First Baptist Church of Perryville Archives: featured
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4 September 2010
The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability
A wave of concern over fundraising practices in the non-profit sector prompted Oregon Senator Mark Hatfield to challenge evangelical leaders in 1977.1 An evangelical himself, he warned that Congress might pass legislation regulating the affairs of Christian ministries unless they found a way to police themselves with a “Christian Better Business Bureau.”2
In response, in 1979, a group of believers founded the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.3 Charter members included Campus Crusade for Christ, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and Dallas Theological Seminary.
The ECFA holds members to seven standards of responsible stewardship: doctrinal orthodoxy; a board of directors with financial oversight; an annual audit; policies ensuring adherence to tax-exempt purposes; financial disclosure; conflict-of-interest avoidance; and ethical fundraising practices.4 In addition, some members are selected each year for on-site visits to verify their compliance with ECFA standards.5 To date, more than 2,300 organizations and their subsidiaries have joined the council, whose website declares, “The ECFA seal is tangible evidence to donors that ECFA member organizations adhere to the highest standards of financial integrity and Christian ethics.”6
As an ECFA member, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) publishes its financial records each year and demonstrates the type of economic transparency necessary in all ministries. One can easily discover that the BGEA spends 87% of its $116 million budget on evangelistic outreach and has $301 million in net assets.7
In contrast, the abuses of some ministries remind us why Senator Hatfield called for the ECFA’s existence. A “televangelist,” for example, bought a $20 million jet, claiming he would use it only to spread the gospel. Yet the jet made questionable rounds to some of the world’s hottest vacation spots while faithful donors sent their money to support Christian work.8
More recently, another minister was sued for stealing a plan to profit from religious text messages. He allegedly earns $50 million per year from $5.99 subscriptions to the service.9 A man is claiming that the minister used his idea for the “Word on the Go” texting service after they developed it together.
Of course, while such embarrassing behavior by large ministries gets media attention, much of the financial irregularity in the Church occurs in the pew, where those who call themselves Christian refuse to be stewards of their own resources, all of which belong to God. In their giving and purchasing patterns, they betray their calling and confession that “Jesus is Lord.” Nevertheless, the EFCA plays a vital role in preserving the kingdom’s witness on earth.
Both the transparency of ECFA members and the obfuscation of less honorable ministries recall the need for every Christian organization to live out the Apostle Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 8:21, “for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man.” The greatest scandal is not the abuses of a few bad ministers but the widespread need for the ECFA in the first place. Unless the Church maintains financial integrity, it cannot speak prophetically on vital matters of money and finance.
That is why the First Baptist Church of Perryville took steps two decades ago to update standard, but antiquated practices, to have the highest level of financial accountability. All offerings are counted by teams of three who must each sign their own form identifying the checks, bills, and change in the offering. All three sheets must agree exactly. The financial secretary tracks the giving. The treasurer only disperses checks, never touching funds. There is a yearly audit by a team experienced with accounting. Use of funds is supervised by a stewardship committee. The whole process was designed specifically for our church by the vice-president of a large Maryland bank. We firmly believe that people who represent the Living God must exhibit the highest level of fiscal responsibility and transparency.
Footnotes:
1 Randall Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism, rev. ed. (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2004), s. v. “Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.”
2 “ECFA History,” Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability Website, http://www.ecfa.org/Content/GeneralBackground.aspx (accessed August 13, 2009).
3 Ibid.
4 “Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship,” Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability Website, http://www.ecfa.org/Content/7Standards.aspx (accessed August 13, 2009).
5 “ECFA History.”
6 Ibid.
7 “Billy Graham Evangelistic Association,” Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability Website, http://www.ecfa.org/MemberProfile.aspx?ID=4764 (accessed August 13, 2009).
8 Brett Shipp, “Jet Flight Records Spur Copeland Ministry Questions,” WFAA-TV Website, February 28, 2007, http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/bshipp/stories/wfaa070228_mo_churchjet.87be631.html (accessed August 13, 2009).
9 “Lawsuit Says Evangelist Stole Idea,” United Press International Website, June 26, 2009, http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/06/26/Lawsuit-says-evangelist-stole-idea/UPI-16631245990573/ (accessed August 13, 2009).
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31 August 2010
The ACLU’s Perversion of the Establishment Clause
In the wake of the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, Breen Elementary School in Rocklin, California, posted the words, “God Bless America,” on the sign out front. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) objected that this was a “hurtful, divisive message” and demanded it be removed, claiming that the sign violated the California and U.S. constitutions.1 What is to be made of this group? (more…)
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29 August 2010
What’s a Dad to Do?
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
Hebrews 12:7 (ESV) (more…)
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27 August 2010
Three ‘Evangelical Lies’ About Reaching Muslims
Karim* grew up in an Arab Christian family in a Middle Eastern country — part of the “1 percent of Christians among the 99 percent Muslims,” as he describes it. (more…)
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25 August 2010
Brothers accused of ‘blasphemy’ slain in Pakistan
FAISALABAD, Pakistan (BP)–Two Pakistani brothers accused of “blaspheming” Islam’s prophet Muhammad were gunned down by suspected Islamic extremists on July 19 in Faisalabad, the country’s third-largest city. (more…)
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23 August 2010
The Courage to Be Bored Kids and Video Screens
by Mark Earley.
If I asked you what your teenage children are doing right now, you might not know. But the New York Times and the Kaiser Family Foundation have a pretty good idea. (more…)
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21 August 2010
Marriage As Therapy or Covenant?
Worldview Matters
Last week, another prominent couple made headlines by announcing the end of their marriage. It was former vice president Al Gore and his wife. I know both of them and always thought they were a perfect couple. (more…)
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19 August 2010
Environmentalism Done Right
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (more…)
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17 August 2010
McMansions and the American Family
Michael Frisby lives in a “McMansion.” His home, nestled in Fulton, Maryland (between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore), sits three stories high, boasts 11,000 square feet, and includes amenities such as a wine cellar, a bedroom larger than most apartments, a music room, a gym, and a sauna. He has achieved his dream: “I always wanted a house big enough that my kids could be in their room screaming, and my wife could be in a room screaming, and I could be somewhere else and not hear any of them.”1 (more…)
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15 August 2010
Justice Guarantees Procedures, Not Results—Ronald H. Nash (1936 - 2006)
Theologian and philosopher Ronald Nash authored more than 35 books explaining and defending the Christian worldview. He taught at both secular and Christian institutions, including Western Kentucky University, Reformed Theological Seminary, and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. (more…)
