Background
Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter II was born in Ridgeland, South Carolina to parents from the Netherlands Antilles, and was of African American and Indo (Dutch-Indonesian) descent.
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Reverend Ike
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Career
He was known for the slogan "You can"t lose with the stuff I use!" His preaching is considered a form of prosperity theology. He began his career as a teenage preacher and became assistant pastor at Bible Way Church in Ridgeland, South Carolina. Known popularly as "Reverend Ike," his ministry reached its peak in the mid 1970s, when his weekly radio sermons were carried by hundreds of stations across the United States.
He was famous for his "Blessing Plan" – radio listeners sent him money and in return he blessed them.
He said doing this would make radio listeners who did it more prosperous. He was criticised for his overt interest in financial remuneration.
"This is the do-it-yourself church," he would say tossing aside the Apostle Paul and channeling Ayn Rand. "The only savior in this philosophy is God in you."
When it came to the worship of Mammon, Review
Ike was as transparent as they come.
"lieutenant is the lack of money that is the root of all evil," he used to say. "The best thing you can do for the poor is not to be one of them." Decades ahead of Oprah and the author of "The Secret" in the mainstreaming of greed as a middle-class virtue, Review Ike"s theology was indistinguishable from the fever dream of the most unrepentant capitalist: "Forget about the pie-in-the-sky.
Get yours here and now."
Eikerenkoetter bought the Loew"s 175th Street Theatre movie palace in the Washington Heights neighborhood for over half a million dollars, renamed it the "Palace Cathedral" – although colloquially it was known as "Reverend Ike"s Prayer Tower" – and had it fully restored.
Restorations included the seven-story high, twin chamber Robert Morton organization The "Miracle Star of Faith", visible from the George Washington Bridge, tops the building’s cupola.
Other activities
Ike made a guest appearance on Hank Williams, Junior."s single “Mind Your Own Business”, a Number One country music hit in December 1986. This song is Reverend Ike"s only chart single.
Reverend Ike died in Los Angeles at age 74 on July 28, 2009, after having not fully recovered from a stroke in 2007.
John Lennon used a phrase he heard from Reverend Ike while channel surfing one night as the inspiration to write his song "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night".
