Weekly Review
ECFA Membership Changes, MinistryWatch Database Changes, On This Date at MinistryWatch
ECFA Changes
The following organizations have had membership status changes in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. 
ADDITIONS: Citizens Church (Plano, Tex.), Kuda Vana Partnership (Littleton, Colo.), lost Mountain Baptist Church (Powder Springs, Ga.), Giving Grace (Denton, Tex.), Radiant Church KC (Overland Park, Kans.), Hope is Alive Ministries (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Nashville Anti-Human Trafficking Coalition (Nashville, Tenn.), Queen City PRC (Charlotte, N.C.), Radical (Birmingham, Ala.), Lydia’s Mission (Dublin, Ohio), Hill Country Bible Church (Austin, Tex.), REMOVALS: Love Never Fails International (Metuchen, N.J.)
On This Date at MinistryWatch
EIGHT YEARS AGO. On July 24, 2015, MinistryWatch examines organizations that take car donations. Are they legitimate? (Most are.) What should you look for? Read more here.
THREE YEARS AGO: John Ortberg’s Menlo Park Church announced an investigation into the way the church handles sex abuse claims in the church. Read more here. That investigation eventually led to the resignation of Ortberg from the church. Read complete coverage here.
TWO YEARS AGO: July 12, 2021: A prominent Anglican bishop has announced a leave of absence after admitting he mishandled allegations of abuse. Bishop Stewart Ruch III of the Anglican Church in North America’s (ACNA) Upper Midwest Diocese had known since 2019 that former lay minister Mark Rivera had been charged with felony child sexual abuse. But he did not tell people in his diocese about the abuse allegations until last month, which Ruch has called a “regrettable error.” Read more here.
ONE YEAR AGO: July 14, 2022: In June, Andy Wood, pastor of Echo Church, a multisite church based in San Jose, California, was named the new pastor at Saddleback Church and the successor to founding pastor and bestselling author Rick Warren. He was later accused of abuse by members of his former church. But leaders of Saddleback conducted an investigation and cleared Wood of allegations of abuse. Read more here.
On The MinistryWatch Podcast: Operation Underground Railroad, More Christian Colleges Closing, and Ministries That Serve Foster Kids
On today’s program, a pastor and the brother of the Rev. Al Sharpton is in legal trouble again. We look at Operation Underground Railroad, the organization on which the new movie “Sound of Freedom” is based. We also begin a series on ministries that are working with kids who have aged out of the foster care system. We begin today with news of yet another Christian college shutting its doors. 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 $41-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:
Fairbanks Rescue Mission (Up 2 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 83)
Family Life Communications Inc (previously Family Life Broadcasting System) (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 78)
Feed My Sheep (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A)
First Liberty Institute (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88)
Five Talents USA (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 82)
Food for the Hungry, Inc. (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100)
Forward Edge International (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A)
Fresno Pacific University (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 73)
Fuller Theological Seminary (1 Star, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 73)
Gardner-Webb University (Down 5 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 73)
George Fox University (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Up 73 to 77)
Giving Children Hope (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 75)
Global Service Network (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92)
God’s Bible School & College (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A)
God’s World Publications, Inc. (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 87)
Gordon College (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Up 82 to 86)
Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 90 to 86)
Grace School of Theology (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Up 92 to 96)
Great Lakes Christian College (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A)
Harding University (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 59)
Healing Hands International (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96)
Heart for Lebanon Foundation (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100)
Hillsdale College (1 Star, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 39)
His Way Recovery Center (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 67)
Hope Christian Services / pka Eastern Christian Childrens Retreat (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 82)
Hope Media Group / KSBJ (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88)
HopeKids (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96)
Human Coalition (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 78)
International Fellowship of Evangelical Students USA (Up 4 to 5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100)
Jesus House (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 92 to 88)
John Brown University (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Down 86 to 82)
Kent School Corporation (1 Star, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 57)
Kingsway Charities (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 47)
Lexington Rescue Mission (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100)
Liberty University (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 47)
Long Beach Rescue Mission (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96)
Lubbock Christian University (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 73)
Manhattan Christian College (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 78)
MAP International (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 82)
Mel Trotter Ministries (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 86)
Messiah University (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Down 67 to 63)
Ministry Alliance / Marty Granger (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 75)
Mission of Hope Ministries Inc. (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92)
Missouri Baptist University (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 73)
Montana Rescue Mission (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 77)
Montreat College (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 73)
Mount Vernon Nazarene University (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 67)
Multnomah University (Up 1 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Up 82 to 86)
National Religious Broadcasters (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 86)
New Hope Christian College (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A)
New Life Center / Fargo Union Mission (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96)
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.
