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Culture Weekly Review

Weekly Review

ECFA Membership Changes, MinistryWatch Database Changes, MinistryWatch Q&A

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Don’t Blow Up Your Ministry.  MinistryWatch will be holding a webinar on Feb. 16 at 3 pm ET with Mihael MacaKenzie, author of the new book Don’t Blow Up Your Ministry:  Defuse the Underlying Issues That Take Pastors Down.  This webinar is designed for pastors, church leaders, elders, deacons, and others who want to understand how to protect church leaders from the kinds of implosions that damaged the ministries of such leaders as Bill Hybels, Mark Driscoll, Ravi Zacharias, and others.  The webinar is free, but you must sign up.  To do so, click here.

ECFA Changes.  The following organizations have had membership status changes in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.  ADDITIONS: Save The Storks (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Disciple The Nations (El Dorado, Ark.), Chariots4Hope (Omaha, Neb.), Dare To Imagine Church (Philadelphia, Penn.), Hope for the Fatherless (Castle Pines, Colo.), Winter Park Christian Church (Tabernash, Colo.), Union Rescue Mission (Fairmont, W.Va.)   REMOVALS: Mission ConneXion (Portland, Ore.), Mission Greenspoint (Houston, Tex.), Explore God (Mechanicsville, Va.)

On the Podcast:  On today’s program, we take a look at the so-called “Billy Graham Rule.”  We have updates on a couple of religious liberty cases that will have an impact on Christian ministries, and we have the latest on Hillsong’s Brian Houston.  He has taken a sabbatical in advance of his criminal trial.  We begin today with a history making move by the Southern Baptist Convention.  You can hear the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and other podcast apps, or you can simply 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.

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.

MinistryWatch 1000 Database Changes.  MinistryWatch now has more than 1,000 ministries in its database. These ministries represent more than $36 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: Messianic Vision, Inc. (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) / Jay Sekulow / Pat Robertson (N/A Stars, Transparency Grade: C)  , Audio Scripture Ministries (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Bill Glass Behind the Walls  (Down 4 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Christian Legal Society / CLS (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Educational Resources & Referrals China (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Pepperdine University (1 Star, Transparency Grade: C), Portland Rescue Mission (N/A Stars, Transparency Grade: C), Preemptive Love Coalition (1 Star, Transparency Grade: From D to C), Prison Fellowship Ministries (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Reciprocal Ministries International, Inc. / RMI (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: From C to A), Redwood Gospel Mission (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Rescue Mission of Middle Georgia (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Salina Rescue Mission (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Solid Rock International (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), The City Mission (From N/A to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C), Total Living Network/ TLN/ Jerry Rose (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A), African Enterprise (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: A), Alliance for Children Everywhere (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Becket Fund for Religious Liberty (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C), Christian Hope Indian Eskimo Fellowship / CHIEF (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C), Dream Center Foundation (Up 4 to 5 Stars, Transparency Grade: D), Faith Broadcasting, Inc.  (Down 4 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A), Life Pacific University (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: C), Project PATCH (Up 2 to 3 Stars, Transparency Grade: D), Roever Evangelistic Association (Down 2 to 1 Star, Transparency Grade: A), Shelter For Life International Inc.  (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: From C to A), World Missionary Press, Inc. (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A)

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 nearly 5,000 executives from more than half of the ministries in the MinistryWatch 1000 database.  So check out this new addition by clicking on the red button at the top of this page, or click 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.

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.  A reminder that we have created a 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.

MinistryWatch EXTRA Episode: A Q&A With Warren Smith About MinistryWatch.  I answer some of the questions I hear most about MinistryWatch, including why and how we do what we do. Listen here.

On This Date at MinistryWatch. TWO YEARS AGO:  On Feb. 4, 2020, MinistryWatch reported on concerns about John Ortberg’s leadership of California’s Menlo Church. Read more here.  ONE YEAR AGO: On February 1, 2021, MinistryWatch reported that the Museum of the Bible would return thousands of artifacts to Syria and Iraq. Read more here.

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Warren Cole Smith

Warren previously served as Vice President of WORLD News Group, publisher of WORLD Magazine, and Vice President of The Colson Center for Christian Worldview. He has more than 30 years of experience as a writer, editor, marketing professional, and entrepreneur. Before launching a career in Christian journalism 25 years ago, Smith spent more than seven years as the Marketing Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

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