Born on June 19, 1939, in California, John MacArthur comes from a renowned MacArthur family in Australia. Though his ancestors have a great history in politics, military service, and the wool industry, John MacArthur is an American Clergyman. He has been the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, since 1969.
He is also the Chancellor of The Master’s University and Seminary. In 1985, John became the president of The Master’s University (formerly Los Angeles Baptist College). In 1986, John founded The Master’s Seminary, a graduate school that trained men for full-time missionary work.
MacArthur is the featured teacher in the “Grace to You” radio and television programs, which airs worldwide in multiple languages daily. Founded in 1969, Grace to You is a nonprofit organization that develops and distributes John’s books and the “Grace to You” radio and television programs. “Grace to You” radio airs more than 1,000 times daily in English and Spanish, respectively.
He has authored nearly 400 books and study guides, including “The Gospel According to Jesus”, Anxious for Nothing”, “Twelve Ordinary Men”, and “The MacArthur Study Bible”. He is known for his expository preaching and evangelical views.
He and his wife Patricia have been married since 1963. They met through their social circle, and Patricia was engaged to someone else then. The couple has four children: Matt, Marcy, Mark, and Melinda, fifteen grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
Source of Income
MacArthur presides over a religious media and educational empire with assets worth over $130 million and makes more than $70 million annually in tax-free revenue. MacArthur makes more than $402,000 yearly from his broadcast ministry, Grace to You and another $103,000 from The Master’s University and Seminary (TMUS). This is in addition to MacArthur’s salary from the Grace Community Church and the book royalties and speaking fees. His combined annual salary from various ministries was estimated to be around half a million dollars most years, reaching up to three-quarters of a million in 2012.
Joel Osteen and John MacArthur, two well-known pastors, appear to have contrasting financial approaches. Osteen, who preaches prosperity theology, resides in a famously opulent house valued at millions. On the other hand, details about MacArthur’s personal finances are much scarcer. While some suggest he lives modestly, others allege a lavish lifestyle, leaving the truth about his financial choices unclear.
John MacArthur’s Villas
Main Residence in Santa Clarita, California
John MacArthur has lived in a house in Santa Clarita, California, for over two acres since the 1980s. The five-bedroom, four-bathroom house includes amenities like a tennis court and swimming pool. It is worth $1.5 million, more than twice the median value of homes in the Santa Clarita area. This house is estimated to be worth around $1.5 million, exceeding the area’s median home value. There are claims of two other residences – a smaller one near a golf course in California and a larger ranch-style property with seven bedrooms in Colorado Springs.
Vacation Home in California
In 1996, MacArthur purchased a house about an hour west of Santa Clarita. This villa is just 11 miles from the beach and next to a private golf club. At that time, it was purchased for around $700,000.
MacArthur’s Ranch in Colorado Springs
In 2007, Wismer, a longtime board member of his university, The Master’s University and Seminary (TMUS), gifted MacArthur a five-acre ranch in Colorado Springs. Wismer owned a 2,600-acre ranch in Colorado Springs and gave five acres to MacArthur as a gift. MacArthur then built a home on this property with his own money.
This luxurious residence has 7 bedrooms and 7.5 bathrooms. It is owned by a limited partnership controlled by MacArthur and is valued at around $800,000.
The property was given to Circle M Ranch; a limited liability limited partnership (LLLP) owned by John and Patricia MacArthur.
This property and lifestyle has drawn criticism, as MacArthur is known for preaching against the “prosperity gospel” promoted by some other high-profile Christian leaders.
He has also been criticized for hypocrisy and maintaining this lifestyle out of people’s money. However, his supporters argue that they justify his wealth through a teaching ministry, biblical commentary, and the television program Grace to You. His close ones know him for his frugal spending habits and argue that this habit has made him collect this property.