Weekly Review
ECFA Membership Changes, MinistryWatch Database Changes, What’s on the Podcast? On This Date at MinistryWatch
ECFA Changes. The following organizations have had membership status changes in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. ADDITIONS: Footbridge (Welcome, N.C.), Shirley’s House of Hope (Marshfield, Wisc.), Education for Life (Ocala, Fla.), Gate Pregnancy Resource Center (Harrisburg, N.C.) REMOVALS: Teen Challenge of St. Louis (High Ridge, Mo.), Mentor Leaders (Crawfordville, Fla.)
On the Podcast: On today’s program, we take a closer look at the “He Gets Us” media campaign. We’ll also share with you some of the highlights of a couple of MinistryWatch investigations. One of them was a close look at Glory of Zion, a Dallas based ministry. We also take a deep dive into a Colorado ministry called Love For the Least. We begin today with news from Knoxville, Tennessee. In an unusual move, a judge said an alleged rape victim is going to have to use his legal name in his lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese there. You can hear the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and other podcast apps, or you can simply 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: Asian Access Life Ministries (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88), Bethany Christian Services (Down 4 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Down 79 to 75), Eagle Ranch (Up 1 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Up 86 to 90), LifeWord Broadcast Ministries, Inc. (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Up 65 to 69), Village Missions (Up -2 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Up 96 to 100), All God’s Children International (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100), BEE World (1 Star, Transparency Grade: From A to C, DCS: 92), Bible League International (1 Star, Transparency Grade: From A to C, DCS: Down 78 to 59), Blessings International (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96), Children’s Shelter of Cebu (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100), Family Radio / Family Stations, Inc. (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Down 65 to 61), Feed My Starving Children (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 73), Friends Academy (1 Star, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: Down 49 to 45), Global Catalytic Ministries (N/A Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Down 41 to 37), International Disaster Emergency Service (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 96 to 92), International Messengers (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 90), Life in Abundance International (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92), Lifesong for Orphans (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100), Living Free, Inc. (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 86 to 82), Medical Teams International (MTI) (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 86), Mennonite Brethren Foundation (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 53), Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Up 69 to 73), Mission Pre-Born Inc / Pre-Born! (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Up 92 to 96), OneHope, Inc. (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 82), St. Mark’s School of Texas (1 Star, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: Down 49 to 45), Student Leadership University (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: From C to F, DCS: 79), The 4.2.20 Foundation / Biblical Languages and Translation (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 96 to 92), Untold / pka CARE for AIDS (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Up 88 to 92), Young Life (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Up 74 to 78)
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MinistryWatch and Sex Crimes. We’ve written a larger than normal number of stories this week about pastors and ministry leaders involved in sex crimes. That’s why I 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.
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.
A Guide To Giving For Disaster Relief. When disaster hits, Christians give. But where they give can make a big difference? Which organizations are most effective in these post-disaster situations? MinistryWatch has published a list of organizations that are doing relief work and which have an “A” Transparency Grade and a 3-, 4-, or 5-star rating for Financial Efficiency. It’s a list of about 30 ministries, and you can find it on the front page of our website. I’ll also include a link in the show notes to this program. Link to list HERE.
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. ONE YEAR AGO. Christian content providers Hope Media Group and WAY Media announced they will merge into one organization by the middle of this year. Read more here. THREE YEARS AGO: On Feb. 4, 2020, MinistryWatch reported on concerns about John Ortberg’s leadership of California’s Menlo Church. Read more here. TWO YEARS AGO: On February 1, 2021, MinistryWatch reported that the Museum of the Bible would return thousands of artifacts to Syria and Iraq. Read more here
