MinistryWatch Podcast

Christian ministries and other non-profit organizations have played a huge, positive role in American culture. If you don’t believe me, just read Benjamin Franklin, Alexis de Tocqueville, Robert Bellah, Rodney Stark, Arthur Brooks…the list goes on. Because of the positive influence in our culture, our laws encourage their work. They are not required to pay taxes on revenue, and donors to them get tax advantages as well. In exchange for these advantages, we ask only a couple of things: First, that they actually do the good work they promise to do, and – secondly – that they disclose enough details about their work so that the donor public can confirm that. That disclosure is a Form 990, which all tax-exempt bodies except churches must file with the federal government. However, churches are exempt from that requirement. That exemption makes some sense, since most churches are small and all of the donors to a local church were members of the church. Today, however, we live in an era of mega churches that are often the center of an ecosystem of related entities – both profit and non-profit. We also have religious advocacy groups that are claiming to be churches even though they don’t have regular services, don’t ordain clergy, don’t marry or bury their members, don’t do anything that we think of as the normal activity of a church. This state of affairs have led some – including those of us here at MinistryWatch – to believe that we need a new regimen of regulations and laws that update those written in another era. Sharing some of these views is Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a professor of law at the University of Notre Dame. He and his coauthor Ellen Aprill have written a new paper outlining changes that need to happen to fix – or at least to bring a bit more up to date – the current situation. Links to articles mentioned in today’s program. https://ministrywatch.com/law-professor-advocates-changing-irs-definition-of-church-association-of-churches/ https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4346286 https://theconversation.com/how-the-us-government-can-stop-churches-from-getting-treated-like-real-churches-by-the-irs-237922 That brings to a close my interview with Dr. Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a professor of law at the University of Notre Dame. We’ll have links to the articles we discussed today in the show notes for today’s program. The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. I’m your host Warren Smith. Until next time, may God bless you.

On today’s program, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association threatens to sue after the group Evangelicals for Harris uses video of Billy Graham to make an anti-Trump ad. We’ll have details. Plus, a storm is brewing within the Evangelical Presbyterian Church—some are asking if the denomination will stay true to its mission. And, the leaders of Kanakuk Kamps are the defendants in a sexual abuse-related lawsuit. They tried to get parts of that lawsuit dismissed—and the court has handed down its decision. We’ll take a look. But first, a class action lawsuit has been filed against Gateway Church and its former pastor Robert Morris. Gateway Church, headquartered in the Dallas suburb of Southlake, has been facing a multitude of allegations and controversies after Cindy Clemishire’s sexual abuse allegations against founding pastor Robert Morris led to his resignation. Now, a class action lawsuit has been filed against the church in federal court by members who are concerned about the stewardship of the money they contributed. 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 Kim Roberts, Kathryn Post, Marci Seither, Mallory Challis, Brittany Smith and Christina Darnell. A special thanks to Generous Giving and Baptist News Global for contributing material for this week’s podcast. Until next time, may God bless you.   MANUSCRIPT   FIRST SEGMENT Warren: Hello everybody. I’m Warren Smith, coming to you from Charlotte, North Carolina. Natasha: And I’m Natasha Cowden, coming to you from Denver, Colorado. And we’d like to welcome you to the MinistryWatch podcast. Warren: On today’s program, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association threatens to sue after the group Evangelicals for Harris uses video of Billy Graham to make an anti-Trump ad. We’ll have details. Plus, a storm is brewing within the Evangelical Presbyterian Church—some are asking if the denomination will stay true to its mission. And, the leaders of Kanakuk Kamps are the defendants in a sexual abuse-related lawsuit. They tried to get parts of that lawsuit dismissed—and the court has handed down its decision. We’ll take a look. Natasha: But first, a class action lawsuit has been filed against Gateway Church and its former pastor Robert Morris. Warren: Gateway Church, headquartered in the Dallas suburb of Southlake, has been facing a multitude of allegations and controversies after Cindy Clemishire’s sexual abuse allegations against founding pastor Robert Morris led to his resignation. Natasha: Now, a class action lawsuit has been filed against the church in federal court by members who are concerned about the stewardship of the money they contributed. Warren: The lawsuit alleges that Morris and Gateway’s leadership represented that “15% of all tithe dollars would be distributed to global missions and Jewish ministry partners, encouraging church members to generously give toward these ends.” The lawsuit states, Morris claimed in 2023 that Gateway had sent more than $25 million overseas. The plaintiffs believe that was a misrepresentation, and they are seeking transparency about how the money was used. In 2021, MinistryWatch reported about the network of ministries associated with Gateway Church—there was little financial and organizational transparency made available to the public. A former executive pastor never witnessed more than $3 million annually in global missions contributions. Natasha: The plaintiffs claim that “Gateway refused to be transparent when trying to answer even simple questions about the use of tithing dollars.” Warren: Lead plaintiff Katherine Leach “has publicly and directly delivered a demand letter to Gateway for the return of her tithes pursuant to Gateway’s ‘money back guarantee.’ Gateway has not responded.”

Darren Dochuk’s book Anointed With Oil: How Christianity and Crude Made Modern America has been out a couple of years. But I must confess that I discovered it only recently, and it has changed my perspective about a lot things I thought I knew about modern American Evangelicalism. As you will hear, he outlines how modern Protestantism split in the early 20th century into liberal and conservative factions. The liberal stream was made up mostly of the mainline protestant churches, and the conservative stream became what we know today is evangelicalism. However, what Dockuk adds to this conversation is an analysis of how both streams got funded -- by oil millionaires such as John D. Rockefeller on the left and J. Howard Pew and the Hunt Brothers on the right. He has caused me to believe that without these men and a very few others who funded their religious impulses, modern American religious life would look very different than it does today. Darren Dochuk is a professor of history at the University of Notre Dame, and his previous works include From Bible Belt to Sunbelt, a history of the rise of evangelical conservatism. That book won the John H. Dunning Prize from the American Historical Association. Darren Dochuk spoke to me from his office in South Bend, Indiana. I hope you’ll join me again on Friday when I’m joined by Natasha Cowden for our discussion of the week’s news. The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. Until next time, may God bless you!

On today’s program,, Christian ministries are on the forefront of relief efforts as cities in Western North Carolina grapple with loss after Hurricane Helene. We’ll take a look. And, a Georgia congregation locked out of their own building after splitting from its parent church. We’ll have details. Plus, the missions organization Ethnos 360 faces a lawsuit after a victim alleges that another missionary child abused her…and the ministry is continuing to allow the perpetrator access to other children. But first, the United Kingdom has launched an investigation into Barnabas Aid. 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 Kim Roberts, Bob Smietana, Tony Mator, Brittany Smith—and you, Warren. Until next time, may God bless you.   MANUSCRIPT   FIRST SEGMENT Warren: Hello everybody. I’m Warren Smith, coming to you from Charlotte, North Carolina. Christina: And I’m Christina Darnell, in for Natasha Cowden, also coming to you from Charlotte, North Carolina. And we’d like to welcome you to the MinistryWatch podcast. Warren: On today’s program, Christian ministries are on the forefront of relief efforts as cities in Western North Carolina grapple with loss after Hurricane Helene. We’ll take a look. And, a Georgia congregation locked out of their own building after splitting from its parent church. We’ll have details. Plus, the missions organization Ethnos360 faces a lawsuit after a victim alleges that another missionary child abused her…and the ministry is continuing to allow the perpetrator access to other children. Christina: But first, the United Kingdom has launched an investigation into Barnabas Aid. Warren: Barnabas Aid — also known as Barnabas Fund, which aids persecuted Christians — is being investigated by the Charity Commission in the United Kingdom. On Sept. 17, the commission opened a statutory inquiry into the ministry based on allegations of a “£15m ($20 million) hole in the finances of its global network,” Christina: Additionally, Barnabas Aid is almost three months late in filing its latest financial accounts, according to the Charity Commission’s website. Warren: In August, Patrick Sookdheo, founder of Barnabas Aid, was suspended from his role in the organization due to concerns about financial mismanagement and a toxic work culture. Noel Frost served as chief executive of the international organization, according to the Church Times. He also was removed from his position earlier this year due to allegations of misconduct and financial impropriety. A Barnabas spokesperson told The Telegraph the investigation is ongoing, and “if it reveals that there has been any financial wrongdoing, then we are committed to recovering it.” Christina: Barnabas Aid has offices in several countries, including the United States, and also has an international office called Nexcus International. Warren: Nexcus was previously called Christian Relief International (CRI), but the name was changed to enable Barnabas Aid to “provide aid to countries where Christianity is prohibited,” according to Barnabas Aid USA CEO Jeremy Frith. A letter dated August 14 by self-described interim international chief executive of Nexcus, Colin Bloom, said an independent investigation has found “serious and repeated contraventions of internal policies” and had brought “evidence of serious financial impropriety” to light. According to the Barnabas Aid website, Nexcus (formerly CRI) serves as the international office for all Barnabas Aid ministries worldwide. Nexcus is registered in the US, but has an office in the UK. Christina: Our next story hits close to home for us, Warren. In North Carolina, our neighbors to the west of Charlotte are dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene,

The Network is a group of churches started by Steve Morgan, a pastor who began his career as part of the Vineyard USA association of churches, but left that group to start his network of churches in 2006. Until recently, the network had 26 member churches. Morgan is the lead pastor of Joshua Church in Austin, Texas. But in the past few months, families and even some churches have been speaking out about the practices of Morgan and The Network. Today, we talk with reporter Kim Roberts, who has been covering The Network for MinistryWatch. Below is a transcript of that conversation. Warren Your story begins with a woman named Melanie and her estrangement from her daughter that she believes is because of The Network. Before we talk more about Melanie, I want to mention that we use only her first name in today’s story. It is generally the practice of MinistryWatch to only use named sources. In this instance, because Melanie is trying to strike a balance between warning others and maintaining the possibility of reconciliation with her daughter, we agreed to only use her first name. So, with that said, what can you tell me about Melanie’s story? Kim Melanie raised her children in a Christian home. So she was happy her daughter was getting involved in church while at college. But then she noticed their conversations change. Her daughter started to seem disconnected. Warren Then she really became disconnected. Kim She did. Melanie said that she hasn’t heard her daughter’s voice in two years. Her eldest daughter cut off contact with her on November 29, 2022, after Melanie expressed concerns about her daughter’s church and its practices. She sent her daughter a link to a website with stories of heartbreak from people affiliated with The Network. Warren Her daughter had joined Foundation Church, a Network church led by Justin Major, while she was a junior at Illinois State University. Kim That’s right, and this was not the first time she had disconnected from the family. Not long after her 21stbirthday in 2017, Melanie’s daughter announced she would be getting married to a young man she had just met. They were married within 10 days of meeting. Six months later, Melanie received a text that her daughter and new son-in-law would need time to themselves and would have no contact with Melanie and her family for a year. Warren Melanie and her husband agreed to respect their daughter’s wishes and after about a year, they got together and things started to improve, Melanie said. What happened next? Kim In January 2020, Melanie helped after the arrival of her first grandbaby. While she loved spending time with her daughter and her family, Melanie was soon told not to send any text messages to her daughter without including her son-in-law also. When she was in the area, Melanie asked to have lunch with her daughter but that was “not allowed.” Warren Despite the continued inexplicable boundaries and family strain, Melanie again helped when the second grandbaby arrived in May 2022. During the visit, Melanie said the two had good conversations, and she was optimistic that healing was occurring. Kim Then in October 2022, when Melanie was on her way to visit her father for his birthday, she offered to drop by so her eldest grandchild could sign the card to his great-grandfather. Her daughter’s response was “upsetting” and “bizarre.” “I respectfully decline your request,” her daughter wrote in a text response, claiming the child didn’t know Melanie’s father. Her daughter didn’t join the family Thanksgiving celebration that year and a few days later, Melanie shared her concerns about The Network of churches to which her daughter’s church belonged. Warren That was in 2022. And that’s her texts were blocked and communication ceased. And in your story, Kim, you wrote something really interesting. Quoting Melanie, you wrote: “I feel like if you have a close family, they will try to put a wedge there.

On today’s program, longtime pastor Steve Lawson was removed as pastor of Trinity Bible Church in Dallas over an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with a woman...now, ministries are dropping the author and teaching fellow as ripples of his affair spread. We’ll take a look. And, devastated families share stories of being cut off by adult children involved in The Network—an association of churches started by Steve Morgan. We’ll have details. Plus, two prominent pastors announce their plans for retirement. But first, Fuller Seminary Professor Vince Bantu is being accused of a secret second marriage. Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, the denominational seminary for the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), acknowledged that former professor Vince Bantu engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a student during his tenure there. 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 Kim Roberts, Jessica Eturralde, Tony Mator, Mallory Challis, G. Jeffrey MacDonald, Daniel Ritchie, Marci Seither, Aaron Earls, Brittany Smith, and Christina Darnell. A special thanks to Baptist News Global for contributing material for this week’s podcast. Until next time, may God bless you.   MANUSCRIPT   FIRST SEGMENT Warren: Hello everybody. I’m Warren Smith, coming to you from Charlotte, North Carolina. Natasha: And I’m Natasha Cowden, coming to you from Denver, Colorado. And we’d like to welcome you to the MinistryWatch podcast. Warren: On today’s program, longtime pastor Steve Lawson was removed as pastor of Trinity Bible Church in Dallas over an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with a woman...now, ministries are dropping the author and teaching fellow as ripples of his affair spread. We’ll take a look. And, devastated families share stories of being cut off by adult children involved in The Network—an association of churches started by Steve Morgan. We’ll have details. Plus, two prominent pastors announce their plans for retirement. Natasha: But first, Fuller Seminary Professor Vince Bantu is being accused of a secret second marriage. Warren: Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, the denominational seminary for the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), acknowledged that former professor Vince Bantu engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a student during his tenure there. The incident arose because of an investigative article published in Christianity Today about Bantu’s alleged secret marriage. Covenant said after the student filed a Title IX complaint against Bantu, the seminary confronted him, he confessed to the relationship, and he resigned from his position in 2018. Natasha: But he didn’t stop teaching. Warren: That’s right, Bantu joined the faculty of Fuller Seminary in 2019 as an associate professor of church history and black church studies. Covenant said they were contacted by Fuller about the reason for his departure and they “shared with Fuller Seminary all the details of what had happened in 2018. Natasha: He doesn’t just teach at Fuller, he’s also a pastor. Warren: Bantu left his co-pastoring position at Outpour Community Church shortly after the Covenant complaint, and founded a new church, Beloved Community Church. He also began meeting with two other pastors as part of an accountability group. Those pastors, Darren Young and Thurman Williams, met with Bantu regularly to provide moral support and mutual discipleship. Young and Williams told CT about Bantu’s alleged secret marriage to a second wife based on conversations with him during accountability meetings. They said he argued that one way for him to avoid sexual temptation was to marry multiple women. Natasha: Is Fuller doing anything about these allegations? Warren: General Counsel Lance Griffin said in a statement.

“Protect Children. Support Survivors. Protest Pete Newman’s Parole!” are the opening lines readers will see when they click on the new website, protestpetesparole.com. As the September 25 parole hearing for serial child sexual abuser Peter Newman quickly approaches, survivors and advocates continue to call for support in urging the Missouri Department of Corrections Board and Parole to deny his possible release. Previously, survivors and advocates have urged concerned citizens to write letters to the parole board expressing their grievances regarding Newman’s crimes. This new website reminds viewers of these instructions. It also offers viewers a way to fill out an online form to submit their letters directly to the parole board. The form includes the option to submit an editable pre-loaded statement or follow a template to craft your own. In addition to letter-writing, the website also links to a petitionagainst Newman’s parole, which will be “submitted to the Missouri Parole Board as part of Newman’s hearing.” Despite being sentenced to two life terms plus 30 years — a total of 90 years, with 30 counting for each life sentence — Newman is eligible for parole after serving just 15. This is the minimum portion of his sentence that must be completed, according to RSMo 217.690 which mandates that offenders serving multiple sentences totaling 45 or more years must complete at least 50% of one sentence before parole eligibility. After a hearing, the parole board typically takes eight to 12 weeks to come to a decision. If Newman’s parole is denied, he will be eligible for a reconsideration hearing every one to five years until a release date is established. The new website reminds viewers that all evidence from the Sept. 25 hearing can be used in future hearings, including contributions to the petition as supporters continue to sign. Access to MinistryWatch content is free.  However, we hope you will support our work with your prayers and financial gifts. To make a donation, click here. In the event Newman were to be granted parole, he would go to an offender treatment program for “approximately 12 months of therapy and a Sex Offender Assessment Process,” designed to help offenders reintegrate into regular society and prevent recidivism, the website explains. However, survivors and advocates note concerns regarding his ability to avoid returning to abuse. According to Elizabeth Carlock Phillips’ statement, while the prosecution estimates Newman’s victim count to be in the hundreds, “clinical experts estimate (the count) to be between 2,000 and 5,000 due to the patterns of his perpetration, (his) amount of unfettered access and time with children year-round and the victim count known at sentencing.” She argues the impact of his crimes is far deeper than a simple felony charge, calling him a “murderer” who “butchered the souls of boys with his deceit and abuse, some even to their graves.” Phillips’ submitted her statement on behalf of her late brother, Trey Carlock, who died by suicide due to the traumatic effects of his abuse by Newman. She says Trey was “silenced to his grave” by Newman’s abuse compounded by further civil litigations, which included a Non-Disclosure Agreement. This article was originally published by Baptist News Global. It is reprinted with permission.

Giving is down among evangelical Christians, according to a new study by Infinity Concepts and Grey Matter Research. The study—called The Giving Gap: Changes in Evangelical Generosity— found that 61% of evangelicals say they gave to their church in the last 12 months. That is down 13 percentage points from 2021 when 74% reported giving to their local congregation. On today’s podcast, we unpack the results of that survey with one of its authors, Mark Driestadt. He’s the president of Infinity Concepts and someone I’ve come to know and respect over the past few years as one of the “wise men” in ministry fundraising, marketing and communications. Here’s our conversation, which we had via zoom last week. The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. I’m Warren Smith. Until next time, may God bless you.

On today’s program, the former president of Bible Society of India has been arrested for financial corruption related to his position at another ministry…raising questions about how he handled finances at the Bible Society. We’ll take a look. And, an Illinois pastor has made it his mission to provide his community access to healthy food…by setting up a low-cost grocery store in a food desert. Also, Alistair Begg announces his 20-25 retirement. But first, Morningstar Fellowship Church in South Carolina is facing two more lawsuits that are alleging sexual abuse. Two more lawsuits have been filed against MorningStar Fellowship Church in Fort Mill, S.C., and its leaders for not reporting sexual abuse allegations to law enforcement. 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 Kim Roberts, Jessica Eturralde, Bethany Starin, Tony Mator, Aaron Earls, Brittany Smith, Christina Darnell—and you, Warren. A special thanks to Lifeway Research for contributing material for this week’s podcast. Until next time, may God bless you.   MANUSCRIPT   FIRST SEGMENT Warren: Hello everybody. I’m Warren Smith, coming to you from Charlotte, North Carolina. Natasha: And I’m Natasha Cowden, coming to you from Denver, Colorado. And we’d like to welcome you to the MinistryWatch podcast. Warren: On today’s program, the former president of Bible Society of India has been arrested for financial corruption related to his position at another ministry…raising questions about how he handled finances at the Bible Society. We’ll take a look. And, an Illinois pastor has made it his mission to provide his community access to healthy food…by setting up a low-cost grocery store in a food desert. Also, Alistair Begg announces his 20-25 retirement. Natasha: But first, Morningstar Fellowship Church in South Carolina is facing two more lawsuits that are alleging sexual abuse. Warren: Two more lawsuits have been filed against MorningStar Fellowship Church in Fort Mill, S.C., and its leaders for not reporting sexual abuse allegations to law enforcement. A previous lawsuit was filed on August 7 against MorningStar and its leaders alleging that Erickson Lee used his access to children through the church’s “Young Special Forces” program to groom and eventually abuse children in the church. Lee was arrested in May on charges of criminal sexual conduct with a minor and on September 5 entered into an offered plea deal to serve nine years in prison, according to Randy Hood, attorney for the plaintiffs. Natasha: What are these new lawsuits? Warren: Two more alleged victims have come forward to seek accountability for their abuse from Morningstar Fellowship Church and its leaders. All of the lawsuits have been filed anonymously by John Doe #1, John Doe #2, and John Doe #3 who are now over age 18, but were 13 years old when the alleged abuse began. Leaders named in the lawsuit include Rick Joyner, David Yarns, and Erickson Lee’s father, Douglas Lee, who was the former head of security for the church. “This is about accountability and responsibility,” Hood said. “Churches have to create policies and procedures to protect children. They need to monitor and supervise people who are over children.” Natasha: Because of previous allegations of sexual assault at MorningStar in the early 2000s, the lawsuits claim that Joyner, Yarns, and Lee knew of the risks and had a duty and opportunity to protect vulnerable children from being exploited and abused while participating in the youth programs at MorningStar. Warren: Instead, the lawsuit asserts, the leadership ignored “signs of provision of alcohol and pornography to minors and signs of sexual exploitation or abuse of minors by church staff, members, or volunteers.”

The Supreme Court of Texas heard oral arguments this week related to the potentially precedent-setting case of plaintiff Jane Roe suing Southwestern Baptist Seminary and its former President Paige Patterson for defamation related to a sexual assault she reportedly suffered in 2015. Roe claims Paige Patterson provided false and defamatory information about her in an attempt to “defend [his] reputation” that were then produced in three separate publications. The case was filed in federal district court, but on appeal the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit certified two questions about Texas state law for the state’s highest civil appellate court to answer. The questions facing the Texas Supreme Court are: Can a person who supplies defamatory material for publication be liable for defamation? If so, can a defamation plaintiff survive summary judgment by presenting evidence that a defendant was involved in preparing a defamatory publication, without identifying any specific statements made by the defendant? Roe was a student at Southwestern in 2015 when she claims to have reported an attack and rape on campus to then-President Paige Patterson. Issues about how Patterson’s comments about women and his handling of sexual assault charges eventually led to his termination as the seminary president, the court documents describe. The claims of defamation arose out of a series of three publications — the “Untold Truth” article, a “Release of Facts” by Patterson’s attorney Shelby Sharpe, and a donor letter supporting Patterson’s reinstatement — that were designed to “control the narrative and defend Patterson’s reputation.” Allegedly, Patterson provided defamatory information about Roe that was included in the publications. Roe says that statements claiming she lied about her rape, engaged in sexual activities in seminary buildings, and provided nude photos to the man who raped her are all false and defamatory. The federal district court granted summary judgment to the defendants on the defamation claims. The Fifth Circuit accepted the case for review on appeal and posed the questions about state law to the Texas Supreme Court. During the oral arguments, the plaintiff’s attorney argued for an affirmative answer to the first question concerning the liability of one supplying defamatory material for publication. Attorney Sheila Haddock said the question answers itself — that supplying or communicating defamatory material is equivalent to publishing it. She went on to explain, in answer to a justice’s question, that a person is also liable for defamation if they could reasonably expect that his or her statements would be repeated or published. Some of the justices pushed back on that argument, seeking to determine the limits of what would be reasonably foreseeable. Access to MinistryWatch content is free.  However, we hope you will support our work with your prayers and financial gifts. To make a donation, click here. The plaintiff also argued that they need not provide a “specific statement” made by the defendant, such as a word-for-word quotation or tape recording, but could provide evidence identifying the “substance and meaning” of the defamatory statement by the defendant. In response to the reasonable foreseeability issue raised by the plaintiff, the defendant’s attorney Travis Jones argued that a person should only be liable for defamation if he is involved with or exercises some control over the publication of the defamatory material. He argued that even financially contributing to the publication of defamatory material might not be enough to make a person liable. Jones also argued that the court should balance free speech concerns with the reputational impact of defamation upon the plaintiff. He encouraged the court to adopt a standard that the person being held liable must intend, authorize, or know the republication of the defamatory material would occur.