Weekly Review
Featuring Wycliffe Bible Translators, Phil Cooke, and this week’s ratings changes in the MinistryWatch database
In The Ministry Spotlight. Each week, MinistryWatch selects a ministry from our database to spotlight. We do this so you can see some of the powerful information we have in our database, information we hope will inform your giving decisions. Because MinistryWatch is also increasing our coverage of the Bible translation industry, we shine the Ministry Spotlight this week on Wycliffe Bible Translators. It’s 2019 revenue was about $208-million. To read this week’s Ministry Spotlight, click 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. On today’s program, more controversy at the Christian mega-ministry Youth with a Mission. And we question why pastors need $800 sneakers. We begin today with an update on last week’s mass shooting in Atlanta. The church the alleged gunman attended has now issued a statement. The church of the alleged gunman in the fatal shootings of eight people, including six Asian women, in Atlanta-area spas has distanced itself from the suspect, saying it was “absolutely distraught when we found out that the shooter was a member of our congregation.” You can hear the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and other podcast apps, or you can simply click here.
On-Line Training For Ministry Leaders. Thanks to a partnership with Dunham + Co., MinistryWatch is now able to offer on-line training “short courses” in such topics as change management, fundraising, and the use of cryptocurrencies such as BitCoin. To read more about these courses, click 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.
Filmmaker and Author Phil Cooke On The “Extra” Podcast. Regular listeners to the program know that these “MinistryWatch Extra” episodes are a chance for us to “go deep” with some of our editorial partners. But today, I’m bringing you something a bit different, because the guest today is not one of our editorial partners, but someone who has become a “go-to-guy” for me when I want to talk about issues of leadership, branding, and the general state of the evangelical church, and that is Phil Cooke. Phil Cooke got his start in media working on the television program of Oral Roberts, while he was still a student at Oral Roberts University. Over the years Cooke has become one of the nation’s experts on the use of media in a Christian context. He has also been outspoken on the need for men and women of integrity in Christian ministries. He has been critical of televangelists. And even though he is a media and marketing expert, he says that evangelical Christianity doesn’t have a marketing problem. It has a character problem. I think he’s right, and in the light of recent scandal involving Christian leaders such as Ravi Zacharias, James MacDonald, Bill Hybels, and Jerry Falwell Jr., not to mention the way evangelical leaders have glibly dismissed the character questions that have dogged President Trump and other political leaders, I thought it was time to have him back on the program to have a heart-to-heart discussion about some of these matters. Phil Cooke is a working producer in Hollywood who also has a Ph. D. in theology. He’s the author of a half-dozen books on media and marketing and has been a contributor to Fast Company, Forbes, and The Huffington Post. He is also a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences as well as the Producer’s Guild of America. You can hear our conversation by clicking here.
ECFA Changes. The following organizations have had membership status changes in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. ADDITIONS: NONE. REMOVALS: Westminster Presbyterian Church of Elgin (Elgin, Ill.)
MinistryWatch Database Changes. MinistryWatch now has more than 800 ministries in its database. These ministries represent more than $30-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: DOOR International (From N/A to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C), Lowell Lundstrom Ministries, Inc. (N/A Stars, Transparency Grade: From N/A to F), Mars Hill Broadcasting Co. Inc. (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), The Seed Company (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Aglow International (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C), Bair Lake Bible Camp (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Bright Hope International (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Cadence International (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), CBMC, Inc. (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: A), China Outreach Ministries, Inc. (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Christ for India (Down 3 to 2, Transparency Grade: C), Christian Freedom International (CFI) (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Coalition for Christian Outreach / CCO (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Development Associates International (Up 4 to 5, Transparency Grade: A), Entrust (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Fellowship of Christian in Universities and Schools (FOCUS) (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Good News (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Heart for Lebanon Foundation (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), International Fellowship of Christians and Jews / Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: C), International Messengers (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Lifechangers, Inc. / Bob Mumford (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: From D to C), Medical Ambassadors International (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Moms in Prayer International (Up 4 to 5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, Inc. (Up 4 to 5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Open Air Campaigners US Incorporated (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Open Doors with Brother Andrew, Inc. (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Pacific Island Ministries, Inc. (Up 4 to 5 Stars, Transparency Grade: C), Partners Worldwide (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: A), Project PATCH (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: D), Ravi Zacharias International Ministries / RZIM (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: From C to D), SafeHouse Outreach, Inc. (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Student Mobilization, Inc. (Up 4 to 5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. / WBT (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A). The following ministries have been added to the MinistryWatch database with the most recent year’s financial data: Hope Haven Inc. (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Houston Christian Broadcasters / Keeping Him Close By (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Human Coalition (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), International Fellowship of Evangelical Students USA (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Iris Global (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Kanakuk Ministries (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: D), Knox Area Rescue Ministries (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A)
Salary Data In MinistryWatch Database. We now have salary information for 3,000 executives from about 500 of the 800 ministries 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.
