “with clarity and context before you begin to share it,” he told Smiley.