Month: May 2015

Sutton Turner Talks Mars Hill Global; Financial Information Omitted at Lawyers' Request

Sutton Turner provides his side of the Mars Hill Global story in a lengthy blog post today.
The omission of financial information is puzzling. For instance, Turner says:

In 2014 alone, Mars Hill gave $X to support efforts in Ethiopia and India. This is over X times what was given toward all non-US church planting from 2009-2011.* See the quote below from the Mars Hill Church FAQ web page in 2014**:

He addresses the confusion surrounding messaging on Global and honored the request of attorneys to leave out specific dollar amount given to international missions. Even though there is potential for legal action, it is hard to understand why these numbers are not provided. Turner says:

*Unfortunately, Mars Hill’s attorneys have requested that I not blog. I have removed some of the financial information as well as other non-financial information in response to their request.

Even though Mars Hill is a church, the attorneys are ruling the situation. The amount of money a church gives to missions is a secret? This is ridiculous, especially in absence of some compelling explanation.
Regarding the intent of the Mars Hill Global program, I have a hard time with these paragraphs:

Over the last twelve months, many have criticized the intentions and practices surrounding Mars Hill Global. This criticism focused around the claim that the leadership of Mars Hill confused donors who were giving to the Global Fund leading them to believe that 100% of all donations to Mars Hill Global went to Ethiopia and India.
I am sorry that some who contributed to Mars Hill Global (as well as those who did not contribute) were mistakenly led to believe incorrect information.That was neither my nor the church’s intention, but as the accusations came in, we quickly made a change on the online giving site to remove the term “Global Fund” (which had been used since 2009) to make it clearer. Secondly, we had the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), as well as an external, independent auditor, conduct thorough investigations. Both of these groups found that we could have been clearer during our communications (and in hindsight, we certainly agreed), but they reported that we did nothing wrong. Although neither the ECFA nor the auditor gave us any course of corrective action, my leadership team and I wanted to do everything we could to remedy the situation and correct our mistakes.

Turner did not deal with this memo which seems to suggest that there was a plan to misinform donors. For instance, the amount of money was not to be disclosed to the public (still not happening):

Flagship Projects
Of the money that comes into the Global Fund, designate a fixed percentage internally for highly visible, marketable projects such as mission trips, orphan care, support for pastors and missionaries in the third world, etc. (ten to fifteen strategic operations in locations where Mars Hill wants to be long term). This percentage should be flexible (not a “tithe”), and not communicated to the public. Support for Mars Hill Global would be support for Mars Hill Church in general, but the difference and the draw would be that a portion of Global gifts would also benefit projects that spread the gospel and serve the needs of people around the world.

And then there was this paragraph:

The Global Fund could be beneficial in a number of ways, besides the obvious gain of increased funding:
• For a relatively low cost (e.g. $10K/month), supporting a few missionaries and benevolence projects would serve to deflect criticism, increase goodwill, and create opportunities to influence and learn from other ministries.

The plan at some point in re-launching Global was to support missions but to do so in a way that brought in more money than the mission support required. Again, read the entire re-launch memo; somebody had intent to play up missions and reap a harvest for U.S. expansion.
I was glad that Turner disclosed that the ECFA was involved. That they required nothing of Mars Hill is a loud clear testimony that they are not in business for donors. I may write a separate post about this disclosure.
Overall, I appreciate Turner’s disclosures. He acknowledges mistakes and says he was responsible:

I now realize that over time, I did not continue to communicate as well as I should have that Mars Hill Global was doing church planting in the US, Ethiopia, and India. My personal passion for Ethiopia began to overtake the communication about church planting in the US.

My personal passion for Ethiopia began to overtake the communication about church planting in the US.

I also made a very bad assumption that because the last decade of Mars Hill had been acutely focused on church planting in the US with Acts29, that I needed to focus more on what we were doing outside of the US. I assumed that everyone knew our church planting efforts in the US were continuing (which they did—with seven more churches between 2012 and 2014.)

I am deeply sorry for any confusion caused by my and my former team’s communications. Although this was certainly not our intention, the outcome still remains and we did everything in our power to rectify this error with Global donors in the summer of 2014. I understand that this situation has hurt some people’s (both Christian and non-Christian) trust in church stewardship for the larger church in general, and I am deeply saddened by this. Again, I am very sorry; I should have better communicated the goals, the use of funds, and the future vision of Mars Hill Global in the United States and wherever God would lead us in the world.

In this post, Turner makes another stunning admission:

Mistakes. When you make a mistake, admit it clearly and quickly. As I have mentioned previously, the MH BOAA discussed many different paths for communication, including trying to get ahead of the story and remaining silent. Unfortunately, we made the mistake of assuming that if we were silent about this issue it would pass over.

Mars Hill (along with the ECFA) hoped the matter would go away. The ECFA continues to take this approach when asked questions about their dealings. In some cases, it probably does work. It has worked so far for David Jeremiah but doesn’t always work as in the case of Mars Hill.
All in all Turner has shed some light on the Mars Hill Global story. Although there are more questions (e.g., who told Justin Dean to make up that elaborate story about the Global Fund not being a fund?), Turner’s admission point us to a little more clarity. If only the lawyers would understand what kind of organization they work for.
 
 

Is Phoenix Next for Mark Driscoll?

Downtown_Phx_Skyline_MDN
“Downtown Phoenix Skyline by Matthew Nystrom –

After his return to the stage at the Thrive 2015 Leadership Conference at Bayside Church in CA, it seems reasonable to suspect that Mark Driscoll is poised to return to ministry.  If so, where and doing what?
In recent weeks, several individuals have contacted me with tips that Driscoll is preparing to plant a church in Phoenix, AZ. In recent days, the buzz has intensified from several independent sources which leads me to believe the information is credible.
The moves appear to be at the exploratory stage at this point which means that a plant may not materialize.
The reaction of people who reach out with information has been interesting. Almost all are hoping the plant doesn’t happen. However, other people would welcome a return of Driscoll to active ministry. One can tell that from the reaction of some pastors at the Thrive 2015 conference.
Driscoll has become a polarizing figure in the broader church which unfortunately may follow him to wherever he lands. I think he could probably overcome this to some degree by taking his comeback trail through Seattle. I am pretty sure there are some folks there who would like to talk over his recent speech in CA.
 

Gospel for Asia Does Not File a 990 Because It is a Religious Order

Donations to Gospel for Asia are tax deductible but the organization doesn’t file 990 forms because they are a religious order. In response to my question, Gospel for Asia’s COO David Carroll answered as follows:

Also, to understand the level of commitment asked of staff and the ways in which we operate, it is helpful to recognize that we are a “religious order” and not merely a ministry. Religious orders must meet certain criteria according to the Internal Revenue Service. All potential staff members are fully briefed on these requirements, including a commitment to “live under a strict set of rules requiring moral and spiritual self-sacrifice and dedication to the goals of the organization.” (IRS Rev. Proc. 91-20, 1991-1 C.B. 524, Sec. 3). The IRS also stipulates that employees “make a long-term commitment to the organization (normally more than two years).”
In the spectra of religious orders, Gospel for Asia would likely afford the highest level of independence and freedom from leadership interference in personal decisions. As a religious order, Gospel for Asia is exempt by the IRS from having to file an annual Form 990. However, it’s worth noting that being a religious order imposes a very modest compensation scale on our ministry.

Based on the following description, I thought the group was a 501(c)3 organization required to report on IRS 990 forms.

GFA is a well-established international mission organization deeply committed to seeing lives and communities transformed through God’s Word and compassion. We are a bridge and servant of the Church to fulfill the Great Commission of our Lord by transforming lives and communities through Christ’s love among the most unreached in our generation. We are a movement dedicated to glorifying the name of Jesus Christ and to proclaiming His grace and love to those who desperately need to hear it.

On the Frequently Asked Questions page, the religious order question is addressed:

I hear GFA is a religious order. What does that mean?
GFA is officially recognized in the United States by the IRS as a protestant/evangelical religious order, much like Wycliffe, Open Doors, U.S. Center for World Mission, Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ), Operation Mobilization, Living Waters and other Christian ministries. That means GFA has the following characteristics defined by government law:

  • Members of the organization normally live together as part of a community and are held to a higher level of moral and spiritual discipline than that required of lay church members.
  • Members of the organization work or serve full-time on behalf of the religious, educational, or charitable goals of the organization.
  • Members of the organization participate regularly in activities such as public or private prayer, religious study, teaching, care of the aging, missionary work, or church reform or renewal.
The result is that the information normally contained on a 990 isn’t easily available.
One reason I wondered about the 990 form is because I am trying to get some understanding of this massive organization. The group claims it must keep the financial information private because of concerns over persecution. However, I have learned that much of the information about GFA’s work in India is reported yearly to the Indian government. The information is also available to the public (see this post for instance).
Stay tuned…

ECFA Will Not Release Faith Christian Church Investigation Results

This post is a follow up to the resignation of Faith Christian Church from the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. I reported early in April that FCC resigned from the ECFA. FCC was being investigated by the ECFA for possible violations of ECFA guidelines. Numerous former members had described the extreme pressure to give 10% or more of their income to the church along with other problems at the church.
Even though the FCC resigned while under investigation, the ECFA does not plan to say anything further about the findings of the investigation. According to an April 9 email from John C. Van Drunen to former FCC member Rachel Mullis, the ECFA will only “cite their resignation” on their website. Writing to Mullis, Van Drunen said:
Thanks for your follow-up.  Since they have resigned there is not anything further we are able to say other than to cite their resignation.  Regarding follow-up with the former members, I have sent an update this afternoon to each person who responded to thank them similarly for their assistance and to give them the same update.
Thank you,
John

John C. Van Drunen
Executive Vice President

Mullis told me that she felt “disappointed” by the ECFA decision not to alert the public in some manner about the problems at FCC. She added that she felt like FCC got a “‘get out of jail free’ card.”
This is another example of how the ECFA’s decisions do not serve donors or the public. All that a prospective donor would know about FCC from the ECFA is that FCC resigned. The ECFA should have a category of resignation that indicates that an organization resigned while under investigation.

Funion Article: Gays Decry Redefinition of Marriage

The following article appeared in today’s Funion, a spoofy spoof of the Onion. With all appropriate apologies to all involved.
Gays Decry Union of Rocker and Florida Megachurch Pastor
ORLANDO, FL (Funion News Network) – Gay activists are crying foul this morning after Orlando area pastor Paula White married former Journey rocker Jonathan Cain. White’s marriage to Cain is the third marriage for the pastor of New Destiny Christian Center.
Gay activist Randy Thompson of Florida’s LBGTQQI activist group LBGTQQI Unite said the White-Cain union cheapens an institution gays are poised to enter.
“We are just now entering into the age-old institution and straights keep mucking it up,” Thompson said.
White and Cain could not be reached for comment, being away on their honeymoon. However, White’s spokesperson, Trevor Spokes-Wong said that White’s marriage celebrated man-woman marriage like “new wine poured into new wine-skins.”
Spokes-Wong added, “White has celebrated man-woman marriage three times now; there are few megachurch pastors who have celebrated this straight institution more than White.”
University of Florida professor of sociology, George Widlock, said marriage has been redefined by straights over the last half-century. “The battle between gays and straights is intensifying to see which groups can redefine marriage the most. Our data indicate that the straights are winning.”