Weekly Review
ECFA Membership Changes, MinistryWatch Database Changes, On This Date in MinistryWatch
MinistryWatch 1000 Database Changes. MinistryWatch now has more than 1,000 ministries in its database. These ministries represent more than $35-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: ‘lolani School (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 65), Accelerated Christian Education Ministries (1 Star, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 50), Advocates for Community Transformation (1 Star, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 85, Alberto Mottesi Evangelistic Association, Inc. (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 85), Bible League International (1 Star, Transparency Grade: From C to A, DCS: 65), Biblica / International Bible Society (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: Up 85 to 90), Breck School (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 65), Christian Heritage / Christian Heritage Children’s Home (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 95), Church World Service (Up 3 to 4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 65), Compass (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 70), Family Broadcasting Corporation / pka Lesea, Inc. (N/A Stars, Transparency Grade: F, DCS: 15), Family Connections Christian Adoptions (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 90), Frontline Response / Atlanta Dream Center Inc. (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 90), Groton School (1 Star, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 55), International Christian Adoptions (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 95), Jews for Jesus (Up 1 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 80), Kent School Corporation (1 Star, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 55), Louisiana College (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 70) , Orphanos Foundation (5 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 90), St. Andrew’s Episcopal School (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: F, DCS: 55), The Episcopal Academy (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 65), The Exodus Road Inc. (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 75), The Seed Company (Down 3 to 2 Stars, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 85), Trinity Episcopal Schools Corporation (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 65), Victory Junction Gang Camp (1 Star, Transparency Grade: C, DCS: 65), Westminster Schools Inc (2 Stars, Transparency Grade: D, DCS: 65), World Orphans (4 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 95), Zoe Empowers (3 Stars, Transparency Grade: A, DCS: 90)
ECFA Changes. The following organizations have had membership status changes in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. ADDITIONS: None REMOVALS: None
On the Podcast: Grove City and “Wokeness,” Church Buys $8-M Mansion, and SBC Sex Abuse Costs Rise. The Southern Baptist Convention could spend up to $4-million to deal with clergy sex abuse issues. And Grove City College is dealing with controversies related to “wokeness” and “critical race theory.” We begin today with the story of a church that has paid $8.3 million for a Tampa, Florida-area estate. You can hear the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and other podcast apps, or you can simply click here.
Podcast Extra. A New Model For Missions? For hundreds of years, the model for missionary work has been that a missionary goes from one country – usually the United States or a western European country – to another country in what used to be called the Third World, or the Developing World, or – now – the Majority World. That model is still dominant, but some organizations are tilting that model on its side. One of those organizations is The Timothy Initiative. If you subscribe to WORLD Magazine, or Christianity Today, you may have seen their ads. But I wanted to learn more, so I reached out to Jared Nelms. Jared is the CEO and Vice President of The Timothy Initiative. We talk about The Timothy Initiative and its extraordinary growth, and whether old ways of reaching unreached people groups still work, or have become obsolete. You can listen to our conversation here.
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Send Us Your News Tips. 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 6,000 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.
75 Red Flags. MinistryWatch has released a new free booklet, “75 Red Flags To Consider Before Donating For A Christian Ministry.” To read more, and to download your free, printable copy of the 18-page booklet, click 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.
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’ve posted this link for the past few weeks, but I want to keep it in front of you, and I also want you to know that we continue to add new ministries and additional information about existing ministries. So if you haven’t hit the link in a week or so, you might want to hit it again.
On This Date at MinistryWatch. THREE YEARS AGO: The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) terminated Harvest Bible Chapel’s membership in its organization for “significant violations” of ECFA standards. Yet three former Harvest elders say they warned ECFA President Dan Busby of serious financial and governance issues at the church six years earlier. But they say instead of investigating Harvest, Busby dismissed their concerns, and continued to allow Harvest to use the ECFA seal to tout its alleged financial integrity. Read more here.
TWO YEARS AGO: LifeWay Christian Resources’ board of trustees authorized a recommendation for the organization’s executive team to pursue viable options for the disposition of Ridgecrest Conference Center and Summer Camps including, but not limited to, transfer or sale to SBC entities, state conventions or other external parties. Read more here.
ONE YEAR AGO: Former reality star Josh Duggar was arrested by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and is being held without bond in an Arkansas jail on unspecified charges. Read more here.
