Weekly Review
ECFA Membership Changes, MinistryWatch Database Changes, On This Date at MinistryWatch
On This Date at MinistryWatch
NINE YEARS AGO: Mark Driscoll, pastor of Seattle’s Mars Hill Church, relinquished leadership of the megachurch for at least six weeks while elders investigate charges against him. Driscoll ultimately resigned and within a year Mars Hill Church, once one of the largest in the nation, shut down. Read more here. 
THREE YEARS AGO: Pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church filed a lawsuit against California officials Wednesday, saying the state-issued health restrictions aimed at minimizing the spread of COVID-19 “violate the California Constitution.” The complaint claims California has applied the protections of the U.S. and state constitutions unequally: “When many went to the streets to engage in ‘political protests’ against ‘racism’ and ‘police brutality,’ these protestors refused to comply with the pandemic restrictions. Instead of enforcing the public health orders, public officials were all too eager to grant a de facto exception for these favored protestors.” MacArthur and his church ultimately prevailed in this lawsuit. Read more here.
ONE YEAR AGO: Nathan Zacharias, son of the late disgraced apologist Ravi Zacharias, has posted his first blog in seven months to explain that his recent silence is not due to him having changed his mind about his father’s character. “Many people have written in to ask if a quiet blog means something has changed,” said Zacharias in a post dated Aug. 4. “As was the case before, no, nothing has changed. We still believe in Dad’s innocence, we still believe the investigation was biased and unethical, and we believe RZIM’s leadership mishandled many things, as well.” Read more 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.
ECFA Changes
The following organizations have had membership status changes in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.
ADDITIONS: NONE
REMOVALS: Prairie Ridge Church (Ankeny, Iowa), Maasay Yahdav – The Works of His Hands (Gainesville, Ga.), World Thrust International (Lawrenceville, Ga.), Grace Point Church (Bristol, Tenn.), Ethne (Carrolton, Tex.)
On The MinistryWatch Podcast: Josh Duggar, United Methodists, Anglicans, and More SBC Troubles. On today’s program, a judge has upheld Josh Duggar’s conviction on child pornography charges, and a prominent Austin church that had been started by the Anglican Church of North America has decided it’s too liberal for that denomination, and has decided to affiliate with the Episcopal Church. Plus, a couple of new studies indicate that giving to Christian ministries could be down in the coming year. We begin today with news that a former trustee of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is calling for a forensic audit of the school. Listen here.
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:
A Child’s Hope International (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100)
Crossover Global (N/A Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: Up 55 to 73)
Forgotten Children Worldwide (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: From A to C, DCS: N/A)
Launch Global (Up 4 to 5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96)
Messenger International (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: Down 69 to 45)
Mission Aviation Fellowship (1 Star, Transparency Grade: From C to A, DCS: 86)
Samaritan’s Purse (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 60)
Agape Flights (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Up 96 to 100)
AMG International (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96)
Barnabas International (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 78)
Bethel University – Tennessee (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 73)
Bethesda Mission (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 90)
Blessman International (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A)
Coachella Valley Rescue Mission (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100)
Compass (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 70)
Family Talk / Dr. James Dobson Family Institute (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88)
For the Nations Refugee Outreach (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A)
Free Lutheran Theological Seminary Corporation (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88)
Freedom in Christ Ministries (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96)
InterFACE Ministries, inc. / IFACE (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 84)
Life Network (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A)
Light of Life Ministries / Light of Life Rescue Mission (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 86)
Minnesota Teen Challenge, dba MN Adult & Teen Challenge (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 82)
Pepperdine University (1 Star, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 39)
Pioneer Bible Translators (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 72)
Rescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan (Down 5 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 79)
SIL International (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 72)
Sky Ranches Inc (Up 2 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92)
The King’s Christian Academy / Lexington Park Christian School (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96)
Unbound previously Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 79)
UnfoldingWord (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100)
Veritas Christian Academy of Houston (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92)
Walter Hoving Home Inc (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 76)
Western Carolina Rescue Ministries, Inc (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88)
Westminster Schools Inc (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 65)
World Relief (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 86)
YouthFront, Inc. (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 80)
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.
