News

News Briefs: April 01, 2009

Ministry raided, Christian college penalized, seminary sues former officer, and other news in brief.

  • Angel Food Ministries was raided by the FBI and the IRS on February 11 in the wake of revelations that it paid more than $2 million and loaned more than $1 million to founders Joe and Linda Wingo and their family over a two-year period. Watchdogs said the financial moves were highly unusual but not illegal on their face. The Georgia nonprofit, which sells discounted groceries to more than 600,000 people per month via churches in 35 states, said the amounts were compensation for debts the family incurred when launching the ministry in 1994.
  • Dallas Theological Seminary on January 29 sued Rodney Bryant, its former chief financial officer, in an attempt to recover more than $165,000 embezzled by writing forged checks to two firms he controlled. Bryant, who worked at Dallas from 2000 to October 2008, denied wrongdoing.
  • The NCAA penalized Abilene Christian University in February and vacated 10 football victories from its 2007 season after the Texas college self-reported numerous ethics infractions in football and track since 2005. Other Texas colleges said such infractions, which included gifts given to athletes at a church Christmas party, are common mistakes because of the complexity of ncaa rules regarding gifts. The college said it was considering an appeal.
  • The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association announced layoffs of 10 percent of its workforce, or 55 employees, in February in an effort to streamline its evangelism efforts and expand them worldwide. Most of the cuts will come in non-evangelism related areas such as grounds keeping and food service.

Copyright © 2009 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere:

See Christianity Today‘s news section and liveblog for more news updates.

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

Cover Story

He Talked to Us on the Road

My Top Five Books on Marriage

Storming Young-Earth Creationism

News

Hunger by the Numbers

News

Hunger Has a Profile

Books Uncommon and Offbeat

News

Civil Religion's Sharper Teeth

News

Preventing Suicide

News

In the Valley of the Shadow of Suicide

The Giant Story

The Real Prosperity Gospel

News

The Controversialist

Excerpt

Serving a Two-Handed God

News

CDs on The List

Review

The Beauty of Fasting

Editorial

Self-Examination Time

Wonder-filled Travel

While You're There

Pilgrimage Today

Pilgrim's Regress

Praying 'Forgive Us Our Sins'

News

Death Tax Resurrected

Q & A: Tony Dungy

News

Go Figure

Readers Write

Doctrine Bears Repeating

News

Quotation Marks

News

Worship Behind the Razor Wire

News

A Mending in Moscow?

News

Passages

News

Shari'ah Spreads

News

Tiptoeing through TULIP

Taking Heat

Blogging the Bible

News

Darwin Divides

View issue

Our Latest

News

Harvest Christian Fellowship Accused of Negligence in Romania

Church responds to lawsuits claiming abuse in orphanages it supported: “The target here should be the alleged perpetrator, not our church.”

News

A Christian Pleads for Her Brother’s Life on Singapore’s Death Row

Convicted on drug trafficking charges, Malaysian Pannir Selvam Pranthaman was baptized in prison.

News

Oldest Missionary Hospital in Kenya Forced to Close Its Gates

How a new state-funded health insurance program’s piling debts put Christian hospitals—and patients—at risk.

Why Charlie Kirk Landed with Young Men Like Me

He didn’t hedge or soften his positions to broaden appeal; he underlined them.

What Has Publishing to Do with the Church?

Christian publishing, done well, gives pastors a partner in the long work of spiritual formation.

Public Theology Project

When Violence Is the Vibe

In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death, if we bite and devour each other, we will be consumed by each other.

The Russell Moore Show

Books about Digital Resistance with Ashley Hales: Wendell Berry, Jan Karon, Jon Haidt, David Zahl, and More

Another quarterly conversation on books with Christianity Today’s Print Editor, Ashley Hales, on the subject of resisting the digital era

How Indian Christian Families are Tackling Gen Z Loneliness

Couples involved in student ministries are welcoming young people into their homes and lives.

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube