MinistryWatch.com, TBN at odds over 'donor alert'
Allie Martin and Jody Brown
April 30, 2007
The founder of an organization that seeks to hold ministries accountable for how they spend donor dollars says officials at the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) are attempting to mislead donors in the wake of an ABC News story about the ministry's finances. TBN's attorney denies the allegation.
Last month, the ABC television news magazine 20/20 aired an investigative segment that highlighted the finances and spending practices of Trinity Broadcasting Network, the world's largest Christian television network. Among other findings, 20/20 reported that TBN has a cash reserve of $340 million, controls two multimillion-dollar California mansions, and owns a Learjet aircraft worth millions as well. The report featured Rusty Leonard, founder of MinistryWatch.com, which has issued donor alerts for TBN in the past.
In response, TBN issued a news release blasting Leonard and 20/20 and claiming the report was based on "unreliable information obtained from a prejudiced source" and misled viewers by presenting "biased opinion, innuendo, and outdated and incomplete information" as facts. It also claimed that as a non-profit entity, TBN is subject to "much more stringent financial scrutiny from both the government and donors than are public or private companies."
Leonard says TBN's response to the 20/20 segment included elements that were "absolutely absurd" -- among them its claim that it is subject to greater regulation, oversight, and accountability than are public companies.
"Nothing could be further from the truth," the MinistryWatch spokesman contends. "Anybody who knows anything about non-profit accountability knows that it's one of the biggest areas of concern -- and that for-profit companies, public companies, have much more accountability and regulatory oversight." And so, because of what he feels were misleading statements on the part of the Christian network, Leonard says he has dropped TBN's transparency grade to an "F."
TBN's news release includes a statement from the network's vice president of administration, Paul Crouch, Jr., accusing Leonard of having a "longstanding practice of attacking ministries who are not in agreement with his brand of theology." But Leonard says he has nothing to gain or lose from warning donors about TBN's practices.
"We don't attack ministries. We just report," Leonard asserts. "We've reported on the prosperity theology that is preached on many of the TBN programs, which is a theology that is not accepted in the evangelical world as legitimate. And yet they are out there."
The "prosperity theology" prevalent on many TBN programs is "kind of self-serving" and "helps build up their own bank account, which is now $340 million-plus," Leonard says. "But it's not legitimate," he insists. "It turns Jesus upside down essentially, in so many ways. So we don't attack it. We just report on that." (Hear Audio)
Financial reserves necessary, says attorney
Attorney Colby May, who serves as communications counsel for TBN, says Leonard's group does not have its facts straight. The attorney maintains the network is transparent in all of its dealings and makes available all of its Form 990 tax returns for public viewing. Furthermore, he contends the ministry's response to the 20/20 segment was not misleading -- and that Leonard has targeted TBN, and many of the televangelists it features, only to increase his Internet profile and presence.
As far as the alleged lavish lifestyle of TBN founders Paul and Jan Crouch is concerned, May states that the ministry owns all of the properties in question. Also, the attorney says TBN's large cash reserve is a prudent business practice because of the network's mammoth operating costs.
"This is a large, large network -- the largest religious broadcaster, distributor, and producer in the world," May explains. "[It] has outlets everywhere." He cites, for example, the network's expenses for the 66 satellite platforms around the world that cost in excess of $80 million a year.
"These are extraordinary numbers," he points out. "And so when a network like that is fiscally responsible and maintains large capital and credit-cash reserves to pay those expenses, it's actually a good thing."
However, the main goal of the ministry, says May, is to exalt Christ -- not only through quality programming, but also through other efforts. He points to "His Hand Extended" outreaches at the network's broadcast facilities around the country, an assistance ministry for needy people that has been in operation for more than 20 years.
"And it is involved in the local communities through various churches in their efforts to help them do their soup kitchens and food pantries and so on and so forth," he adds. "They are dedicated to one thing: they've never lost their first love," the attorney concludes; "and their first love is ... the message of the gospel, the good news that Jesus is love and that there is hope and a future for all people through Jesus Christ."
The TBN statement released after the 20/20 broadcast points to a number of charitable organizations and causes the ministry sponsors as proof that donor dollars are being put to good use. It also notes the network has installed "self-regulating policies" that are effective in keeping the ministry's "integrity and transparency intact."
MinistryWatch.com, TBN at odds over 'donor alert'
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