Should a charitable organization be required by law to make available to the public an audited financial statement showing how much donated income actually goes to the work or causes espoused by the organization?

No, according to an overwhelming majority of the representatives of thirty-one evangelical organizations who met in Chicago one afternoon last month to discuss issues related to that question.

The group was convened informally as an ad hoc body by Stan Mooneyham, president of World Vision International, and George Wilson, executive vice president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Included were leaders from major mission agencies, youth and campus ministries, relief organizations, religious broadcasting companies, and other parachurch groups.

The meeting was prompted by pending congressional legislation aimed at applying consumer protection concepts to charitable fund-raising activities. Several proposals were circulating in Congress at the time, reflecting the wide public concern about the scandalous fund-raising practices of some religious groups (see December 9, 1977, issue, page 60). The most-talked-about proposal was the one labeled H.R. 41, which contained a number of awkward—and probably unworkable—provisions (see November 4, 1977, issue, page 15), and it was temporarily shelved weeks before the Chicago meeting took place. (Committee action on it is expected sometime this year.)

Some evangelicals on Capitol Hill had expressed hope that out of the Mooney-ham-Wilson conference would come suitable guidelines and other valuable input for those working on legislative proposals. Instead, the conferees in a statement had these words for the government: 1. The proposed legislation is “unnecessary” and “probably represents bureaucratic overkill in dealing with a relatively minor problem.” 2. Measures like H.R. 41 “would place an intolerable and costly administrative burden on the agencies without necessarily providing the public what it needs to know in order to give wisely and safely.” 3. “No overwhelming need has been demonstrated for further government intervention in religious giving, which is essentially an act of worship.”

In their statement, the evangelical leaders reaffirmed their commitment to “high standards of ethics and financial accountability.” They reported that they had discussed “ways by which we can help guard the giving public from those few fraudulent or poorly run charities and provide the public with some responsible way for determining the good from the bad.” To that end they went on record endorsing and encouraging “voluntary public disclosure of finances by evangelical Christian organizations,” and they created a committee to establish uniform standards for financial disclosure of such organizations. They also directed the committee to do a feasibility study on implementing the uniform standards through one or more certifying bodies. Such a certifying body would be a sort of evangelical version of the Better Business Bureau.

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Mooneyham and Wilson met with reporters after the meeting and fielded a number of questions. Both repeated their opposition to the enactment of any federal legislation. Even a simple measure requiring that an organization make available an annual audited financial statement would be bad, said Mooneyham, implying that it would only open the way for further government intrusion into church affairs. Both men also said they believe that enough laws already exist to control charity rip-off operators, a view disputed by some other evangelical leaders and authorities, along with journalists who have studied the charity scene. (Journalists, not law-enforcement officers, uncovered the Boys Town and Pallottine situations, and Maryland enacted new legislation in order to deal with the kind of abuses found in the Pallottine case. Most states still do not have such laws.)

It is generally acknowledged on Capitol Hill that strong opposition from religious groups—especially Roman Catholics and evangelicals—prevented passage in 1977 of federal legislation requiring financial disclosure by charitable organizations. There will be further attempts to pass something this year. Some observers predict that religious organizations will be exempted from whatever emerges from committee. If so, the bill would cover little more than half of fundraising in America.

The Year That Was

From the inauguration of President Jimmy Carter—a self-avowed “born-again” Christian—to the exchange of visits between Egyptian and Israeli leaders whose agenda included prayer in their respective houses of worship, the year 1977 abounded in major religion stories.

There was wide agreement among religion reporters on the year’s most important stories: the Middle East peace initiatives by Anwar Sadat and Menahem Begin, the schism in the Episcopal Church (prompted mostly by denominational approval of ordination of women to the priesthood), and the struggles in religious circles over homosexuality.

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Several organizations issued lists ranking the year’s top ten stories. Religious News Service (RNS), a New York-based agency that services hundreds of secular and religious publications, ranked the stories this way:

The Psychis: Another Bad Year

America’s “supermarket psychics” racked up another poor batting average in 1977. A report published by Religious News Service listed some of the sensational predictions that screamed from the headlines of the mass-marketed National Enquirer and National Star tabloids last January:

• Pope Paul will negotiate a peace settlement in Northern Ireland.

• Cures will be discovered for diabetes, leukemia, and multiple sclerosis.

• Archeologists in Egypt will find a spaceship that crashed in ancient times, and the U.S. Air Force will capture some aliens from outer space.

• Barbara Walters will quit her TV career; Grace Kelly will quit her marriage, return to movies, and win an Oscar; Ethel Kennedy will marry Andy Williams.

• A U.S. politician will be cured miraculously of cancer at Lourdes.

• A rush-hour commuter train will collide with a chemical-laden freight train and hundreds will be killed in America’s worst rail disaster.

• Geologists will discover the world’s greatest oil reserves under the Great Lakes.

Despite the poor showings, however, the fortune-tellers are back as big and as unembarrassed as ever this year, thanks to the supermarket publishers and their memory-short readers.

1. The Middle East peace talks; 2. The Episcopal schism; 3. The homosexual issue; 4. The charismatic conference in Kansas City that brought together nearly 40,000 Protestants and Catholics; 5. Issues and events involving human rights; 6. Federal funding of abortions; 7. (A tie.) The National Women’s Conference in Houston, and the continued defiance of Pope Paul by French archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, a world leader of the Catholic traditionalist movement; 8. The persecution of churches and civil rights movements in several African countries (Uganda, South Africa, Rhodesia, and Ethiopia); 9. (A tie.) Churches and court cases (music copyright infringement, unionization, issues involving grand jury testimony), and ecumenical advances in Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox circles.

A poll of the Religion Newswriters Association (RNA), a 100-member organization composed mostly of full-time reporters who cover religion for the secular press, produced this list: 1. The Episcopal schism; 2. The homosexual issue; 3. The continuing boom of the evangelical born-again movement; 4. The continuing controversies involving religious sects (the Unification Church and Scientology) and deprogramming; 5. The Lefebvre controversy; 6. The spread of the charismatic movement (the Kansas City conference) and controversy connected with it (shepherding); 7. The controversy in Catholic circles over a new book on human sexuality written by a team of Catholic theologians; 8. The decision by numerous church groups to confront the television industry on the issue of programming; 9. The loosening of Catholic views toward divorce and remarriage; 10. The controversy growing out of Catholic bishop Carroll Dozier’s absolution (remission of sins) of thousands of divorced and remarried Catholics in Tennessee so that they could partake of communion.

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The RNA reporters apparently omitted the Sadat-Begin talks because they considered it a political story, not a religious one, according to RNA pollster Louis Moore of the Houston Chronicle.

The editors of Christian Century compiled a list that included the top RNS and RNA selections, but they also gave top-ten ranking to persecution of churchmen in El Salvador, the big-money aspects of evangelical movements and a push by the public for full financial disclosure on the part of parachurch organizations, and the increasing evangelical involvement in public-policy debates (the Middle East, abortion, and the like).

Although they have not taken any polls among themselves, many evangelical communicators probably would include in their top-ten ratings the ever-increasing response to the Gospel around the world and the remarkable upswing in evangelical church growth overseas, and they probably would also list evangelist Billy Graham’s entrée to preach in Eastern Europe—a breakthrough of vast significance.

United Presbyterian news personnel reported that the still-unresolved issue of whether the church should approve the ordination of avowed homosexuals was the number-one news story in their denomination. United Methodists also listed sexuality as an important story in their church. Other major Methodist stories: the severe financial difficulties that have beset a number of church-related retirement homes and colleges, the continued losses in membership, the gap between the person in the pew and church leaders, and a crisis in funding programs.

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Americans United for Separation of Church and State made its selection of the most significant church-state news story of the year: the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June that states cannot constitutionally aid parochial schools with field trip transportation or loans of instructional equipment and materials, with the provision that certain diagnostic and therapeutic services can be provided to individual parochial students.

For those covering the religion beat, it was indeed an interesting year, but they cannot reflect on it for long. Many of the big stories have already spilled over into 1978.

Peace Quest

Centuries after the first Christmas proclamation of “peace on earth,” people in the Middle East were again shouting “peace on earth” this past Christmas day. Their appeals for goodwill between the descendents of Isaac and Ishmael claimed front-page attention in nearly all the world’s newspapers as Premier Menahem Begin of Israel visited President Anwar Sadat of Egypt. The Orthodox Jew and the devout Muslim met with the good wishes and prayers of many Christians, Jews, and Muslims.

The Sadat-Begin conference was their second. The Egyptian leader had flown to Israel in November amid much criticism from some hard-line Arab leaders. Begin was anxious to make a reciprocal call as soon as possible, and December 25 seemed to be the best available early date. The Israeli chief apologized to Christians that the meeting was held on Christmas but explained that it was impossible to schedule it any other time. The fact that it was Sadat’s birthday seemed to underscore all the more that the principals were determined to talk peace between nations still officially at war.

“We thank God that we have got the momentum going so quickly,” Sadat announced after his first round of talks with Begin at Ismailia on the west bank of the Suez Canal. He praised his guest for coming to see him there, “not far from the place where Moses crossed into the Sinai.” The two men “met as friends,” said Newsweek. They brought to their meeting many similarities. Both had chafed under British colonialism in their respective areas, and Sadat spent time in a British jail. Begin, as an underground leader, had a price on his head but he escaped arrest. Both are unapologetic about practicing their respective religions. Both are dogged by extremists who do not want peace with the other side, but each believes that a majority in his nation is tired of their wars.

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Sadat’s unprecedented journey to Jerusalem (where he prayed at the Al Aksa mosque, one of the holiest places of Islam) began a series of diplomatic encounters that he hopes will lead to a Geneva conference and a Middle East peace treaty. Support from the outside world came slowly at first. Some nations preferred a full-scale Geneva meeting including representatives of the Palestinians and all the nations of the area. After the exchanges began, however, President Carter and U.S. diplomats were given credit for some of the communication which was established between Israel and Egypt. Christian groups in both countries watched the proceedings with keen interest and convened prayer meetings to intercede for peace and justice in the region.

Among the well-wishers outside the Middle East was Pope Paul, who sent a Vatican diplomat to observe the Cairo talks between representatives of Israel and Egypt. He expressed hope that any settlement would include provisions for access to the “holy places” and safeguards for the human rights of all parties.

Pastors in Crisis

A minister is much more likely to have marital problems than difficulties with his congregation, and a pastor’s wife is much more likely to find marital aggravations than is a pastor.

That is the overall conclusion of a study conducted by a behavioral research team for the 2.5-million-member American Lutheran Church. The findings, contained in a 225-page report, “Pastors in Crisis,” are based on a study of 270 church professionals who were counseled over a twelve-year span at a Lutheran hospital in suburban Chicago. Most of those surveyed were clergy, but the group also included seminarians and lay staff, plus a number of wives.

Among the findings:

• Serious marital conflict, often with divorce as a potential way out, was cited by 25 per cent of the clergy as their major problem and by 45 per cent of the spouses.

• Sexual difficulties, such as extramarital affairs and homosexuality, were present in 15 per cent of the cases.

• Thirteen per cent listed conflict with the congregation as their main problem, and a similar number pointed to “ineffective functioning”—a sort of ministerial paralysis because of anxiety or depression.

• Only 3 per cent considered difficulties with other pastors or staff their main concern.

Pilgrim’s Progress

Larry Flynt last month took another step in his new Christian journey and announced his resignation as publisher of Hustler, the slick pornographic monthly. He appointed writer Paul Krassner, former publisher of The Realist, to take his place. Krassner said that he will move Hustler’s editorial office from Columbus, Ohio, to Los Angeles and that from now on the sexuality portrayed by the magazine “will be erotic rather than raunchy.”

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Also in December, Flynt took out a full-page ad in two dozen of the nation’s major Sunday newspapers at an estimated cost of $200,000. The ad contained a short message addressed to Senator Hubert Humphrey, who is suffering from terminal cancer. In the message, entitled “You Taught Us Not To Hide Our Feelings,” Flynt took note of Humphrey’s fights for civil rights, peace, and human dignity, then said: “I’m asking Americans to look inward, through prayer, to find the strength to join the battles you’ve been fighting all these years. What better time than Christmas for all of us to recommit ourselves to prayer. Because it is through prayer that we can find the answers to the problems you helped us understand.”

Flynt concluded the message by urging “everyone” to join him just before Christmas in a four-day “prayer vigil” for world peace, for an end to hunger, and for Humphrey.

Flynt, who has made millions from pornography and related interests, announced in November that he had become a follower of Christ, partly because of the ministry of Ruth Carter Stapleton, President Carter’s evangelist sister (see December 9, 1977, issue, page 50). This month another pornography publisher, Al Goldstein, will join Flynt in a visit to Mrs. Stapleton. Goldstein, an avowed atheist, expressed doubt that the evangelist could get very far with him. He told reporters: “I’m sure I will come back just as perverse as I am now, but I’m going to see what this magic, this religious thing, is all about.” He added that although at first he was a doubting Thomas, he now believes that Flynt’s religious fervor is genuine.

Celebration In Kabul

Afghanistan’s only Protestant church—the Community Christian Church in the capital city of Kabul—celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary on December 30.

The church gained international publicity in June, 1973, when the former Afghan government tore down the $320,000 edifice the congregation had built in 1970 (see July 6, 1973, issue, page 43). The government had seized the property earlier and ordered the founding pastor, J. Christie Wilson, a United Presbyterian missionary, to leave the Islamic country.Wilson currently is a professor of miss ions and evangelism at Gordon-Conwell Divinity Sc hool in Wenham. Massachusetts. The government contended that the land for the building had been acquired illegally, a charge church leaders disputed. Sources close to the scene at the time attributed the action to pressure from militant Muslims upset over the obvious visibility of the church in their midst (it had a 49-foot-high “A”-shaped roof). A month after the church building was razed, the Afghan army overthrew the government and set up a new one.

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The congregation presently worships on Fridays in what was once a private residence. Victor I. Alfsen, formerly pastor of a Presbyterian church in Minneapolis, is the current minister. The sixth day of the week is a Muslim holiday, and the U.S. embassy and other embassies have designated Thursday and Friday as their “weekend.” (Curiously, the Soviet embassy takes Sunday as a day off, a reflection perhaps of the embedded Orthodox Christian tradition in Soviet thinking.)

All 100 or so members of the Kabul church are from the diplomatic community. They have helped to sponsor outreach ministries to foreign transients, and they have provided educational and medical help to Afghans. Evangelistic contact with the Afghans, however, is kept on a low-key personal basis. Under a capital-offense statute, Afghanistan forbids its citizens to convert to Christianity.

At Christmas the congregation again staged its annual Christmas pageant: hundreds of spectators watched as real donkeys, sheep, and camels were led by costumed characters across the wall-enclosed lawn in front of the church house. Again the good news of the coming of Christ was announced. The occasion was a joyous one, but it all had to remain behind the wall—out of the sight and hearing of the Afghans.

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