Weekly Review
Salem Media Group, Changes to the ECFA Database, and Religion Unplugged’s Paul Glader
Christian Broadcaster Salem Releases Earnings. Salem Media Group, one of the nation’s largest Christian broadcasters and the only one that is a for-profit, publicly traded company, released third quarter earnings this week. Net broadcast revenue increased 15.0 percent compared to its troubled 2nd quarter, but declined 4.8 percent compared to the third quarter of 2019. Total broadcast advertising/spot revenue increased 26.4 percent compared to the second quarter of 2020, but that number represented a decline of 21.7 percent compared to the third quarter of 2019. To read more MinistryWatch coverage of Salem, click here.
NPT 100 Released. The Non-Profit Times has released its annual list of the largest non-profit organizations in the country. Topping the list is the YMCA, with $7.7-billion in revenue. A number of Christian ministries made the list, including World Vision, Compassion International, Samaritan’s Purse, CRU, and Young Life. You can see the entire list, and NPT’s analysis of the numbers, here.
On Today’s MinistryWatch Podcast. Each week, MinistryWatch brings you news about Christian ministries, as well as the latest in charity and philanthropy, news that we examine from a Christian worldview perspective. Our goal is to help us become better stewards of the resources God has entrusted to us. On today’s program, we talk succession planning by taking a look at two organizations that are struggling with that problem, plus the next installment of our Generous Living series. We begin today’s program with a story about the controversial ministry Gospel for Asia. You can hear the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and other podcast apps, or you can simply click here.
MinistryWatch Extra with Paul Glader. On this week’s MinistryWatch Extra podcast, I’m pleased to welcome back to the program Paul Glader. Paul is the editor-in-chief at Religion Unplugged and the director of the journalism program at The King’s College in New York City. His journalism experience includes a long tenure with the Wall Street Journal. We discuss the recent election, conflict in Armenia, Hillsong’s Carl Lenz, and more. To find out more about Religion Unplugged and the stories we discussed today, go to Religion Unplugged.com. You can hear that conversation here.
Faith-Based Fraud. I had a chance to discuss the new MinistryWatch book Faith-Based Fraud on the podcast of The Roys Report. It was a fun and lively conversation, and I recommend it to you. You can find the podcast here.
ECFA Changes. The following organizations have had membership status changes in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. ADDITIONS: GIFT Men’s Shelter (Janesville, Wisc.), SIL International (Dallas, Tex.), Baptist Foundation of Illinois (Springfield, Ill.), Life Choices of Central Michigan (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.), Timothy Christian Schools (Elmhurst, Ill.), Pregnancy Resource Center (Maryville, Tenn.), Soundview Pregnancy Services (Maryville, Tenn.) REMOVALS: NONE
MinistryWatch Database Changes. 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: Awana Clubs Int’l (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Ravi Zacharias International Ministries / RZIM (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C). The following ministries have been added to the MinistryWatch database with the most recent year’s financial data: California Baptist University (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C ), Campbellsville University (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C), Cornerstone University (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C), Long Beach Rescue Mission (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: N/A), Madera Rescue Mission (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: N/A), SIL International (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: N/A), Students for Life of America (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: N/A)
