Weekly Review
ECFA Membership Changes, MinistryWatch Database Changes, What’s on the Podcast? On This Date at MinistryWatch
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.
Ukraine Giving. If you want to give specifically to ministries working in and near Ukraine, click here. We posted this link before, but we’ve added a few new ministries recently.
ECFA Changes. The following organizations have had membership status changes in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. ADDITIONS: First Priority of South Florida (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Be Broken Ministries (Selma, Tex.), Acts 29 US (Mission Viejo, Calif.), Parakaleo Ministry (Huntsville, Ala.), GRACES (Salisbury, N.C.), Okoa Refuge (Jacksonville, Fla.), Lighthouse Angels (Memphis, Tenn.) REMOVALS: Hope for India (Charlotte, N.C.), University of Northwestern – St. Paul (St. Paul, Minn.)
On This Date at MinistryWatch. FOUR YEARS AGO: On April 17, 2019, MinistryWatch reported that the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability had revoked the membership of Harvest Bible Chapel after months of controversy surrounding its pastor James MacDonald. Read more here. THREE YEARS AGO: Willow Creek Church names David Dummitt to be its new pastor following several years of tumult that resulted in the departure of founding pastor Bill Hybels and many others in senior leadership. Read more here. TWO YEARS AGO: Citing leadership failures, Hillsong said it would “pause” all operations at its Dallas location. Read more here.
On the Podcast: Compassion International and Hillsong’s Multi-Million Dollar Deal, Plus More Upheaval at Bob Jones University
On today’s program, Compassion International paid Hillsong $1-million a year to sponsor its concert tour. We’ll have details. Have you ever wondered why all the songs on Christian radio sound the same? There’s a reason, and that reason is money. We’ll explain. We begin today with the resignation of the chairman of the board of Bob Jones University.
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: Advancing Native Mission / ANM (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96), Center for Arizona Policy (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), Charity: Water (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Up 61 to 65), Children of the Nations (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96), Christian Appalachian Project (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 73), College Golf Fellowship (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), Crossfire Ministries (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), Messiah University (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 67), Missionary Athletes International (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96), Network of International Christian Schools (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), Opportunity International (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Up 75 to 79), Orlando Union Rescue Mission (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 78), Paz International (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), Portland Christian Schools (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), The City School (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), The Rescue Mission, Fort Wayne (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 74), Tupelo Christian Preparatory School (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), World Renew (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88), Ambassadors For Christ, Inc. (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 86 to 82), American Leprosy Missions (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 100 to 96), Atlas Free (Down 5 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100), Biglife International Inc. (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Up 88 to 92), Breck School (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 65), Brother Bryan Rescue Mission (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: Down 73 to 69), Campus Outreach SERVE (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), Capital City Rescue Mission (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Up 73 to 77), Carriage Town Ministries (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96), Christ for All Nations (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 70), Christian Heritage Academy (Down 5 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96), Cookson Hills Christian School (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88), Dream Center Foundation (Down 5 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 47), Eagle Ranch (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 90), Elim Christian Services (Down 5 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 90), Eureka Rescue Mission (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 79), Family Guidance, Inc. (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Up 65 to 69), Far East Broadcasting Company, Inc. (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 100 to 96), Feed My Starving Children (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 73), Free the Oppressed dba Free Burma Rangers (Down 5 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92), Fresh Fire USA (-2 Stars, Transparency Grade: From D to F, DCS: 31), Grove City College (1 Star, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Down 57 to 53), Hope and Life Outreach (Down 5 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 79), International Disaster Emergency Service (Down 2 to 1 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 96 to 92), Joshua Fund (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96), Kalamazoo Area Christian Retirement Association dba Park Village Pines (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 92), Mel Trotter Ministries (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 86), Mennonite Central Committee (Down 2 to 1 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: Down 58 to 54), Ohio Christian University (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 75), Pilgrim Africa (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 79), SHABACH! Ministries Inc. (Up 4 to 5 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 69), The Mentoring Alliance (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 82 to 78), The Woodlands Christian Academy (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 96 to 92), Time to Revive (Down 5 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), Trinity Christian Academy – Addison, TX (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88), TWR (aka Trans World Radio) (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Up 67 to 71), Walter Hoving Home Inc (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 76), World Relief (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 86), Youth for Christ USA, Inc. (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 90)
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.
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 my desk, and we’ll take it from there.
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.
