Weekly Review
ECFA Membership Changes, MinistryWatch Database Changes, Bible Translation on the podcast, On This Date In MinistryWatch
ECFA Changes. The following organizations have had membership status changes in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. ADDITIONS: 20schemes (Bardstown, Ky.), Frontline Response (Atlanta, Ga.), The Way Back (Richardson, Tex.), Camp Nathanael (Minneapolis, Minn.), The Chapel (Baton Rough, La.), Point of View Ministries (Dallas, Tex.), Family Legacy Missions International (Irving, Tex.), Northeast Pennsylvania Youth for Christ (Scranton, Pa.), Covenant College (Lookout Mountain, Tenn.), Rooted Ministries (Birmingham, Ala.), Family Heritage Foundation (Stone Mountain, Ga.), Eagle Rock Baptist Church (Los Angeles, Calif.). REMOVALS: Loom International (Portland, Ore.).
On the Podcast: On today’s program, a federal court ruling protects the right of churches and Christian ministries to hire and fire staff members based on religious beliefs. And we’ll take a look at how money given to tax-exempt organizations, including Christian organizations, is going to partisan political causes. We begin today with what appears to be a body blow to a group that claims to be the oldest Protestant denomination in the United States. You can hear the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and other podcast apps, or you can simply click here.
A Guide To Giving For Disaster Relief. When disaster hits, Christians give. But where they give can make a big difference? Which organizations are most effective in these post-disaster situations? MinistryWatch has published a list of organizations that are doing relief work and which have an “A” Transparency Grade and a 3-, 4-, or 5-star rating for Financial Efficiency. It’s a list of about 30 ministries, and you can find it on the front page of our website. I’ll also include a link in the show notes to this program. Link to list HERE.
MinistryWatch 1000 Database Changes. MinistryWatch now has more than 1,000 ministries in its database. These ministries represent more than $35-billion in total revenue, most of that donor revenue from evangelicals. The following ministries had their profiles updated this week with the most recent year’s financial data. The Financial Efficiency rating of each ministry is in parenthesis. If this rating represents a change from the previous year, that change is noted: Haven of Rest Ministries, Inc. (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: Alliance for Children Everywhere (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: A), Covenant College (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: From C to A), Iris Global (Up 4 to 5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Live Action (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: D), Ministry Essentials International (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: From D to A). The following ministry has been added to the MinistryWatch database with the most recent year’s financial data: Family Legacy Missions International (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Frontline Response / Atlanta Dream Center Inc (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Send Relief Inc (N/A Stars, Transparency Grade: C)
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Salary Data Now In MinistryWatch Database. We now have salary information for nearly 5,000 executives from more than half of the ministries in the MinistryWatch 1000 database. So check out this new addition by clicking on the red button at the top of this page, or click here. That takes you to our database. The search engine is right there, and you can type in the name of a ministry you’re interested in and our profile will pop right up – now, with compensation information for the top executives.
Audio Version of Faith-Based Fraud Now Available. Thanks to those of you who made my new book Faith-Based Fraud a best-seller in several Amazon categories this week. It’s now available in paperback and e-book versions. To get your copy, click here. This week, the new audio version released. You can get that from Audible by clicking here.
MinistryWatch Video. In closing, a reminder that we have created a new, short (3.5 minutes) video that explains what we do here at MinistryWatch, and why. If you’re new to MinistryWatch, I hope you’ll check it out. To find it, click here.
MinistryWatch EXTRA Episode: FAQ About MinistryWatch. These mid-week “Extra” episodes are a chance for us to go deep with a particular topic, and today we discuss Bible translation with Jane Schoen of the Strategic Resource Group. SRG is experimenting with a new process for Bible translation that is showing promising results. Listen here.
On This Date at MinistryWatch. On Jan. 14, 2020, MinistryWatch reported that youth speaker Acton Bowen had been sentenced to 1,008 years in prison — the maximum sentence possible — after pleading guilty to 28 charges of raping and sexually assaulting young boys he reached through his ministry. He was also ordered to pay $840,000 in fines. Read more here. On Jan 14, 2021, MinistryWatch publishes an analysis of charismatic preachers who prophesied a Trump victory in the 2020 election. Read more here.
