Leaders and ministries need to understand that the playing field has changed and they are more easily scrutinized than ever before because information is more readily available.

Thanks for opening up the conversation.

Very strong entry.  I hadn't considered how much of the carried "debt" ORU found itself carrying might be internal.  If that is the case than the contribution by Mart Green and family may well have been more of a buy out than a bail out.  I have to believe however, that he was informed clearly and knew enough what he was doing and how he did it, that the situation was acceptable to him in that regard or he could have pulled out.

Contributions raised by OREA for ORU where the stated cause was for the university would create no receivable back as the designation by donor would make it clear OREA was to have no benefit.  If OREA was directing general revenue back to the school you could argue that that could be structured as a loan or obligation but I suspect there would be very strong documentation required to structure that and carry it properly on the books and it should appear from the time of the receipt and not be an afterthought year later to justify a switch in the direction of revenue. 

Tuition in a University is usually only really a very modest contribution toward the overall costs.  Contributions and foundations usually factor in very highly.

The general point is a very strong one, and again this goes to somethings I've said on other threads, and that is that there is a lot that goes on in Religious organizations that doesn't go on in secular ones because of the veil of separation of Church and State.  Reporting is a major one.  ORU and OREA have to file the 990 informational returns.  Most churches do not, except for those elements that fall outside of direct ministry.  While I believe most Churches and religious organizations make a good faith effort to run their finances and organizations in a way that is above reproach, it is sad to say there are a few that don't and the most obvious ones to point to are the largest and least regulated and those include some of the larger media based ministries, especially those that are not based in the context of an established Church within a denomination that exercises oversight in this regard.

Good internal controls and accountability by their very nature are inconvenient, uncomfortable and carry cost.  Often times ministries will try to justify foregoing these costs by appealing to the stewardship of not spending funds "unnecessarily or they will appeal to the faith and trust that needs to be placed in the leadership.  Big warning sign.  When a ministry appeals to that and then an outside organization gets involved, and government and courts are showing strong signs that they are willing to do so, the next fall back position is to fall back to the separation of Church and State defence and by that time, you have media and perception problems to face as well which unfortunately can spill over from the organization in question and affect local Churches and established reputable charities.  That's exactly what happened in the wake of PTL.

I think your warnings are excellent and timely.  I don't think there is necessarily anything inherently wrong with how these types of arrangements are made between churches and pastors.  There's a broad range of how they can be done.  I do think that Church Boards and individual board members have to take seriously their role though to respectfully and faithfully carry out their responsibilities which include, from time to time, saying no to a pastor and not simply serving as a rubber stamp.  Tough questions like the ones you raise here need to be asked.

If we don't do that ourselves and voluntarily hold ourselves to an ethical standard that even the secular world recognizes in some aspects of business, then the cause of the Gospel and the credibility of the Christian community will be compromised and while the large organizations that draw the most attention may be the most immediately easy to blame, we have to recognize that often times they reflect what goes on in the Church at large.  A lot of this could be regulated naturally as well if Christians as a whole got smarter about how they give to ministries and were not so easily caught in the equivalent of what in Luther's day was Church indulgences.  We're a lot more "sophisticated" now.  Instead of giving to release the souls of loved ones, we give to enhance our own wealth in this life.  What progress has been made ……

Loving your book too,  I am reading it slowly to ensure I take it all in, already using some of the new knowledge at my workplace!! 

Additionally, while at school, (I just graduated last May from ORU)I gave an offering for the new student association building. We broke ground not long after and then several months later everything was pulled up and that was the end of it. I found out when the lawsuits happened that the money had been taken and applied elsewhere. That was the last time I gave to Richard Roberts.

I have heard through credible sources that the IRS was also looking at ORU for possible violations.

The truth of the matters is I don’t think we will ever know the whole truth of what really went wrong, how bad, and who had their hand in the cookie jar.

Despite that I am glad that betters days are ahead for ORU. It sure would be nice to know that my Diploma would be more readily received. I just had an article rejected because I was an ORU Alumni. One of them, uh huh. That’s okay, I have had 4 published in the past 3 weeks so I’m a happy girl.

Remaining Steadfast,
Dominique
http://anunlikelyperspective2.squarespace.com