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PUBLISHED SUNDAY APRIL 5, 1998
Copyright 1998 The Pensacola News Journal. All rights reserved
Ministers still far from goal of ECFA approval
Hill and Kilpatrick fail to open books for public scrutiny

By John W. Allman
News Journal staff writer

PENSACOLA -Brownsville Revival leaders who pledged to be open about their ministries' finances have failed to follow through on that promise - made after the News Journal's investigative series published in November.

At that time, Pastor John Kilpatrick and evangelist Steve Hill emphasized that they would be applying for membership in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. The ECFA is a watchdog organization dedicated to holding evangelists and charities to high standards in financial dealings. The ECFA requires that its members - who are accepted into the organization only after a close scrutiny - make full public disclosure of all finances and financial dealings.

The News Journal series in November reported that the revival claims about "open books" were not true. The revival leaders not only refused to provide full financial information, they said they felt they had no obligation to show the public how they spent the money donated to the revival and the ministries.

Little has changed.

In the last month, the News Journal made two written requests to Hill's and Kilpatrick's ministries to view documents, which under federal and state laws are public information and are supposed to be provided promptly upon request.

Neither Kilpatrick's Feast of Fire nor Hill's Together in the Harvest would release all the requested documents.

Bob Rogers, vice president of Hill's Together in the Harvest, said the ministry would not release anything before Hill gains membership in ECFA.

Kilpatrick's lawyer, Larry Morris, also said Kilpatrick would wait for ECFA membership before providing requested documents.

The ECFA, formed in 1979 by evangelist Billy Graham, is a nonprofit organization that accredits and monitors ministers, ministries and religious groups across the United States to ensure that all their financial dealings meet set standards of accountability. The ECFA, based in Herndon, Va., has about 880 members in the U.S. and nine in the Pensacola area. None of the ministries associated with the Brownsville Revival is in the ECFA.

Paul Nelson, president of the ECFA, said he was surprised that Hill and Kilpatrick have made public statements about planning to apply for membership.

"It puts us on the spot," Nelson said. "We don't like to be monitored blow by blow. It's more risk for the ministry than for us."

Nelson said the ECFA's stringent requirements can cause some applicants to back out of the process. The ECFA not only requires applicants to make full public disclosure of all financial transactions, it also requires an independent audit.

"An organization that is going to receive accreditation by the ECFA is pretty much going to have to bare its soul to us," Nelson said. "We're intrusive and not everybody wants to be intruded on to the extent we're going to do it."

For that reason, the ECFA rarely publicizes ongoing applications. Nelson compared it to two people who are discussing marriage.

The ECFA does not announce the engagement, but "we tell the world when we get married," he said.

Because of the News Journal's findings during its investigative series, Nelson said, Together in the Harvest and Feast of Fire may be examined more closely during the review process.

"In this case, where there have been allegations of private benefit, that's obviously going to cause us to pause and ask more penetrating questions," he said.

The ECFA requires that all members provide financial information to the public upon demand. Failure to comply can cause a member organization to be suspended until a violation is corrected or they can be asked to forfeit membership.

In most cases Nelson said member organizations comply with the standards - not because they have to, but because they want to.

"That makes sense for an organization of voluntary members," he said.

The News Journal in March sent two written requests to Together in the Harvest and Feast of Fire asking to see:

  • Federal tax returns for each year the two ministries have been incorporated;
  • A complete list of board members for each;
  • Copies of each ministry's financial audit.

Nonprofit corporations are required by federal law to release IRS returns upon request, and Nelson said that as ECFA hopefuls, both Feast of Fire and Together in the Harvest should be complying with public requests to view the tax returns and the names of their board members.

Feast of Fire Ministries did provide the corporation's IRS return for 1996 but declined to release other information.

Hill's ministry at first refused, then said it would provide the IRS information. On Thursday, Hill's lawyer, Stephen Coke, said tax returns for Together in the Harvest had been sent to the News Journal by certified mail. As of Saturday, the News Journal had not received it.

As of Saturday, neither ministry had gained ECFA membership.

The ECFA has not heard from Feast of Fire, Nelson said.

The ECFA staff is "in dialogue" with Hill's organization, Nelson said, and that dialogue would be the first step to starting the application process.

Nelson said that once an organization's application is completed and filed, it must clear three hurdles before it is accepted and accredited:

  1. ECFA staff members review the application.
  2. The Standards Committee evaluates the application. The committee may make an on-site visit and ask questions.
  3. The ECFA's 15-member board assesses the application and then votes.

Most organizations that are serious about membership with the ECFA are accepted, Nelson said, because they make sure to meet the standards and requirements. But while many want the ECFA seal of approval, few submit to the application process after they see the stringent standards.

The nine organizations in the Pensacola area are in the ECFA:

    • Globe Missionary Evangelism
    • Waterfront Rescue Mission
    • Arise and Shine Evangelistic Association
    • Globe Europe
    • Living Water Adopt-a-Child
    • Living Water Ministries
    • Manna Bible Institute
    • New Hope Home of Waterfront Rescue Mission
    • Rhema Bible Institute.

ECFA REQUIREMENTS

Paul Nelson, president of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, said that ECFA members must meet these requirements:

  • Adopt a written statement affirming its commitment to the Christian faith and operate in a manner that reflects Biblical practices.
  • Set up a board of directors, the majority of which cannot be staff members or relatives.
  • Submit to an annual audit from an independent certified public accountant.
  • Exercise financial control to ensure resources are used as intended.
  • Provide copies of audited financial statements on request.
  • Avoid conflicts of interest by fully disclosing on audited financial statements any transactions between members.
  • Comply with ECFA's 12 standards of fund-raising, which include: accurately describing the group's activities; avoiding giving potential donors any unrealistic expectations of what their gifts will accomplish; truthfulness in communication; and providing, on request, detailed reports of a project for which it is soliciting gifts.

    Revival leaders and their corporations

    Feast of Fire Ministries Inc.
    Nonprofit corporation created by Brownsville Assembly of God pastor John Kilpatrick in October 1996. Corporation address is his home, 20265 Erin Pond Road, Seminole, Ala. Sources of income are merchandise sales and Kilpatrick's speaking fees. Assets include a $310,000 bus and 14 acres in Donovan's Landing in Seminole, on which Kilpatrick is building a $203,000 bus barn-guest house. He has purchased two of the original 16 acres for his new $343,860 home.

    Together in the Harvest Ministries Inc.
    Nonprofit corporation created by Brownsville Revival evangelist Steve Hill in December 1992. Corporation address is P.O. Box 2090, Foley, Ala. Sources of revenue are the revival's Friday night collection and sales of books, cassettes and videotapes. Assets include $877,931 in real estate: 40 acres where Hill lives in a remodeled farmhouse, plus an office building, merchandise distribution center, duplex house and converted barn-apartment.

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