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: NONE REMOVALS: Ankerberg Theological Research Institute (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 
On This Date at MinistryWatch
FOUR YEARS AGO: MinistryWatch reports on concerns about nepotism at the church of Trump advisor Paula White. Read more here.
THREE YEARS AGO: Televangelist Jim Bakker is under investigation for allegedly making false claims about COVID, and for selling treatments for COVID on his television program. Read more here.
ONE YEAR AGO: The federal Department of Education has begun investigating Liberty University’s handling of student reports of sexual assault. In a statement to ProPublica, the school pledged its “full cooperation” with the investigation. Read more here.
On the Podcast: T.D. Jakes, John Ankerberg, And Christians Re-Think The Tithe
On today’s program, Dallas megachurch pastor T.D. Jakes launches a billion dollar community redevelopment project. We’ll have details. And a former executive at Southeastern University in Florida pleads guilty to fraud. We’ll explain how the complicated fraud occurred.
Also, a new survey by Lifeway Research indicates that Christians’ views on tithing are shifting. We’ll have details from that study.
We begin today with news that popular Christian apologist John Ankerberg has been suspended from the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.
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: Agape International Missions (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Up 83 to 87), Anderson University (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 69), Chestnut Mountain Ranch (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96), Christian Blind Mission / CBM (Up 4 to 5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88), Compassion International, Inc. (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92), Convoy of Hope (Down 5 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 68), Destiny Rescue USA (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88), Eureka Rescue Mission (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 79), Faith and Freedom Coalition (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: Up 39 to 43), Family Matters, Inc. / Grace Based Families (Down 2 to 1 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 88 to 84), George Fox University (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 77), Kids Across America Foundation (N/A Stars, Transparency Grade: From A to D, DCS: 88), Life Issues Institute (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 75), Living Stream Ministry (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 55), Marketplace Ministries, Inc. / Marketplace Chaplains (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92), Medical Teams International (MTI) (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 86), Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Down 73 to 69), Mexican Medical Ministries (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Up 92 to 96), Museum of the Bible (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Down 74 to 70), Ohio Christian University (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 75), Phoenix Rescue Mission (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100), Save The Storks (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96), Stand to Reason (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 83), Terri Savelle Foy Ministries Inc (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: F, DCS: Down 34 to 30), WaterStone Support Foundation Inc (Up 4 to 5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88). The following ministry has been added to the MinistryWatch database with the most recent year’s financial data: Iran Alive Ministries (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), MasterKey Ministries of Grayson County (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), New Hope Christian College (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), Pregnancy Resource Center (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), Reach the Forgotten Jail Ministry (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), Show-Me Christian Youth Home (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), Sozo Children (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), The Center for Christian Study (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), The Firs Bible & Missionary Conference (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), The Men of Nehemiah (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), TheHopeLine (N/A Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: N/A), Truth At Work (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), Victory Ministries of Alaska (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A), World Hope Ministries International (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A)
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.
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.
