MinistryWatch Top 25 Stories of 2025

Most read stories of the year.

Below is a list of the Top 25 stories of the year, as ranked by the number of page views at the MinistryWatch website, plus the first few sentences for each story.

   25. AL Church Takes Youth to Homeless Encampment Without Prior Consent

By Kim Roberts. Courtney Wingo trusted Leatherwood Baptist Church in Anniston, Alabama, to take her 12-year-old daughter Kamryn on a youth trip in the Houston-area from June 4–7. But she believes the church betrayed her trust and risked her daughter’s safety.

24. ‘Apostle’ David E. Taylor Arrested for Forced Labor and Money Laundering

By Kim Roberts. David E. Taylor, the self-proclaimed apostle and leader of Kingdom of God Global Church and Joshua Media Ministries, has been arrested in a “nationwide takedown of their forced labor organization,” according to a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) press release.

23. 100 Highly Paid Ministry Leaders—2025

By Warren Cole Smith. Below is a list of 100 highly paid Christian ministry executives. The information was derived from the latest available Form 990 prepared by the ministry itself.

22. St. Andrew’s Chapel Votes to Leave PCA

By Kim Roberts. St. Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Florida, voted on Sunday (Dec. 14) to leave the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) by a vote of 669 to 108.

21. 50 Christian Ministries Receiving the Largest Government Grants

By Kim Roberts. With the new Trump administration making news with its federal funding freeze proposals, the issue of nonprofits, and specifically Christian ministries, receiving government funding has been in the news and a matter of conversation. Recently, MinistryWatch added government grant funding information to the ministry profiles in the MinistryWatch 1000 database. This month’s list is a compilation of the 50 Christian ministries who received the largest government grants based on their I.R.S. Form 990 from 2023.

20. Samaritan’s Purse Dodges Trump’s Foreign Aid Freeze

By Tony Mator. As Christian ministries scramble to discern and communicate the impact of President Trump’s 90-day pause on foreign aid, Samaritan’s Purse wants to assure donors its global poverty-relief and disaster response efforts are secure.

19. St. Andrew’s Chapel Salaries Well Above Median Salary in Region

By Kim Roberts. Burk Parsons, lead pastor of St. Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Florida, and a teaching fellow with Ligonier Ministries, receives over $410,000 in annual compensation from the church, in addition to an undisclosed salary from Ligonier, according to a recent report filed with the Central Florida Presbytery.

18. Is Bob Jones Facing Closure?

By Kim Roberts. Falling enrollment, faculty cuts, and administrative resignations — Bob Jones University appears to be a college in turmoil. While some alumni are critical of recent decisions, they are also cheering for change in hopes the school they love can survive.

17. Ligonier’s Burk Parsons Under Investigation by FL Presbytery

By Kim Roberts. Dr. Burk Parsons, senior pastor at St. Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Florida, and the editor of Ligonier’s Tabletalk magazine, is reportedly under investigation by the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). According to minutes of the Central Florida Presbytery, the Minister and His Work committee found sufficient evidence to warrant an investigation into Parsons.

16. Burk Parsons Suspended From Pastoral Duties at St. Andrew’s Chapel

By Kim Roberts. Dr. Burk Parsons, senior pastor at St. Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Florida, and a teaching fellow at Ligonier Ministries, has been indicted by a commission of the Central Florida Presbytery and is currently suspended from his duties at St. Andrew’s as he awaits the resolution of the case.

15. McLean Bible Church Details Plot to Oust David Platt, Others

By Jessica Eturralde. Following the dismissal of the last of several lawsuits filed against McLean Bible Church and its lead pastor David Platt, the D.C. megachurch has released a detailed internal report chronicling years of bitter infighting and political polarization.

14. Elevation Church Youth Pastor Fired Over Former Sexual Misconduct Allegations

By Bethany Starin. The Charlotte-based megachurch Elevation Church fired its youth pastor, Tim Somers, in late February for alleged sexual misconduct. Somers’ accused misconduct is with a student or students in the youth ministry of Oaks Church in Red Oaks, Texas, where he served about 12 years ago. “As soon as Elevation learned about these allegations, we reached out to local Texas authorities and immediately placed Tim on leave,” a spokesperson for Elevation Church told The Christian Post. “No charges have been filed.”

13. Charter Member Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Resigns From ECFA

By Kim Roberts. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and Samaritan’s Purse, two of the largest Christian ministries in the country, have voluntarily resigned their membership in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA).

12. TX Supreme Court Rules Against Bill Gothard and the Institute for Basic Life Principles

By Isaac Wood. The Texas Supreme Court ruled on June 27 that a lawsuit against the Institute for Basic Life Principles (IBLP) and its founder Bill Gothard could continue, despite the defendants’ petition to dismiss the lawsuit under the First Amendment and the Ecclesiastical Abstention Doctrine.

11. NC Church Closes Doors, Uses IRS Mandate to Bless 75+ Charities

By Jessica Eturralde. In 2024, a century-old church chose to close and sell its property, including its 40,000-square-foot facility, and give their earnings to charity. Immanuel Baptist Church in Greenville, North Carolina, disbanded last fall due to an aging congregation and declining attendance. The church used the building’s sale proceeds—about $1.5 million—to make significant donations to nearly 70 charities supporting causes like food security, education, hospice care, and domestic violence prevention.

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10. NC Anti-Trafficking Group Accused of Exploiting Women

By Tony Mator. For a brief time, Ashley Vrabel was the poster girl for Cry Freedom Missions (CFM), a Goldsboro, N.C., anti-trafficking ministry. Arrested in 2018 for heroin possession and larceny, Vrabel found a second chance through CFM. By 2020, she was already on the ministry’s staff and publicly sharing her story of rehabilitation from drugs and prostitution. While Vrabel fundraised, revenues for CFM and its umbrella organization more than doubled from $750,892 in 2019 to $1,700,662 in 2020, according to the ministry’s 990 tax forms. But behind the scenes, former colleagues claim, all was not well.

9. CCM Artist Michael Tait Accused of Sexual Abuse, Grooming

By Kathryn Post. Michael Tait, an alum of Christian rock bands Newsboys and DC Talk, is facing allegations of sexual assault from three men he met in the Christian music industry, according to an investigation from The Roys Report published June 4. Newsboys members Jody Davis, Duncan Phillips, Jeff Frankenstein and Adam Agee said in a statement they were “devastated” by the implications of the allegations against Tait, who left the band earlier this year.

8. Steve Lawson Breaks Silence

By Jessica Eturralde. After six months of silence, pastor and theologian 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 disabled for comments. “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.

7. John MacArthur Health Update

By Daniel Ritchie. California megachurch pastor and author John MacArthur remains in the hospital undergoing tests as he recovers from a difficult year of health issues, including a heart-valve replacement.

6. USAID Unfreezes $19M for Samaritan’s Purse

By Tony Mator. 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.

5. Burk Parsons Found Guilty by Church Commission, Suspended From Office

By Kim Roberts. Burk Parsons, senior pastor of St. Andrew’s Chapel and chief editorial officer and teaching fellow for Ligonier Ministries, has been found guilty by a church judicial commission on three charges and indefinitely suspended from his role as a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America.

4. Sean Feucht Accused of Moral, Ethical and Financial Failure by Former Leaders

By Kim Roberts. Five former leaders of groups associated with Sean Feucht have issued a formal statement bringing to light what they call “longstanding and serious moral, ethical, financial, organizational and governance failures” by Feucht and calling for an independent investigation into possible fraud and embezzlement.

3. Military Chaplains Attempt to Leave ACNA En Masse

By Warren Cole Smith. A conflict between a bishop and his boss has created chaos for Anglican military chaplains. On Sept. 21, Bishop Derek Jones, who had been in charge of military chaplains for the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), was inhibited from ministry for 60 days. An inhibition is a formal suspension from ministry activities, usually so an investigation can take place. The inhibition is the latest step in a drama that has been unfolding since July in the Special Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy (SJAFC).

2. United Methodists Ratify Plan to Restructure Denomination

By Yonat Shimron. After years of controversy over LGBTQ issues that split their denomination, United Methodists have ratified a plan to restructure the 57-year-old church to give regions around the world equal standing and greater freedom to tailor church life to local customs and traditions.

1. Lawsuit Against Dave Ramsey Can Go Forward

By Bob Smietana. A federal appeals court ruled that a lawsuit against Christian financial guru Dave Ramsey by a former employee who was fired for being pregnant while unmarried can go forward. Caitlin O’Connor sued the Lampo Group, Ramsey’s Franklin, Tennessee-based company, alleging religious discrimination. But the company said O’Connor was fired for violating the company’s ban on premarital sex, and argued that firing was not based on religion.