Weekly Review
ECFA Membership Changes, MinistryWatch Database Changes, On This Date at MinistryWatch
On This Date at MinistryWatch
ONE YEAR AGO: A judge’s order that a Missouri boarding school facing multiple lawsuits and allegations of years of sexual and physical abuse shut down immediately is on hold pending verification of whether a person affiliated with the school charged with physical abuse of a child is a current or former employee. Read more here.
TWO YEARS AGO: A Tennessee pastor known for controversial stands on COVID-19 and the 2020 election has been banned from the social media giant Twitter. Read more here.
THREE YEARS AGO: Dr. Charles Stanley announced that he was stepping down as pastor of First Baptist Church—Atlanta after 50 years of service. Read more here.
TEN YEARS AGO: As reported in Black Enterprise magazine, Pastor I.V. Hilliard of the Texas-based New Light Christian Center recently asked his congregation to give $52 “Favor Seeds” as money was needed to upgrade the blades on his helicopter. Such gifts, he suggested, would be rewarded with a “breakthrough favor” for the giver within 52 days or 52 weeks. The upgraded blades promise to save the ministry $50,000 in the long term, the pastor noted. Read more here.
On The MinistryWatch Podcast: Tim Tebow, Florida Baptists, and “Jesus Calling”
On today’s program, Tim Tebow’s foundation is fighting human trafficking, and the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church is responding to allegations that he has not done enough to deal with sexual abuse claims. And the Southern Baptists of Florida have released a report explaining how $700-thousand was stolen. The report finds no wrongdoing on the part of the staff, but recommends safeguards that all Christian ministries should pay attention to.
We begin today with news that Sarah Young, the controversial author of the publishing phenomenon “Jesus Calling,” has died at age 77. “Jesus Calling” has sold more than 40 million copies. Its author died Thursday (Aug. 31) after struggling for years with chronic illness and Lyme Disease. News of the Nashville native’s death, first reported by Christianity Today, came a day after Publisher’s Weekly reported that the author’s health was “rapidly failing.” Listen here.
ECFA Changes
The following organizations have had membership status changes in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.
ADDITIONS: NONE
REMOVALS: Smyrna Ministries International (Round Hill, Va.)
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:
Administer Justice (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 86)
Bethany Christian Services (Up 4 to 5 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 75)
Bethlehem College & Seminary (N/A Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 59)
Bible Project (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: Up 43 to 71)
Black Diamond Camos (Down 5 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 96)
Blessman International (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A)
Caring Network, NFP (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88)
Center for Christian Growth / T Bar M Camps (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88)
Central Ohio Youth for Christ (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 82)
Chalmers Center for Economic Development at Covenant College (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92)
Child Bridge (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92)
Children’s HopeChest (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 96)
Children’s Relief International (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 82)
China Aid Association (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: N/A)
Christ in Youth (Down 5 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 74)
Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 100)
Church World Service (Up 4 to 5 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 65)
Community Bible Study (Down 5 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 90)
Compassionate Hope Foundation (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 82)
Corporate Chaplains of America (Up 4 to 5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92)
Crossfire Ministries (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 88)
Crossroads Prison Ministries (N/A Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 73)
Cru / Campus Crusade for Christ (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 77)
Daily Audio Bible (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92)
Davar Partners International (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 78)
Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 87)
Edify (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Up 92 to 96)
Empart USA (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 74)
Encompass World Partners (N/A Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 37)
Equipping Leaders International (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 92)
Evangelical Child and Family Agency (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 82)
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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.
Maui Giving. If you want to give specifically to ministries working to provide relief in Maui, click here.
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.
