Care Net

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Care Net listed by MinistryWatch.com as a 2005, 2006 and 2007 Shining Light ‘Top 30’ Exemplary Ministry.

MinistryWatch.com desires to see overall giving to Biblical Christian values increase and as such we developed this format to highlight those ministries which are exemplary. The list is a sampling of the "best ministries" and outstanding examples when we consider Philippians 4:8 and weigh and take account of those ministries that are excellent and worthy of praise.

These ministries are called ‘Shining Lights’ because they are indeed models of letting their Christian light shine before men so that the Gospel may be proclaimed and God be glorified. Consequently, we are shining a figurative light on them so that donors may be aware of their good works and other ministries may learn from their examples.

While identifying the best ministries is challenging given the selfless work that so many do for the cause of Christ, MinistryWatch.com believes that the list of 30 excellent ministries will be helpful to many. Each of the ministries has the following important features in common:

• They have a legitimate nonprofit ministry and purpose.
• Have shown a willingness to treat donors fairly via a Transparency Grade of "A".
• Are unashamed of being identified as an evangelical Christian ministry.
• MinistryWatch.com researchers knows of no significant issues that would be of concern to donors.

A high MinistryWatch.com Financial Efficiency Rating was not a requirement for inclusion on this list although most do have good ratings. Many factors were reviewed and strengths in other areas can offset weakness in financial efficiency when determining whether a ministry should be of interest to donors seeking to be good stewards of their giving. Only you can decide for yourself with confidence if a ministry shares your values and with your giving plan.

This is just another step in our mission of encouraging Christians to give more of their talents and resources to Kingdom-building efforts. In short, we wish to help spread the Gospel of Christ by helping Christians give more and more effectively to the works of the Lord. If the Lord uses our list as part of that process, we will have been a blessing to both those ministries who have been ‘good and faithful servants’ with the Lord’s resources and to Christian donors who are seeking to be good stewards of their giving.
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MinistryWatch.com’s Take
March 2003 (Updated November 2007)
By Dan Wray

There is a non-profit network of pro-life pregnancy centers across North America called Care Net, offering free pregnancy testing, peer counseling, post abortion support, and additional practical support services to singles and couples facing the uncertainty – even trauma – of unexpected or unplanned pregnancy. A 24-hour toll free help-line, print and TV advertising, and available legal counsel help to introduce a supportive environment wherein important decisions can be made without fear concerning taking pregnancy to term.

Most help needed
Care Net’s driving emphasis is women in need in all stages of pregnancy referral, including adoption and post abortion complications. Care Net asserts that the overwhelming reasons for abortion issue from fear and anxiety about some uncertain aspect of the pregnancy or impending parental responsibility. In response, Care Net posts answers to common questions about abortion on the Care Net website, including statistical graphics representing mothers’ age, marital status, ethnic distribution and incidence of multiple siblings. Information is also available concerning abortion complications and mortality, links between abortion and breast cancer, methods of reporting post viability and abortion related deaths, and broad ranging legal implications of abortion issues.

Support for the long term
Post abortion counseling is a vital area of support provided by Care Net, and is essential to treatment of Post Abortion Stress (PAS). Factors predisposing a wide-ranging syndrome of emotional trauma and prolonged adjustment difficulty are identified, with recommended treatment modalities. The complex and often overlooked effects of PAS upon men are also discussed, with symptoms similar to those women suffer including denial, protracted grieving, avoidance of intimacy, sexual dysfunction, rage, loneliness and depression, with suggested treatment responses.

"Just say no," best bet
Care Net recommends abstinence,

• as a preventative for unplanned teen and unwed pregnancy – surveys indicate 78% of teens responding said "teens should not be sexually active..., two thirds said they would not tell a sibling to have sex while still a teenager," ...63% wish they had waited;
• as a curb against unwanted pregnancy and needless abortions – recent reports indicate 52% of teens are still sexually inexperienced; teen pregnancy, birth and abortion rates dropped in the ‘90s;
• as a preventative for STD’s – 15.3 million new STD diagnoses annually, notwithstanding modern sexual freedom enhancements;
• as reasonable and responsible – in harmony with broadly accepted norms of morality and social responsibility

Motivated by desire to provide support and counsel to those traumatized by unplanned pregnancy and abortion, with its numerous and far-reaching complications, Care Net offers a network of vital services dealing with one of society’s darkest dilemmas, the compassionate disposition of its unborn.

Support commitment
Financial contributors to Care Net may access graphics on the website illustrating revenues, costs and allocation of program funds, as well as an open letter pledging integrity with the use of donor dollars. Care Net is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), and is a supporter of accountability and financial disclosure. Online donations are encouraged, with forms available, as well as tax advisories. Membership is invited to develop new pregnancy resource centers, with offers of training, marketing advice, legal counsel, advertising and client referrals.

Bits and Pieces
Begun in 1975 as the Christian Action Council, Care Net is today the parent group for about 800 pregnancy care centers throughout the US and Canada, making it the largest in North America, perhaps in the entire world. Co-founded by Theology professor Harold O. J. Brown with the encouragement of Billy Graham and Francis Schaeffer, Care Net offers pro-life alternatives to single women and couples facing unplanned pregnancy. It is headquartered in Sterling, Va.

Simple, sensible, traditional Christianity
Care Net plainly finds its motivating impetus in the traditional values of Biblical Christianity. Explicitly evangelistic themes are notably absent, however, from the service’s website, giving way to broad expressions of personal empathy and individual crisis support. These continues to be central themes in Care Net’s regional conferences and national advertising, emphasizing the premise that guardianship of the unborn is endemic to humane sensibilities and is not merely the province of sectarian political ideology or even religious tradition.

Moral clarity
While the stance of Care Net as an organization is not immediately clear on all doctrinal issues, the position of board chair and Christian writer-social commentator, Susan Olasky on life-issues has never been obscure. Additionally, MinistryWatch.com interviews of Care Net President and CEO Kurt Entsminger reveals a leader uncompromisingly committed to proclaiming the Gospel message and the hope only it offers to the clients of pregnancy resource centers. What is equally unclouded is Care Net’s determined commitment to the crisis of life-issues facing America, and a veritable holocaust of apathy which has helped to veil the clinical disposal of unborn persons behind deliberately impersonal rhetoric, contrived rationale and systematic, at times even defiant, falsehood. For this reason, abortion rights activist groups have targeted Care Net, slandering their centers as "fake clinics," and generally seeking to undermine their effectiveness. In this climate, the network doggedly continues to define and legitimize the abortion issue as a human rights crisis, with time abiding moral implications for every member of society, from the least to the greatest.