MinistryWatch is an independent American

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

organization that evaluates

protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

ministries for financial accountability and transparency, and to provide independent advice to individuals considering making donations to these ministries. MinistryWatch posts daily

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

related to Christian ministries at its website.

Media appearances

MinistryWatch was founded by Howard "Rusty" Leonard and gained national attention when it was featured on

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

20/20 Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of visual perception, vision, but technically rates an animal's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity depends on optical and neural factors. Optical factors of the eye ...

in 2007. The segment focused on various organizations' use of donor funds. Leonard, along with current MinistryWatch president Warren Cole Smith, has continued to appear in prominent media outlets, including

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, WORLD Magazine,

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "eva ...

Religion News Service Religion News Service, branded as RNS, is a news agency founded in 1934. It covers religion, ethics, spirituality and moral issues, and publishes news, information, and commentaries on faiths and religious movements to newspapers, magazines, bro ...

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

, and

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg T ...

, discussing issues related to ministry transparency and financial practices.

Positions on issues related to Christian ministries

MinistryWatch has publicly advocated for reform in the Christian nonprofit sector. Specifically, it advocates that all Christian ministries release their

Form 990 Form 990 (officially, the "Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax") is a United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) form that provides the public with information about a nonprofit organization. It is also used by government agencies t ...

s to the public. It has also been an outspoken opponent of the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in Christian ministry settings.

References

External links

MinistryWatch website

MinistryWatch 1000 database
Evangelical organizations Charity review websites Christian organizations established in 1998 American review websites {{Christian-org-stub