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: Standing Stone Ministries (Newport Beach, Calif.), Proem Ministries (Louisville, Ky.), Hope Center Ministries (Bethany, Okla.), Good Life Ministries (Catlett, Va.), Pathway Church (Vero Beach, Fla.), Cookeville Rescue Mission (Cookeville, Tenn.), Serving Workers For The Harvest (Riverview, Fla.), First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Fla.), New Generations (Los Altos, Calif.), Mighty Oaks Foundation (Magnolia, Tex.), AsOne (Sioux Falls, S.D.)
REMOVALS: Downtown Bible Class (Portland, Ore.),
On This Date at MinistryWatch
THREE YEARS AGO. Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. apologized for tweeting an offensive, racially insensitive image. Black alumni in a letter called for Falwell to change his behavior or step down as Liberty president, saying he had “repeatedly violated and misrepresented” Christian principles. The letter said that among other actions, they would stop donating to the school and discourage minorities from enrolling. Read more here.
TWO YEARS AGO: MinistryWatch investigates the practice of child sponsorship to determine the effectiveness of sponsorships in helping children, and what donors need to know. Read more here.
ONE YEAR AGO: Three activists with a Texas pro-abortion group interrupted a service at Joel Osteen’s Houston megachurch last weekend by stripping to their underwear and shouting “my body, my choice,” “Overturn Roe, Hell no,” and other epithet-laced slogans. Read more here.
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On The Podcast: Dave Ramsey, Rick Warren, and Daystar Wants Its $25-M Back.
On today’s program, popular radio host and personal finance guru Dave Ramsey is being sued for $150 million over some of his advice that allegedly turned out badly for those who followed it.
Also, one of the largest Christian broadcasters in the nation, Daystar Television Network, lost $25-million in the cryptocurrency market. Now they’re suing to get it back. We’ll have details.
Finally, we remember the remarkable life and career of Pat Robertson.
We begin today with Rick Warren’s media campaign to have Saddleback Church reinstated in the Southern Baptist Convention.
You can listen 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:
Hope International (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100)
International Christian Concern (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96)
International Cooperating Ministries (Up 4 to 5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88)
International Justice Mission (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 77)
International Needs formerly IN Network USA (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 86)
Joni and Friends / Joni Eareckson Tada (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 76 to 72)
Kids Alive International (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96)
Kids Around The World (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 76)
Kingsway Charities (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 43)
Kokomo Rescue Mission (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 78 to 74)
Leading The Way with Dr. Michael Youssef (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100)
Life Legal Defense Foundation (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 84)
Lighthouse Ministries, Inc. (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92)
Long Beach Rescue Mission (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 96 to 92)
Lutheran Bible Translators (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100)
Maranatha Volunteers International (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 65)
Mars Hill Productions, Inc. (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 96 to 92)
The Master’s University and Seminary (Up 2 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 67)
MinistryWatch and Sex Crimes. We write a lot 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.
