PUBLISHED SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16, 1997
Copyright 1997 The Pensacola News Journal. All rights
reserved
Ministry fails to meet watchdog's guidelines
By Amie K. Streater
News Journal staff writer
PENSACOLA - Doctors, lawyers, teachers -- all have
to pass tests to do their work. Colleges, hospitals, restaurants -- all
have to undergo scrutiny by accrediting or inspecting agencies.
But who reviews religious organizations and evangelists?
Who determines whether they deserve the public's trust?
The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability,
a nationwide watchdog group formed in 1979 by Billy Graham and several
other evangelists, exists specifically to oversee religious organizations'
financial dealings.
The ECFA coaches its 860 organization members into earning
that trust by requiring that they follow a strict set of guidelines for
handling donors' money ethically.
Organizations voluntarily participate in ECFA and must
abide by strict rules. Nine organizations in the Pensacola area are in
the ECFA: Globe Missionary Evangelism, Waterfront Rescue Mission, Arise
and Shine Evangelistic Association, Globe Europe, Living Water Adopt-a-Child,
Living Water Ministries, Manna Bible Institute, New Hope Home of Waterfront
Rescue Mission, and Rhema Bible Institute.
None of the organizations involved in Pensacola's Brownsville
Revival are members.
Brownsville Revival evangelist Steve Hill's organization,
Together in the Harvest Ministries Inc., has a membership application pending.
Paul Nelson, president of ECFA, said that to be accepted,
a religious organization must meet these requirements:
Adopt a written statement affirming its commitment
to the Christian faith and operate in a manner that reflects Biblical practices.
The statement Hill filed in Texas when he incorporated
Together in the Harvest states that the organization was formed "to promote
and perpetuate the doctrines of Christianity as a religion by going into
all the world and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
Set up a board of directors, the majority of which
cannot be staff members or relatives.
Hill's organization has four directors: Hill, who is president.
Jeff Gardner, who works in the Together in the Harvest office at Hill's
home and handles Awake America, one of Hill's joint ventures. Gary Brady,
former pastor of Faith Assembly of God in Tallahassee, where Hill also
used to work. Ronald Ardt, a friend of Hill's who lives in Dallas.
Submit to an annual audit from an independent certified
public accountant.
Hill said his friend, Jody Fauss of Lindale, Texas, handles
his ministry's finances. Fauss, however, told the News Journal that he
is not a certified public accountant, and that he does not do the audit
for Together in the Harvest.
Exercise financial control to ensure resources are
used as intended.
An informal financial statement Hill released to the News
Journal listed 32.15 percent of the Together in the Harvest money goes
to "other" and "uncategorized" expenditures. Hill did not provide details
about those expenditures.
Provide copies of audited financial statements on request.
Hill's attorney, Walter Chandler, refused to provide those.
The ECFA would not tolerate that, according to Nelson.
"If they were a member, that wouldn't fly," he said.
Conflicts of interest should be avoided by fully disclosing
on audited financial statements any transactions between members.
Hill has not provided a list of Together in the Harvest
staff. He has not provided an audited statement. He has not specified what
role his wife, Jeri Hill, plays in the organization or how much she is
paid. Her name appears with Steve Hill's on the Together in the Harvest
letterhead.
Comply with ECFA's 12 standards of fund-raising, which
include accurately describing the group's activities, avoiding giving potential
donors any unrealistic expectations of what their gifts will accomplish,
truthfulness in communication and providing, on request, detailed reports
of a project for which it is soliciting gifts.
Hill provided an informal financial statement that said
$900,000, or 75 percent, of his share of the Brownsville Revival offering
goes to missions. Elsewhere in the statement, he indicates $789,000 goes
for such giving. His lawyer's figure was $639,000 and Hill's IRS return
indicates his ministry gave $102,212.
Despite repeated requests from the News Journal, neither
Hill nor his lawyer identified specific missions and addresses, other than
lists of countries and general identifications such as "Misc. - Central
and South America and various countries."
Neither Hill nor his lawyer would provide copies of the
IRS returns for the nonprofit organization, even though they are, by law,
public information. The News Journal had to obtain copies through the IRS.