Howard-Browne and his three brothers (Mervyn, Bazil, and Gil) were raised in a Pentecostal family in the cities of Port Elizabeth and East London, South Africa.
In December 1988, the family emigrated from South Africa to the United States,[10][8] Howard-Browne opened his first U.S. church in Clifton Park, New York, in April 1989.
[15] Likewise, his youngest brother Bazil established an eponymous evangelical ministry on 1 January 1994 with the professed aim of people achieving financial freedom through the special anointing of God.
[18] Howard-Browne's services are characterized by laying on of hands with worshipers giggling in apparent spiritual drunkenness, speaking in tongues, breaking into uncontrollable holy laughter, shaking, dancing in the aisles, or falling to the ground.
[20][19] Howard-Browne is credited with introducing holy laughter to Carpenter's Home Church in Lakeland, Florida during a series of revival services with Karl Strader in 1993.
The event, called Good News New York, was described as "an effort to achieve a Billy Graham-style faith uprising", but was "derided in local media as a giant flop".
[8] Howard-Browne published The Killing of Uncle Sam: The Demise of the United States of America, which was scheduled to be released in May 2018, and announced that proceeds from sales of the book would go to the River School of Government, a degree granting program, operated by Howard-Browne and his wife under the auspices of Revival Ministries, that funds training for people seeking to run for political office.
[31] Howard-Browne's evangelical movement has been described by some as "a combination of brimstone and fire about God's power, sprinkled with hipster references and a conviction that church—like Disneyland—should be 'the happiest place on earth'.
"[8] The Christian Research Institute labelled his operation a "cult" and called him "a good stage hypnotist" who has made millions from vulnerable believers.
It feeds hundreds of poor Tampa families weekly and at his televised Sunday services dishes out huge checks to members facing financial crises.
[19][37][38][39] Howard-Browne and his wife Adonica were top-ranking ("Black Diamond executive level") distributors for Monavie, a multi-level marketing company that sold acai berry juice-based beverages until folding in 2014 subsequent to a $182 million loan default and allegations of pyramid scheming, fraudulent advertising, and patent infringement.
The event featured a call for donations, including a video of Howard-Browne claiming "God loves a generous giver," which Nunatsiaq News criticized on the basis that poverty is widespread in the city and nearly half of Nunavut's population relies on social assistance amidst long-standing crises in food security and housing.
He dedicated most of the sermon to mocking fears about the spread of the coronavirus and calling it a "phantom plague" designed to shut down churches and terrify people into receiving a vaccine that would cause mass deaths as a population control scheme, which he claimed was part of a plan laid out in a 2010 document "Scenarios for the Future of Technology and International Development" produced by The Rockefeller Foundation and Global Business Network.
[67][6][68][69] Chronister said he had no choice but to take action against Howard-Browne, stating "His reckless disregard for human life put hundreds of people from his congregation at risk and thousands of residents who may interact with them this week.
"[71] However, his lawyer, Mathew Staver of the law firm Liberty Counsel, said that Howard-Browne's arrest earlier in the week had led to the pastor's insurance policy being cancelled.
[72] Prosecutors dropped the charges on May 15, deeming that Howard-Browne posed no ongoing risk to public health after he took steps to maintain responsible social distancing at the church.