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: The Enlighten Foundation (Denver. Colo.), Kids Alive International (Alpharetta, Ga.)
On This Date at MinistryWatch
EIGHT YEARS AGO. One of the three Executive Elders at the recently dissolved Mars Hill Church has publicly apologized for his behavior there. In a series of blog posts published over the past few weeks, Sutton Turner took responsibility for not his role in a book-buying scandal, as well as to helping perpetuate a culture of fear and intimidation at the Seattle megachurch that dissolved earlier this year. Read more here.
THREE YEARS AGO: The COVID pandemic has forced the permanent closure of at least 60 private schools, most of them Christian schools, according to a study by the Cato Institute. Read more here.
TWO YEARS AGO: TrailLife USA, a Christian alternative to the Boy Scouts, has seen a significant rise in membership. Read more here.
On The Podcast
On today’s program, we look at an innovative Bible translation process coming from the African nation of Chad. We have new developments on a story we’ve been covering for several months, the story of the campus group Chi Alpha, which is associated with the Assemblies of God denomination. It’s been wracked by scandal, and there are new developments.
We begin today with news from the Southern Baptist Convention. Nearly 13-thousand members of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination traveled from around the country to New Orleans this week for the 20-23 annual meeting—and a lot happened. We’ll hit on some of those key issues.
You can listen here.
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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 for Community Transformation (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88)
Africa Renewal Ministries (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88)
African Bible Colleges (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88)
AGAPE Network (From 5 to -2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 78 to 74)
Austin Disaster Relief Network (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100)
Bible Broadcasting Network (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 61)
Cafe 1040 (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: , DCS: 100)
Central Detroit Christian Community Development Corporation (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 86)
Christian Aid Ministries (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 84)
Compass (Down 5 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 70)
Eight Days of Hope (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88)
Extreme Response International (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88)
Family Connections Christian Adoptions (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92)
Feed The Children (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 67)
Forge (fka Kingdom Building Ministries, Inc.) (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92)
Free Lutheran Theological Seminary Corporation (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88)
His Way Recovery Center (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 67)
International Outreach Ministries (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 74)
Jesus House (Down 5 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88)
Living Alternatives Pregnancy Resource Center (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88)
Media Dream / Alkarma TV (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 82)
Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 73)
Moms In Prayer International (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96)
Mount Vernon Nazarene University (Up 4 to 5 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 67)
Palm Beach Atlantic University (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 65)
Partners Relief and Development (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96)
Paxton Ministries (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92)
Renewanation (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92)
Servant Partners Inc (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92)
Shepherds Baptist Ministries Inc / Shepherds College (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88)
Stoneybrooke Christian Schools (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92)
Timber Bay / Youth Investment Foundation (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88)
Trinity College of Florida (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Up 82 to 86)
Veritas Christian Academy of Houston (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92)
Washington University of Virginia (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96)
World Compassion Terry Law Ministries (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 78)
World Evangelical Alliance (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 86 to 82)
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.
MinistryWatch In The News. MinistryWatch is often called upon by Christian and secular media to comment on what is going on in the evangelical world. You can find some of these news reports here.
