Watered Gardens, LifePath Christian Ministries Earn Highest Donor Confidence Score
And 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:
- Eight ministries were recently added into the MinistryWatch database, including Vision Beyond Borders, Embrace Grace, and Galcom International. Check out their ratings below.
- Watered Gardens and LifePath Christian Ministries both earn Donor Confidence Scores of 100, indicating they meet all 14 criteria MinistryWatch uses to calculate donor confidence.
- Four ministries dropped into the bottom 40% for financial efficiency within their respective sectors, which also dropped their Donor Confidence Scores by 20 points: Bethel Bible Village, Children’s HopeChest, Christian Family Care Agency, and Victory Mission + Ministry.
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:
Sam Allberry Resigns Over ‘Inappropriate Relationship’ With a Man
By Kathryn Post. Sam Allberry, an evangelical pastor and apologist who advocates for celibacy as the faithful path for Christians with same-sex attraction, has been “disqualified from gospel ministry” following an “inappropriate relationship with an adult man in 2022,” according to a statement from elders at Immanuel Nashville, a nondenominational church where he has served as an associate pastor since 2023.
Fallout at Ligonier Ministries and Reformation Bible College
By Kim Roberts. Dr. Stephen Nichols has been a prominent figure in Christian reformed circles. He was president of Reformation Bible College (RBC) and a teaching fellow at Ligonier Ministries. He was also a member of St. Andrew’s Chapel, the church founded by influential Bible teacher R.C. Sproul. But that all changed recently after he was publicly excommunicated from St. Andrew’s—around the same time RBC and Ligonier announced his departure. Several long-time supporters of Ligonier have told MinistryWatch they don’t plan to support the ministry any longer due to the fallout from Nichols’ supposed ousting—but Ligonier claims Nichols’ departure is unrelated to the “excommunication.”
Court Rules Dane Ortlund’s Church Illegally Fired Former Employee in Retaliation
By Jessica Eturralde. A Chicago-area church led by bestselling author and pastor Dane Ortlund must pay $93,000 in back wages and damages to a former staffer after a judge ruled the church retaliated against her.
Access to MinistryWatch content is free. However, we hope you will support our work with your prayers and financial gifts. To make a donation, click here.
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:
Blood: Water Mission (1 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 80)
Embrace Grace (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 78)
Galcom International USA (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 98)
Grace Schools / Grace College / Grace Theological Seminary (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 69)
Patriot Academy/ Torch of Freedom Foundation (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 38)
Scarlet Hope (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 78)
The Family Leader (1 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 53)
Vision Beyond Borders (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 96)
Ministries with upgraded ratings:
Altrua Healthshare (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 36)
CBMC, Inc. (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 80)
Gateway Creative Broadcasting / Joy FM Radio (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 95)
Hardin-Simmons University (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: Up 46 to 66)
Helping Up Mission (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 75)
LifePath Christian Ministries / York Union Rescue Mission (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100)
National Day of Prayer Task Force (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 98)
Pioneers (N/A Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Up 48 to 53)
Urban Impact Foundation (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Down 75)
Wall Watchers/ MinistryWatch (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Up 60 to 80)
Watered Gardens (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Up 80 to 100)
Ministries with downgraded ratings:
Audio Scripture Ministries (Down 2 to 1 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 80)
Austin Disaster Relief Network (Down 2 to 1 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 78)
Bethel Bible Village (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 95 to 75)
Children’s HopeChest (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 100 to 80)
Christian Community Foundation, dba WaterStone (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 95 to 93)
Christian Family Care Agency (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 100 to 80)
Coalition for Christian Outreach / CCO (Down 2 to 1 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 75)
Downtown Rescue Mission Inc. (Down 2 to 1 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 75)
Erskine College (Down 5 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 73)
God’s Bible School & College (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Down 75 to 73)
Show-Me Christian Youth Home (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Down 100 to 98)
The Christian Academy (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: Down 78)
Victory Mission + Ministry (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 95 to 75)
WaterStone Support Foundation Inc (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 75 to 73)
On The MinistryWatch Podcast
Kanakuk CEO Retires, Fallout at Ligonier, Ministry in Iran
On this week’s program, embattled Kanakuk Kamps CEO Joe White announced he will retire at the end of this summer. We’ll have details.
Plus, Ligonier Ministries is under scrutiny after it announced that Stephen Nichols, one of its teaching fellows, would be leaving his role. This, around the same time he was excommunicated from St. Andrew’s Chapel. We’ll take a look at the fallout.
And, with many eyes on Iran, one ministry with boots on the ground is encouraging Iranian Christians and sharing the gospel with Muslims affected by the war.
But first, a court has ruled that the Chicago-area church led by well-known pastor Dane Ortlund illegally fired an employee back in 2021.
ECFA Membership Changes
Removals
Jobs for Life (Raleigh, NC)
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.
