Pastor asks believers to donate for his new jet

The founder and leader of a controversial Atlanta-based megachurch has taken down his online appeal for 200,000 people to each donate '$300 or more' so that he can buy a $65 million private jet amid a media backlash.

Reverend Creflo Dollar, 53, is the head of the World Changers Church International, a Christian ministry centered around the prosperity gospel, which preaches that God wants to bless the faithful with earthly riches.

The televangelist, who is one of the most prominent African-American preachers in the United States, last week put a five-minute video up on his website asking for donations for a Gulfstream G650 - which claims to be the fastest plane ever built in civilian aviation - so that 'World Changers Church International can continue to blanket the globe with the Gospel of grace'.

News of the plea broke soon after it was posted, with snarky headlines aplenty, including You Better Fly Commercial, Creflo Dollar, Jesus Wants Me to Have This Jet and Creflo Dollar Needs a Fancy Private Jet, the Daily Mail  has reported.

The webpage, as of Sunday afternoon, had been shuttered, WXIA first reported. However, the faithful may still donate to the cause via the World Changers donation site, which remains open.  

Dollar - who is known to own two Rolls Royce's and multi-million dollar homes in Atlanta and New Jersey - last hit headlines in 2012, after being arrested for allegedly attacking his 15-year-old daughter.