WASHINGTON (RNS) The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability has announced members of a commission to advise a Capitol Hill review of financial reform of religious groups.<\/p>\n
Secularists, however, say the panel’s all-evangelical leadership will be unable to police other evangelicals.<\/p>\n
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, asked the council to lead an independent review of “self-reform” of religious organizations after he concluded a three-year probe of alleged lavish spending by six major broadcast ministries.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday (April 13), the ECFA said the 15-member panel will include Oral Roberts University President Mark Rutland, Campus Crusade for Christ President Stephen Douglass and megachurch leaders Joel Hunter and Bishop Kenneth Ulmer.<\/p>\n
Sean Faircloth, executive director of the Secular Coalition for America, criticized the choices.<\/p>\n
“Stacking this so-called ‘independent’ commission with people representing only one narrow religious viewpoint is entirely inappropriate,” he said.<\/p>\n
ECFA President Dan Busby said the commission will seek advice from legal experts, leaders from a variety of faiths, and representatives of mostly secular nonprofits. The three-year process will include public meetings where anyone can make suggestions, he added.<\/p>\n
“We have made a significant effort to set up a framework that will provide broad, broad input,” he said in an interview Thursday.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Grassley said the commission’s mix of input is “important because some of the issues raised by my staff report apply to all charities, not just religious organizations.”<\/p>\n
– ADELLE M. BANKS<\/strong>, Religion News Service<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WASHINGTON (RNS) The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability has announced members of a commission to advise a Capitol Hill review of financial reform of religious groups. Secularists, however, say the panel’s all-evangelical leadership will be unable to police other evangelicals. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, asked the council to lead an independent review of “self-reform” of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":345,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8,9],"tags":[460,456,457,455,454,317,462,463,458,459,2202,2227,461],"class_list":["post-2944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith","category-news","category-rns","tag-campus-crusade-for-christ","tag-capitol-hill","tag-charles-grassley","tag-commission","tag-evangelical-council-for-financial-accountability","tag-evangelicals","tag-joel-hunter","tag-kennth-ulmer","tag-mark-rutland","tag-oral-roberts-university","tag-rns","tag-secular-coalition-for-america","tag-stephan-douglass"],"yoast_head":"\n