One Fellowship Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, withdrew its membership from the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability on August 18 while under review by the organization.
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One Fellowship Church is one of five churches planted by the non-denominational College Park Church since 2015, according to the website.
Over 2,700 evangelical churches and ministries are members of the ECFA, which aims to increase trust with donors. ECFA holds its members to seven standards, and the resignation notice on the ECFA website says that One Fellowship was under review of compliance with Standard 2, which concerns church governance.
Standard 2 says, “Every organization shall be governed by a responsible board of not less than five individuals, a majority of whom shall be independent, who shall meet at least semiannually to establish policy and review its accomplishments.”
The church’s website lists only three elders, which may violate the requirement for at least five board members in Standard 2. However, the ECFA notice does not specify for which part of Standard 2 One Fellowship Church was under review.
The website gives commentary on each of the standards.
The commentary on Standard 2 says, “When a ministry encounters failure—or even worse, scandal—its difficulties can almost always be traced to a breakdown in governance. For this reason, ECFA places much emphasis on strong, effective governance. This standard is designed to help organizations obtain and maintain a governing body that enhances an environment of accountability, maximizing excellence in carrying out the Lord’s work and minimizing susceptibility to structural breakdown.”
The commentary goes on to give guidelines on the following areas: Responsible Governance; Duties; Board Records; Board selection, tenure, and training; Board size; Board independence; and Meetings of the board.
At the time of publication, the One Fellowship Church website still says, “Our elders review and analyze monthly financial statements to direct the mission of our church. We are members of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), which provides accreditation to Christian nonprofit organizations that consistently demonstrate compliance with established standards for financial accountability, fundraising, and board governance.”
Members of leadership at One Fellowship Church have not responded to multiple emails from Ministry Watch.
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