All God’s Children Reinstated to ECFA

Removal was due to technical glitch—plus, other notable ministry happenings from this week.

Here at MinistryWatch, one of our goals is to equip donors with the information they need to make wise decisions with their giving. That’s why we manage our database, which rates more than 1,000 of the country’s largest ministries based on their financial efficiency, financial transparency, and their donor confidence. Each week, we highlight ministries in our database that have had rating changes.

A few notable changes in the database this week:

• All God’s Children International (ACGI) is back on the ECFA membership roster after a technical glitch booted them from the list. “Recently, AGCI experienced an administrative disruption in our ECFA renewal process caused by a technical email authentication issue that prevented us from receiving certain renewal communications. Once this issue was identified, we acted immediately to resolve it,” ACGI VP of Finance Felicia Christensen told MinistryWatch. “AGCI welcomes external accountability and believes that transparency strengthens trust with donors, partners, and the communities we serve. We remain fully committed to operating with integrity and in alignment with ECFA’s standards and best practices.”
• It won’t be long before the MinistryWatch 1000 database will need a new name. As of this week, there are now 1,500 ministries in the database, representing more than $55 billion in annual revenue, and it continues to grow. Seven new ministries are listed below under database changes, including two Christian schools that each earn 5 Stars for financial efficiency—Norfolk Christian Schools and Vacaville Christian School.
• Arctic Barnabas Ministries and Christian Broadcasting Network each rose from 2 Stars to 3 Stars, meaning they are now in the top 60% for financial efficiency within their sectors—also raising their Donor Confidence Scores by 20 points.
• Comparatively, three ministries dropped into the bottom 40% for financial efficiency within their respective sectors, also dropping their Donor Confidence Scores by 20 points: Behold Israel, Dallas Leadership Foundation, and JAARS.

We also highlight stories from our podcast, where you can catch up on the week’s news in less than 30 minutes—perfect for a commute or walk. We highly recommend ministries join the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), which is why we list organizations that have either joined ECFA in the past week or been removed. Check it all out below.

With that, here are this week’s three top stories on the MinistryWatch website:

Minnesota Pastors Charged With $2M Fraud

By Tony Mator. $2,784 for shoes. $71,342 for restaurants. $169,462 for travel. These are just some of the ways the husband and wife co-pastors of a Minnesota church used charitable assets as their “personal piggy banks,” state prosecutors claim.

Joni Lamb, Daystar TV Ministry Co-Founder, Dies at 65

By Bob Smietana. Joni Lamb, the co-founder of Daystar Television Network, a prominent Christian television ministry, died May 7. She was 65.

Savala Pleads Guilty to Abuse, Sentenced to 30 Years

By Kim Roberts. Daniel Savala, the accused sexual abuser associated with the Chi Alpha college ministries of the Assemblies of God denomination, has pleaded guilty to one count of continuous trafficking of persons.

Here’s what else is new at MinistryWatch this week.

MinistryWatch Database Changes

MinistryWatch now has more than 1,300 ministries in its database. These ministries represent more than $44-billion in total revenue, most of that donor revenue from evangelicals. The following ministries have their profiles updated 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:

Ministries recently added into the database:

Bay Area Rescue Mission (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 57)

Dallas Seminary Foundation (1 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 60)

GraceWorks  (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 70)

Hilton Head Christian Academy (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 78)

Norfolk Christian Schools (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 71)

The Bair Foundation Child & Family Ministries (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 53)

Vacaville Christian School (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 73)

Ministries with upgraded ratings:

Kingdom Air Corps (Up 0 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: Up 56 to 76)

Ankerberg Theological Research Institute (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 69)

Arctic Barnabas Ministries (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Up 75 to 95)

Christian Broadcasting Network (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Up 61 to 81)

Christian Foundation of America (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 73)

Every Generation Ministries (1 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Up 77 to 80)

Faith Comes By Hearing / Hosanna Ministries (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Up 62 to 65)

Ministries with downgraded ratings:

BeMultiplied (N/A Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Down 55 to 53)

Extreme Response International (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: Down A to C, DCS: 97)

Voice of China and Asia Missionary Society (N/A Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Down 53 to 51)

Whole Word Institute (N/A Stars, Transparency Grade: Down A to C, DCS: Down 80 to 78)

WordPartners (1 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Down 77 to 75)

World Evangelical Alliance (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: Down A to C, DCS: Down 95 to 93)

Anabaptist Foundation (Down 5 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 85)

Behold Israel (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: Down 53 to 33)

Bridges for Peace, Inc. / BFPUSA (N/A Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: Down 42 to 40)

Colorado Springs Christian Schools (Down 5 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 100)

Dallas Leadership Foundation (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Down 95 to 75)

Glade Run Lutheran Services (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 68)

India National Inland Mission (1 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Down 78 to 76)

JAARS (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 97 to 77)

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On The MinistryWatch Podcast

Joni Lamb, a $2M Ministry Theft, and the Largest Bible Translation Organizations

On this week’s program, Minnesota pastors—a husband and wife team—have been accused by the Attorney General’s Office of misusing more than $2 million of ministry funds for personal use. We’ll take a look.

And, author and speaker Jada Edwards on how her journey to radical generosity reshaped her marriage, ministry, and faith. We’ll have details.

Plus, Daystar TV co-founder Joni Lamb dies after health complications. She was 65.

But first, the FBI has charged a woman with threatening federal agents involved in the prosecution of David E. Taylor and his Kingdom of God Global Church.

Also, before we leave today, I want to mention that I’m in Nashville for the annual meeting of the Evangelical Press Association’s annual meeting, and MinistryWatch received four awards for excellence this year. Stories by me, by Kim Roberts, by Tony Mator won individual prizes. And MinistryWatch as a whole won an award for overall excellence. I just want to thank the entire staff here at MinistryWatch for their excellent work, and I want to thank you, our listeners, readers, and donors, for making our work possible.

Listen here.

ECFA Membership Changes

Additions

All God’s Children International (Vancouver, WA)

Veritas Church of Cedar Rapids (Cedar Rapids, IA)

Bangla Ministries Worldwide (Zeeland, MI)

HOPE Missions of the Upstate (Anderson, SC)

Miracle Connect (Southlake, TX)

Drop A Dime On Us.  Do you have a story idea for MinistryWatch?  If so, send us an email.  A lot of the stories we do originate from our readers and listeners.  They send us news tips, press releases, emails, questions, and links.  So, if you have a story you’d like us to cover, or a ministry that you think needs a closer look, please email us.  Our email is [email protected].  That will come directly to the desk of MinistryWatch President Warren Smith, and we’ll take it from there.

MinistryWatch and Sex Crimes. We write a lot about pastors and ministry leaders involved in sex crimes. That’s why we thought it might be a good time to re-post this story, which explains why we think covering these crimes are necessary: Why MinistryWatch Reports on Sex Crimes.  As always, your feedback is welcome.

MinistryWatch Video.  In closing, a reminder that we have created a short (3.5 minutes) video that explains what we do here at MinistryWatch, and why.  If you’re new to MinistryWatch, we hope you’ll check it out. To find it, click here.