MinistryWatch Database: 50 Largest Christian Ministries

Samaritan’s Purse tops the list with $1.6 billion in revenue.

Below is a list of the 50 largest Christian ministries, curated from the MinistryWatch database as of Oct. 29, 2026. The ministries are listed in order of total annual revenue, which ranges from nearly $94 million to more than $1.6 billion.

This list does not include colleges, universities or Christian foundations. You can find the list of the largest Christian colleges and universities in the United States here.

Together, these 50 ministries represent about $16.5 billion in annual revenue. The figures are based on the most recently available Form 990s from the Internal Revenue Service and the ministries’ own reporting. A column on the right indicates the most recent year each ministry filed a Form 990.

Ministries marked with an asterisk do not file a Form 990. Their revenue numbers were gathered from their profiles with the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability or from their own annual reports.

MinistryWatch’s position is that failing to file a Form 990 both endangers the ministry itself and compromises its financial integrity. (You can read more about MinistryWatch’s position on this issue here.) Three of the top 10 Christian ministries — Compassion International, Convoy of Hope and Cru — have chosen not to file a Form 990 with the IRS.

Here are some highlights from this year’s list:

• Each ministry’s ranking on last year’s list appears next to its ranking this year. We generally see little movement among the largest ministries from year to year. Samaritan’s Purse, however, moved from third on last year’s list to the top of this year’s with $1.6 billion in revenue, up from $1.2 billion last year.
• World Vision moved down one spot and reported $1.42 billion in revenue, down about $160 million from last year. It reported receiving $511 million in government grants in the most recent year, about $124 million less than the year before.
• Although some ministries shifted positions within the top 10, the group includes the same ministries as last year, with one new addition. Family Endeavors, recently added to the database, took the No. 10 spot with $408 million in revenue. Mercy Corps, which was ninth on last year’s list, was removed from the MinistryWatch database because it is not a Christian ministry.
• Of the 10 largest ministries, six fall under the “Relief and Development” category.
• Kingsway Charities, which provides medications and medical supplies to medical mission teams, joined the list at No. 19 with $266 million in total revenue. Other new additions include two health care sharing ministries — Medi-Share and Liberty HealthShare — along with Turning Point USA, Cross International and Eternal Word Television Network.
• One of the biggest movers on this year’s list was Children’s Hunger Fund, which climbed nine places, from No. 33 to No. 24. Its revenue grew by more than $31 million from 2025 to 2026. Wycliffe Bible Translators also moved up five spots, from No. 23 to No. 18, with revenue growth of $68 million.
• Ministries that fell off the list this year include Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission, Adventist Development and Relief, The Voice of the Martyrs, American Bible Society, CRISTA and Pioneers.
• MinistryWatch has 22 categories of ministry in its database. The category with the most ministries on this list is “Relief and Development,” with 20 of the 50.

In February we published a list of the 50 largest relief and development organizations. You can find that list here.

Readers should not interpret this as a list of recommended ministries. They are ranked by total revenue, not by effectiveness, financial efficiency or any other measure. The Financial Efficiency Rating and Transparency Grade of each ministry is included in the list.

Two ministries on the list receive the highest Donor Confidence Score of 100: Children’s Hunger Fund and World Relief.

Learn more about our Financial Efficiency Rating, here and our our Transparency Grades, here. The Donor Confidence Score is explained here.

To learn more about these institutions, click on a ministry’s name to see its complete MinistryWatch database profile.