MinistryWatch Podcast

Author and journalist Katelyn Beaty discusses the negative impact of fame and celebrity culture on the evangelical church, highlighting how profits and personal empires can distort the message of faith. She explores the intertwining of fame and the evangelical movement, emphasizing the need for accountability and transparency in Christian ministries. Beaty also delves into the challenges of navigating the Christian book publishing industry and promotes the value of ordinary faithfulness over the pursuit of glamour within American religious circles.

On today’s program, an investigation into the death of a South Carolina pastor’s wife, 30-year-old Mica Miller, has captured the attention of people across the nation, raising questions about mental health and abuse. We’ll look at the latest findings. A Pennsylvania pastor faces a gunman in the middle of his Sunday sermon. We’ll have details. A new Southern Baptist report details where member churches stand with attendance, baptisms, and sexual abuse reforms. We’ll take a look. But first, a lawsuit against Christian author and radio host Eric Metaxas is moving forward despite concerns about free speech.  I wanted to remind everyone that it’s a new month, May, and we have a new book we’d like to share with our donors. Katelyn Beaty’s book “Celebrities For Jesus” is a fantastic book about the trend in evangelicalism toward the idolization of celebrity pastors and leaders. It has a lot of insight about many of the issues we cover regularly here at MinistryWatch, and I think if you like MinistryWatch, you are going to find this book valuable. We’ll send it to you absolutely free, as our thank you, for a gift of any size to MinistryWatch this month. Just go to MinistryWatch.com and hit the donate button at the top of the page. Until next time, may God bless you.

Aaron Renn discusses the changing perception of Christianity, dividing history into positive, neutral, and negative worlds. He shares insights on challenges faced by American evangelicals, analyzes political scandals across generations, and explores evangelical responses to a negative world. The discussion also covers opportunities for Christians to help in addressing societal challenges and highlights Renn's book 'Life in the Negative World.'

Bestselling author Wayne Grudem retires after 50 years of teaching. Topics include United Methodist Church's decision on LGBTQ clergy, challenges for churches disaffiliating, Crossroads Church's $21 million expansion, legal troubles for a pastor helping the homeless, church official's misconduct, and trends in Christian ministries.

Nancy French was not a household name in American politics -- because she mostly operated behind the scenes. But she was well known in the highest levels of Republican circles. She was the ghost writer for politicians and conservative celebrities, with five books she wrote making it to the New York Times Bestseller List. But she found the Republican Party to be going down a path she could not travel, and eventually her political clients abandoned her. She continued to write, however, and she did some major investigate work on the sexual and spiritual abuse at Kanakuk, America’s largest Christian camp. She has a new book now under her own name. It’s called Ghosted: An American Story. It’s a fascinating look at her early life of poverty and the long road to success – and some of the challenges she has had along the way. FINAL WORDS: That brings to a close my conversation with Nancy French. Her new book is Ghosted: An American Story. MinistryWatch did its own investigation of Kanakuk, and you can find our stories by going to MinistryWatch.com and hitting the “Investigations” tab at the top of the page. Just a quick note for regular listeners: We had one of our best weeks ever on the podcast, with nearly 4,000 podcast downloads in a single week, and nearly 15,000 for the month of April. If you are a regular listener, thanks for your support. If you have never rated us or left a comment on your podcast app, I’d like to encourage you to do so. Your ratings are an encouragement to me personally, and they make difference to the algorithms that help others discover us. It’s a small, non-financial way you can be a big help to the podcast. Thanks. The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and editorial support from Stephen duBarry, Christina Darnell, Kim Roberts, and Rod Pitzer. Until next time, may God bless you.

On today’s program, Arkansas pastor Steven Smith steps down after fallout from mishandling abuse allegations against a former children’s minister. We’ll have details. Also, controversial megachurch pastors Mark Driscoll and John Lindell seemed to reconcile on stage at the Stronger Men’s Conference last week…but since then, tensions between the two leaders have only intensified. We’ll take a look. And, how a small U-S evangelical seminary is defying the odds. While many theological schools are shrinking, this one’s enrollment numbers keep growing. But we begin today with news of two resignations from leaders of Orange, a ministry known for hosting one of the world’s most prominent family ministry conferences which is actually being held this week in Atlanta. Orange released an official statement stating that its founder and current chief creative officer Reggie Joiner has resigned along with CEO Kristen Ivy. I was in Lexington, Kentucky, last week, for the Evangelical Press Association annual meeting, and I’m pleased to report that my weekly column, “Editor’s Notebook,” brought home a third place prize in their annual Awards of Excellence contest. I also had the privilege of presenting a Lifetime Achievement Award – posthumously – to Joel Belz, the founder of WORLD Magazine and a friend and mentor to me. I also want to remind everyone that this is the last week to get an important new book that we are offering to everyone who donates to MinistryWatch in April. It’s called “How I Lost $1,500,000 in Missions” by John Addink. If you are a donor to foreign missions projects, a ministry leader of a missions organization, or perhaps a pastor who supports missionaries, you should read this book. We’ll send it to you absolutely free, as our thank you, for a gift of any size to MinistryWatch this month. Just go to MinistryWatch.com and hit the donate button at the top of the page. The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh.  We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today’s program include Daniel Ritchie, Jessica Eturralde, Clayton Sidenbender, Shannon Cuthrell, Brittany Smith, and Christina Darnell. A special thank you to Religion UnPlugged for contributing material for this week’s podcast. Until next time, may God bless you.

On today’s EXTRA Episode, MinistryWatch President Warren Smith has some additional thoughts about the Mark Driscoll-John Lindell controversy. The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. Thanks to Casey Sudduth, Stephen duBarry, Kim Roberts, Rod Pitzer, and Christina Darnell for additional support. Until next time, may God bless you.

FIRST SEGMENT Warren Hello everybody.  I’m Warren Smith, coming to you from Charlotte, North Carolina. Natasha  I’m Natasha Cowden in Denver, Colorado. We’d like to welcome you to the MinistryWatch podcast. Warren On today’s program, General Episcopal Theological Seminary thought it had found a solution to its financial woes—until 7 bishops intervened, saying they didn’t want to be in partnership with a conservative. We’ll have details. Also, controversial pastor Mark Driscoll got booted off the stage at last weekend’s Stronger Men’s Conference after calling out the conference host for his choice of entertainment opening night. And, Chuck Swindoll steps down as senior pastor of his church—but insists he’s not retiring. He’ll continue to preach the majority of the sermons. We’ll take a look. Natasha But first, Calvin University finds itself at the center of a lawsuit with its former president. Warren When Calvin University hired Wiebe Boer as its new president in May 2022, the school signed the former business executive to a lucrative five-year deal. The hope was that Boer, a Calvin alum and son of missionaries, could turn the prominent evangelical school around after years of budget cuts and enrollment decline while easing tensions with the denomination that owns the school. Natasha: What happened? Warren: For a while, it seemed things were working. Enrollment went up, and in January, Boer announced an ambitious plan for Calvin’s future. Less than two months later, however, everything fell apart. In mid-February, Boer resigned after the school’s board received complaints that he’d sent “unwelcome and inappropriate” messages to the employee of a vendor who worked on campus. When confronted by the board, Boer agreed to step down — leaving the campus in turmoil, with anger and confusion over how things went so wrong so fast. Natasha That anger has led to Boer being locked out of the school’s presidential residence and a lawsuit Warren: On Friday (April 12), Boer and his wife, Joanna, filed suit against the school in federal court, alleging that Calvin violated his employment agreement and defamed him — and that the school failed to pay him $400,000 in severance or to prove that he’d engaged in significant misconduct. Under the terms of his employee agreement, Boer was considered an at-will employee and could leave the school or be fired at any time. However, unless the board ruled that Boer was guilty of “serious misconduct,” he would receive his $400,000 salary for a year after leaving. Natasha: Remind us what Boer is accused of? Warren: In the complaint, Boer’s attorney stated that he exchanged texts with an employee of a college vendor for several weeks in January but denied the texts were inappropriate. They also claim he was given little time to defend himself and agreed to resign rather than be fired — if he could get severance and help shape the messaging around his resignation. Neither happened, according to the complaint. Instead, negotiations broke down, and Boer and his family were locked out of the presidential home — even though his kids were still in school in the Grand Rapids area. The complaint asks for lost wages and bonuses, compensatory damages for mental anguish and emotional distress as well as punitive damages. Natasha: Next up – an Episcopal Seminary nearly found a solution to its financial woes but there’s a catch. Warren: General Episcopal Seminary in New York could be saved, but it would require the school to accept help from a conservative donor. Seven progressive bishops in the church are calling the donor’s beliefs a deal-breaker. The deal would offer a long-term lease of the seminary to a nonprofit group, the School of Sacred Music. But a major donor to the school is a conservative Catholic donor who holds the Catholic Church’s historic positions on gender and sexuality. Earlier this year,

Ten years ago, Eric Metaxas was the belle of the evangelical ball. Indeed, his evangelical bona fides were nearly impeccable. Early in his career he wrote for Veggie Tales and worked for Chuck Colson. He wrote humorously but piercingly about Christian apologetics. His biography of Bonhoeffer was named the book of the year by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. It sold more than a million copies and has been translated into 20 languages. His keynote address to the National Prayer Breakfast in 2012 became a viral sensation. With great wit and rhetorical flourish, and with President Barack Obama sitting just a few feet away, he gave a passionate defense of the unborn. Eric Metaxas was becoming what many evangelicals claimed the movement needed: An intellectual Christian, someone who took the Bible and doctrine seriously, but who was also taken seriously in the secular public square. Then, Donald Trump happened. After being initially skeptical of Trump, Eric Metaxas became a full-throated advocate on his then new Salem radio program, which was syndicated nationwide. He wrote two children’s books about Donald Trump. And, in an infamous incident caught on video, he punched an anti-Trump protester at a rally at the White House in August of 2020. Metaxas has gone on to use his radio program as a platform to have guests who promoted the notion that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and that the COVID vaccine is dangerous. His advocacy has also gotten him in legal trouble. Just last week a judge ruled that a defamation lawsuit against Metaxas and others can go forward. All of this has caused a lot of Eric’s former friends and admirers to ask: “What happened to Eric Metaxas”? It’s a question Eric addresses in this conversation, a conversation that starts out talking about his 2022 book Letter To The American Church, which has recently been adapted to film and is showing, mostly in churches, around the country. Thanks for listening in on my conversation with Eric Metaxas. His latest book is Letter to the American Church. The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database, technical, editorial, and other support from Casey Sudduth, Stephen duBarry, Christina Darnell, and Kim Roberts. I hope you’ll join me and Natasha Cowden for our roundup of the stories we’ve been working on this week here at MinistryWatch. Until then, may God bless you.

SHOW NOTES: On today’s program, a proposed State Department rule could impact employment regulations for nonprofits…and some ministry leaders are voicing concern. We’ll take a look. And, the North Carolina pastor who went viral for remarks he made from the pulpit about rape has apologized—but the controversy, which has sparked ongoing protests, caught the attention of lawmakers and inflamed the state’s debate over school vouchers. We’ll have details. Also, Salem Media—one of the only Christian publicly traded companies—has reported a $46 million operating loss in its latest annual report. That story later in the program. But first two Christian Colleges face legal challenges due to their names. I was in Indianapolis this week meeting with donors and others there. If you came out to some of my meetings, thanks for hanging out with me. Special thanks to Bill Warren with FAME, a medical missions organization based in Indianapolis for showing me some Hoosier hospitality. I also want to remind everyone that we’re offering an important new book this month to everyone who donates to MinistryWatch. It’s called “How I Lost $1,500,000 in Missions” by John Addink. If you are a donor to foreign missions projects, a ministry leader of a missions organization, or perhaps a pastor who supports missionaries, you should read this book. We’ll send it to you absolutely free, as our thank you, for a gift of any size to MinistryWatch this month. Just go to MinistryWatch.com and hit the donate button at the top of the page. The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh.  We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today’s program include Cheryl Mann Bacon, Kim Roberts, Tony Mator, Aaron Earls, Christopher Mann, Shannon Cuthrell, Richard Levey, Brittany Smith, and Christina Darnell. A special thanks to The Christian Chronicle, Lifeway Research, and The NonProfit Times for contributing material for this week’s podcast. Until next time, may God bless you. COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT: FIRST SEGMENT Warren Hello everybody.  I’m Warren Smith, coming to you from Charlotte, North Carolina. Natasha  I’m Natasha Cowden in Denver, Colorado. We’d like to welcome you to the MinistryWatch podcast. Warren On today’s program, a proposed State Department rule could impact employment regulations for nonprofits…and some ministry leaders are voicing concern. We’ll take a look. And, the North Carolina pastor who went viral for remarks he made from the pulpit about rape has apologized—but the controversy, which has sparked ongoing protests, caught the attention of lawmakers and inflamed the state’s debate over school vouchers. We’ll have details. Also, Salem Media—one of the only Christian publicly traded companies—has reported a $46 million operating loss in its latest annual report. That story later in the program. Natasha But first two Christian Colleges face legal challenges due to their names. Warren:  Lubbock Christian University in Texas and newly renamed Rochester Christian University in Michigan —Both schools are associated with Churches of Christ. Lubbock Christian University found itself in court defending the use of its LCU moniker against Louisiana Christian University, which adopted that name only two and a half years ago after more than a century as Louisiana College.  Natasha:  So what’s happening between the schools? Warren: A January 2023 letter to the Louisiana school stated, “Lubbock Christian University will again request an amicable discussion between our institution[s] on this matter. But we are prepared to defend our right to our trademark if necessary.” As of January, the case had been transferred to a new judge and assigned to a magistrate for a report and recommendation.   While the parties await a ruling, both universities continue to use their LCU logos.   Natasha: