On today’s program, Gateway Church founder Robert Morris turns himself into authorities after a grand jury indicted him on child sexual abuse charges. We’ll have details. And, USAID unfreezes $19 million in funds for Samaritan’s Purse. We’ll take a look. Plus, nearly 200 ministries do NOT file a Form 990 with the IRS. We have that list, and many of the largest ministries in the country are on it.
But first, prominent pastor and theologian Steve Lawson breaks his silence six months after news surfaced that he was having an inappropriate relationship with a young woman. Steven Lawson, 73, who stepped down from ministry following an adultery scandal, has published a public confession admitting his sin and repentance.
The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today’s program include Jessica Eturralde, Kim Roberts, Tony Mator, Aleja Hertzler-McCain, Ed Stych, Brittany Smith, and Christina Darnell.
Until next time, may God bless you.
MANUSCRIPT:
FIRST SEGMENT
Warren:
Hello everybody. I’m Warren Smith, coming to you this week from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Natasha:
And I’m Natasha Cowden, coming to you from Denver, Colorado, and we’d like to welcome you to the MinistryWatch podcast.
Warren:
On today’s program, Gateway Church founder Robert Morris turns himself into authorities after a grand jury indicted him on child sexual abuse charges. We’ll have details.
And, USAID unfreezes $19 million in funds for Samaritan’s Purse. We’ll take a look.
Plus, nearly 200 ministries do NOT file a Form 990 with the IRS. We have that list, and many of the largest ministries in the country are on it.
Natasha:
But first, prominent pastor and theologian Steve Lawson breaks his silence six months after news surfaced that he was having an inappropriate relationship with a young woman.
Warren:
Steven Lawson, 73, who stepped down from ministry following an adultery scandal, has published a public confession admitting his sin and repentance.
On March 12, in his first tweet on X since before the scandal broke, Lawson addressed his followers in a nearly 500-word tweet.
“It is with a shattered heart that I write this letter. I have sinned grievously against the Lord, against my wife, my family, and against countless numbers of you by having a sinful relationship with a woman not my wife,” the tweet began.
Natasha:
In September 2024, Trinity Bible Church of Dallas removed Lawson, their lead pastor of six years, after he admitted to church elders that he was having an “inappropriate relationship” with a woman. Before joining Trinity in 2018, Lawson was a pastor for over 40 years, leading churches in Arkansas and Alabama.
Warren:
Lawson formerly served as professor of preaching and dean of D.Min. studies at The Master’s Seminary (TMS) and was a frequent preacher at John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church (GCC) and its conferences. Lawson is also the founder of OnePassion Ministries, executive editor of Expositor Magazine (a ministry of OnePassion), and author of 33 books.
Natasha:
Next, Robert Morris turns himself in to authorities.
Warren:
Robert Morris, founding pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, turned himself in on charges of lewd acts with children on Monday, March 17.
Morris was indicted by a grand jury in Oklahoma last week on five charges of lewd or indecent acts with children.
Natasha:
The charges stem for allegations brought by Cindy Clemishire last year.
Warren:
Clemishire has accused Morris of sexually abusing her in the 1980s, starting when she was 12 years old. Morris was allegedly a 21-year-old visiting evangelist. He was married, and he and his wife had a young child.
Morris resigned after the allegations became public through Clemishire’s account published by The Wartburg Watch on June 14, 2024.
In reaction to the indictment last week, Clemishire said, “After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child. Now, it is time for the legal system to hold him accountable. My family and I are deeply grateful to the authorities who have worked tirelessly to make this day possible and remain hopeful that justice will ultimately prevail.”
Morris could face up to 20 years in prison for each charge.
Natasha:
Next, anti-gambling groups and Casino unite.
Warren:
As the old saying goes “politics makes strange bedfellows.”
That proverb fits a situation in Arkansas involving a proposition to allow casino gambling, where an anti-gambling group led by church leaders took casino-interest money to fight a competing casino from entering the state.
The story begins in 2018 when Arkansas approved an amendment to the state constitution that would allow casino gambling in four counties: Crittenden, Garland, Pope, and Jefferson.
That opened the door for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, which operates at least eight casinos in that state, to seek a casino license in Pope County, Arkansas.
Natasha:
But locals created anti-gambling groups to oppose a casino in the county.
Warren:
At least two leaders of these anti-gambling groups involved in opposing casinos are affiliated with First Baptist Church of Russellville: Pastor Larry Walker and Deacon Jim Knight.
Walker, the finance and administrative pastor on the First Baptist Russellville staff, has given his time and effort to anti-casino groups that accepted money from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
Natasha:
That’s not so unusual. You’d expect churches to be opposed to gambling.
Warren:
That’s right. But what makes this story strange is that the funding for these anti-gambling groups came from The Choctaw Nation, which owns casinos in Oklahoma. They funded the Arkansas groups because they wanted to eliminate competition.
Natasha:
In an email to potential supporters of a 2022 ballot question against the casino, Walker acknowledged the strange partnership between Fair Play for Arkansas and the Choctaw Nation but claimed they shared a common interest.
Warren:
Walker wrote, “Although the partnership may seem strange and though some may object, through much prayer and deliberation our leadership determined that this arrangement was the most prudent way forward and in the end our desired outcome was the same…no casino in Pope County.”
Natasha:
Moving to our next story: a pastor is charged for scamming nearly a quarter of a million dollars
Warren:
Terrance Elliot was already a convicted felon when he became pastor of Aboard the Ship of Zion in San Bernardino, California. Now, he faces 11 new felonies and a possible 20-year prison sentence.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California, Elliot was arrested March 6 following a grand jury indictment for allegedly swindling several “long-time friends” and a nonprofit out of more than $230,000.
The statement outlined multiple schemes allegedly hatched between September 2018 and February 2023.
Natasha:
What were they?
Warren:
In one case, Elliot convinced a friend, identified as “M.C.,” to let him manage her inheritance money, “claiming that she would lose her Medicare and Social Security benefits if she directly received the inheritance.”
Elliot then used a “fraudulently modified copy” of a trust agreement to give himself sole control of the victim’s money, which he then withdrew to pay a church’s rent and cover personal expenses such as Nike sneakers and an extended warranty for a motorcycle.
In another case, Elliot allegedly convinced a nonprofit that it owed money to a corporation, only to take the payments and deposit them in a bank account he controlled.
Natasha:
Elliot has quite the checkered passed but we won’t get into that right now, instead, what can we take away from this story?
Warren:
Todd Johnson, co-director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, told Christianity Today that the trust people feel for each other in religious organizations makes churches vulnerable to fraud.
“One of the things we found after someone had been convicted of embezzlement, some cases where a pastor was actually in prison, you had church members who still said, ‘I don’t believe he could do this.’ They were the victims, but they still couldn’t accept it,” Johnson said.
“That shows the power of trust. And trust is good, but if it’s misused—which is the definition of affinity fraud—that’s really a problem.”
A 2022 study by Johnson’s organization projected that embezzlement in churches will decline to about $10 billion in 2025, but, based on current trends, will rise to $170 billion in 2050 unless churches do more to protect themselves.
Natasha:
Warren, let’s take a quick break. When we return, Samaritan’s Purse confirmed with MinistryWath that $19 million in frozen USAID funds has been released to the ministry.
I’m Natasha Cowden, along with my co-host Warren Smith, and we’ll have that story and much more, after this short break.
BREAK
SECOND SEGMENT
Natasha:
Welcome back. I’m Natasha Cowden, along with my co-host Warren Smith, and you’re listening to the MinistryWatch podcast.
Next, the story we promised before the break.
Warren:
Samaritan’s Purse has confirmed that $19 million in frozen USAID funds has been released to the ministry.
Payments to the North Carolina-based evangelical aid organization had been stalled since January, when President Trump ordered a 90-day pause on all federal foreign aid.
News of the release follows the Supreme Court’s March 5 ruling that the Trump administration must unfreeze nearly $2 billion for foreign humanitarian work already completed at the government’s behest.
Natasha:
That’s good news for Samaritan Purse and for those they serve.
Warren:
Samaritan’s Purse President and CEO Franklin Graham said in a statement to MinistryWatch, “The funding grants that Samaritan’s Purse has with USAID are reimbursement agreements, “We pay for the supplies and staff in advance and they reimburse us. We have just received reimbursement for $19 million to provide life-saving aid in Sudan.”
Natasha:
Many charities have criticized Trump’s foreign aid pause for the risk it poses to communities that depend on USAID-funded programs, Graham has defended the process as an important step in reigning in federal waste and fraud.
Warren:
Graham told Time. “There has never really been a review of the policies and the procedures and expenditures. To take a pause and to shake things up and hold people accountable, I think, is very good,”
However, Graham admitted to being concerned Trump may go too far. “Because the staff at USAID was allowed to misappropriate billions of dollars, I think the pendulum is going to swing to a point where the baby may be thrown out with the bathwater. And that is tragic, but it’s because the culture of USAID got so far off track,” he said.
Natasha:
Next, Seminary enrollment is up, according to data collected by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS), an accrediting agency for seminaries.
Warren:
For more than three decades, ATS has been releasing its annual data about what is happening in the world of graduate theological education.
ATS reported that total enrollment in Fall 2024 across the reporting seminaries was up by 1.7% over Fall 2023. Fifty-five percent of the schools reported year-over-year increases while 45% reported decreases.
Natasha:
Evangelical seminaries are the largest in the country.
Warren:
Liberty Theological Seminary, which is Baptist but not an official Southern Baptist seminary, leads the way with over 6,100 students enrolled in seminary courses. It has been steadily growing with 4,849 students in 2018-19 and 5,723 students in 2021-22.
All six of the Southern Baptist seminaries are in the top 10, despite the scandals that have plagued the SBC over the last few years: Southern, Midwestern, Southwestern, Southeastern, Gateway, and New Orleans. However, these schools aren’t necessarily growing.
Several evangelical seminaries not affiliated with a particular denomination make the top 25 list for enrollment, including Dallas Theological Seminary at No. 4 and Fuller Seminary at No. 8. Others in the list include Talbot, Gordon-Conwell, Kairos, Denver, Master’s, Western, Moody, and Columbia Biblical Seminary.
Duke Divinity School is the only mainline denominational seminary that makes the top 25.
Natasha:
Next, two Presbyterian Church in America pastors have been charged with crimes in the last month.
Warren:
Two pastors in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), one from Mississippi and one from Florida, are facing serious criminal charges for statutory rape and vehicular homicide respectively.
On March 11, Christopher Willett, the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Crystal Springs, Mississippi, was charged with statutory rape, sexual battery, unnatural intercourse, computer luring of a person, and child pornography, according to reporting by ByFaith, the PCA Magazine.
A 19-year-old woman came to the Crystal Springs Police Department on Friday, March 7, to report that she had been molested by Willett beginning when she was 15 years old.
The police began the investigation the next morning and executed search warrants on laptops, cell phones, automobiles, and Willett’s home.
Natasha:
Did they find anything?
Warren:
Police Chief Robert Thomas said that after a lengthy interview with the victim on Monday, March 10, he feels the evidence the police have against Willett is “pretty substantial,” but emphasized that Willett has not been found guilty.
Willett is currently being held in the Copiah County jail without bond, according to the Ledger.
Natasha:
Who is the other pastor and what are the charges against him?
Warren:
Nicholas Betancourt in Tampa, Florida, is facing 11 charges related to a fatal car crash on February 28, killing Dana Rivera and seriously injuring her three children, ages 4, 6, and 15. According to police, Betancourt was under the influence while he was driving on a suspended license.
Betancourt had been arrested on February 27 for driving under the influence and was released on the morning of the 28th. After he was involved in the car crash on the 28th, a urine sample from the hospital where Betancourt received treatment showed the presence of cocaine, amphetamines, oxycodone and benzodiazepines in his system.
Charges against Betancourt include vehicular homicide and 10 other offenses related to driving under the influence and possession of controlled substances.
Until his resignation on January 24, Betancourt was an assistant pastor at Christ Central Presbyterian Church in Tampa, Florida. His official pastoral relationship was dissolved by the presbytery on February 8.
Natasha:
Warren, we’re going to take another break. When we return, our lightning round of ministry news of the week.
I’m Natasha Cowden, with my co-host Warren Smith. More in a moment.
BREAK
THIRD SEGMENT
Natasha:
Welcome back. I’m Natasha Cowden, with my co-host Warren Smith and you’re listening to the MinistryWatch Podcast.
Warren, we like to use this last segment as a sort of lightning round of shorter news briefs.
What’s up first?
Warren:
We have a new list in our MinistryWatch 1000 database featuring the 189 Christian ministries that do not file a Form 990 with the Internal Revenue Service.
The groups are listed alphabetically, and some of the largest ministries in the country are included on the list: Compassion International, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Focus on the Family, Cru, and Wycliffe Bible Translators.
The Form 990 is an informational tax return for nonprofit organizations, but church and church associations are exempt from the filing requirement. In recent years, more and more Christian ministries have been seeking to be designated as a church or association of churches in order to gain the exemption.
This information is valuable to donors wanting to assess the effectiveness of a ministry; therefore, MinistryWatch takes the position that ministries should complete the Form 990.
Any ministry in the database that does not complete a Form 990 receives zero stars for financial efficiency. It also affects the ministry’s transparency grade and donor confidence score.
Natasha:
Who is in our Ministry Spotlight this week?
Warren:
Ratings for Camp Cho-Yeh, headquartered in Livingston, Texas, recently dropped in two of the three MinistryWatch categories.
Its Donor Confidence Score fell 20 points because it no longer has “an overall financial efficiency rating of at least 3 stars.”
The camp dropped from ranking in the top 60% (3 stars) for financial efficiency in the Camps/Conference Centers sector to now ranking in the bottom 20% (1 star). The drop is in part because, in 2023, the organization’s net assets grew to $30.1 million — more than doubling its assets from 2020, which were $15.5 million.
Its revenue has also more than doubled from $4.9 million in 2020 to $11.2 million in 2023.
The organization was established in 1947. According to its website, it is “a premier Christian summer camp and retreat center.” It offers overnight camps, day camps, family programming, gap years, and retreats.
Camp Cho-Yeh did not respond to an interview request from MinistryWatch.
Natasha:
And in Ministries Making a Difference, we look at ministries helping people overcome addiction, poverty, and homelessness.
Warren:
Avenue of Life in Kansas City, Kansas, is hosting the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program for households earning $65,700 or less in 2024. VITA volunteers will book appointments through April 11. Avenue of Life—which has 5 stars, an “A” transparency grade, and a donor confidence score of 100 in the MinistryWatch database—works to end student homelessness by helping low-income families become self-sustaining.
Every third Wednesday of the month, Crossroads Mission in Arizona hosts its “Just For You!” community outreach. The “day of compassion” is focused on providing essential items like tents, pillows, food, and hygiene items to people in need. In summer 2024, the outreach doled out over 20,000 meals. Guests also receive vouchers to the mission’s thrift store, where they can pick up clothing, outfits for job interviews, and even furniture. Volunteers and staff invite recipients to its shelters and long-term recovery programs. Crossroads Mission has 5 stars, an “A” transparency grade, and a donor confidence score of 95.
The North Vietnamese village of Sin Suoi Ho showcases the transformative power of the gospel when an entire community embraces the teachings of the Bible. Once drowning in poverty, addicted to opioids, and oppressed by fear of evil spirits, this isolated village is now a thriving tourist destination that shares both their native traditions and their firm faith. They first heard the gospel through a radio program from Far East Broadcasting Company before being discipled by nearby pastors. Angela Lee Fulton with Christianity Today details the journey the community’s residents went through to embrace the gospel, burn their altars, and detox from their addictions. Far East Broadcasting Company has 4 stars, an “A” transparency grade, and a donor confidence score of 100.
Natasha:
Warren, any final thoughts before we go?
Warren:
Ad-lib about “Conversations” column.
Warren Ad-Lib March Recurring Donor Appeal.
Natasha:
The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today’s program include Jessica Eturralde, Kim Roberts, Tony Mator, Aleja Hertzler-McCain, Ed Stych, Brittany Smith, and Christina Darnell.
I’m Natasha Cowden, coming to you from Denver, Colorado.
Warren:
And I’m Warren Smith, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Natasha:
You’ve been listening to the MinistryWatch podcast. Until next time, may God bless you.
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