Weekly Review
ECFA Membership Changes, MinistryWatch Database Changes, What’s on the Podcast? On This Date at MinistryWatch
FREE WEBINAR: How To Read A Form 990. This webinar has proven so popular that we’ve repeated it three or four times over the past two years. And we’re going to do it again. It will take place on Feb. 1 at 4 pm ET. It’s absolutely free, but you do need to register to get all the links and details. To register, click here. 
ECFA Changes. The following organizations have had membership status changes in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. ADDITIONS: NONE REMOVALS: NONE
On the Podcast: On today’s program, Virginia megachurch pastor John Blanchard had sexual solicitation charges against him dropped, but protesters are showing up at his church and even the town’s police chief thinks the case was mishandled. We’ll have details. Also on today’s program, Open Doors releases its annual Watch List, which tracks persecution of Christians around the world. This year’s conclusions are bleak. We’ll explain why. We begin today with a lawsuit involving Bryan College that has been dragging on for more than five years.
You can hear the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and other podcast apps, or you can simply click here.
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.
MinistryWatch Database Changes. MinistryWatch now has more than 1,000 ministries in its database. These ministries represent more than $38-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: Advocates International (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92), Back to the Bible / Good News Broadcasting Association (1 Star, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 67), Child Evangelism Fellowship / CEF (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 90 to 86), Childcare Worldwide (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92), Family Legacy Missions International (Down 5 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 86), Feed the Hunger, formerly New Directions International (Up 4 to 5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96), French Camp Academy (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 86), Love Worth Finding Ministries (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 90), Officers’ Christian Fellowship (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 90), Sheridan House Inc / Sheridan House Family Ministries (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100), Sunrise Children’s Services (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 69), Water Mission (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100), Westminster Theological Seminary (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 86), Adventist Development & Relief Agency (Down 5 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 59), Alberto Mottesi Evangelistic Association, Inc. (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 78), Ambassadors For Christ, Inc. (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Up 82 to 86), American Leprosy Missions (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Up 96 to 100), Americans United for Life (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Down 83 to 79), Ankerberg Theological Research Institute (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96), Baptist Children’s Home / BCH Inc (N/A Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 51), Blessings International (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96), Buckner International / Buckner Children and Family Services (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 67 to 63), Camp Allen Camp and Conference Center (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: Down 57 to 53), Church World Service (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 65), DiscipleMakers, Inc. (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100), Engineering Ministries International (Down 2 to 1 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 82 to 78), International Messengers (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 90), International Students Inc. (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Up 81 to 85), Kingdom Advisors (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92), Mennonite Brethren Foundation (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 53), Music for Life Institute (From 2 to N/A Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Down 39 to 35), New Life Center / Fargo Union Mission (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92), Roever Evangelistic Association (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Up 84 to 88), Score International (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 82), Send Relief Inc (N/A Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Down 63 to 59), Shelter For Life International Inc. (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96), The Anglican Relief and Development Fund (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Up 78 to 82), Victory Junction Gang Camp (1 Star, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Down 71 to 67), VisionTrust International (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100), World Mission, Inc. (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88). The following ministry has been added to the MinistryWatch database with the most recent year’s financial data: YWAM San Francisco (N/A Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 69)
Salary Data Now In MinistryWatch Database. We now have salary information for 4,000 executives in our database posted in our profiles. So check out this new addition by clicking on the red button at the top of this page, or here. That takes you to our database. The search engine is right there, and you can type in the name of a ministry you’re interested in and our profile will pop right up – now, with compensation information for the top executives.
If you’d like to see who the highest paid executives are, take a look at our recently published lists of Highly Paid Ministry Executives and Highly Paid Christian College and University Executives.
Audio Version of Faith-Based Fraud Now Available. Thanks to those of you who made my new book Faith-Based Fraud a best-seller in several Amazon categories this week. It’s now available in paperback and e-book versions. To get your copy, click here. This week, the new audio version released. You can get that from Audible by clicking here.
MinistryWatch Video. In closing, a reminder that we have created a new, short (3.5 minutes) video that explains what we do here at MinistryWatch, and why. If you’re new to MinistryWatch, I hope you’ll check it out. To find it, click here.
On This Date at MinistryWatch. THREE YEARS AGO: On Jan. 14, 2020, MinistryWatch reported that youth speaker Acton Bowen had been sentenced to 1,008 years in prison — the maximum sentence possible — after pleading guilty to 28 charges of raping and sexually assaulting young boys he reached through his ministry. He was also ordered to pay $840,000 in fines. Read more here. TWO YEARS AGO: On Jan 14, 2021, MinistryWatch publishes an analysis of charismatic preachers who prophesied a Trump victory in the 2020 election. Read more here. ONE YEAR AGO: Three members of the group overseeing the investigation into sexual abuse allegations in the Anglican Church in North America’s Upper Midwest Diocese resigned Monday (Jan. 17), saying the team “downplayed or ignored” abuse survivors’ needs. Read more here.
