MinistryWatch Podcast

By Warren Smith and Natasha Smith

Transparency and accountability are vital to the renewal of the evangelical church in America. Hosts Warren Smith and Natasha Smith highlight the top stories of the week from the unique MinistryWatch... more

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FAQs about MinistryWatch Podcast:

How many episodes does MinistryWatch Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 511 episodes available.

MinistryWatch Podcast episodes:

August 15, 2025 Ep. 498: World Vision Prevails, Seminaries Should Examine Faculty Screening Process, and Trust in Churches Rebounds…Slightly
On today’s program, World Vision prevails in court after it was sued for discrimination. The ruling protects the ministry’s right to hire based on its religious beliefs. We’ll have details.
And, a seminary professor accused of sexual misconduct resigned from Concordia Seminary, and is now hired by an independent seminary…raising questions about what background and reference checks seminaries conduct in its hiring process.
Plus, a new study shows that Americans’ trust in the church is rebounding—slightly—after dropping to an all-time low in recent years. We’ll take a look.
But first, a pro-life clinic in Colorado has been cleared by the court to continue offering abortion pill reversal treatments.
The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today’s program include Kim Roberts, Daniel Ritchie, Makella Knowles, Christin Fejervary, Aaron Earls—and you, Warren.
A special thanks to Lifeway Research and The NonProfit Times for contributing material for this week’s podcast.
Until next time, may God bless you.

MANUSCRIPT:

FIRST SEGMENT
Warren:
Hello everybody. I’m Warren Smith, coming to you from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Christina:
And I’m Christina Darnell, in for Natasha Cowden this week, and we’d like to welcome you to the MinistryWatch podcast.
Warren:
On today’s program, World Vision prevails in court after it was sued for discrimination. The ruling protects the ministry’s right to hire based on its religious beliefs. We’ll have details.
And, a seminary professor accused of sexual misconduct resigned from Concordia Seminary, and is now hired by an independent seminary…raising questions about what background and reference checks seminaries conduct in its hiring process.
Plus, a new study shows that Americans’ trust in the church is rebounding—slightly—after dropping to an all-time low in recent years. We’ll take a look.
Christina:
But first, a pro-life clinic in Colorado has been cleared by the court to continue offering abortion pill reversal treatments.
Warren:
Two years ago, Colorado enacted a law making it illegal for doctors and nurses to help women who had changed their mind after taking chemical abortion pills. The law threatened professional discipline for practitioners who use progesterone to reverse the abortion attempt and try to save the baby’s life.
Christina:
A Catholic pro-life clinic called Bella Health and Wellness challenged the law in federal court.
Warren:
That’s right. In October 2023, Bella Health won a temporary injunction blocking the law from applying to them—but earlier this month, the court made it permanent.
Christina:
Becket Fund Senior Counsel Rebekah Ricketts told MinistryWatch that during the course of the legal proceedings—so, the last two years or so—16 babies’ lives have been saved.
Warren:
She also said this case is the first court decision in the country to recognize the religious protection for doctors and nurses administering progesterone for abortion pill reversal.
Christina:
You said the court blocked the bill for Bella Health specifically…will this not apply to other pro-life groups?
Warren:
That’s a good question. The injunction is technically limited to Bella Health and Wellness because of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting injunctions…but Ricketts told us that, practically, it would still apply to any religiously-motivated practitioners in Colorado who want to administer progesterone for abortion pill reversal, Ricketts said.
Ricketts also hopes the judge’s reasoning and decision will guide other courts around the country who might encounter the same issue. Cases involving abortion pill reversal are currently pending in California and New York.
Christina:
In our next story, another ministry prevails in court.
Warren:
...more
35min
August 14, 2025 Ep. 497: How Do You Measure Ministry Effectiveness? A conversation with True Charity's Nathan Mayo
Here at MinistryWatch we measure a lot of things. We measure financial efficiency. Simply explained, that’s the amount of money that goes to ministry vs. the amount of money. We grade ministries based on their transparency. Our Donor Confidence Score takes into account more than a dozen factors before providing an overall score designed to help you decide whether to give to a ministry or not.
One of the most vexing problems we face in the work we do is the problem of measuring ministry effectiveness. We can measure how much money goes to an evangelistic effort, but how do you really measure true conversions. You can count decision cards, or hands raised, or baptisms, but how do you measure love, joy, and peace? If you give money to a child sponsorship program, you get a photo of the little boy or girl, but do you really know what happened to him or her? At age 20 or 25 or 30, is that little girl you prayed for and donated money for…is she OK? Is she following Jesus? Most ministries, even very good ones, struggle with these sorts of measurements.
My guest today, Nathan Mayo, doesn’t have all the answers, but Nathan and the group he helps lead, True Charity, has been asking these tough questions for years, and he has some interesting things to say on the subject. If you’ve been around MinistryWatch for a while, you know that I’m a big fan of True Charity. It’s founder James Whitford, has been a guest on the program, and we’ve quoted him and others from True Charity in many of our stories.
That’s why I’m excited to have Nathan Mayo on the program today. Nathan earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Upon completion of his military service as a Captain, Nathan and his wife, Abigail, spent two years in Haiti building up a network of Haitian-run churches and schools before moving to Missouri to join True Charity in 2020. Nathan is inspired by solving challenging problems with data and translating the insights of experts into applications for practitioners.
Here's the giving guide I mentioned in the program:
https://www.truecharity.us/giving-guide/
The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. Until next time, may God bless you.
...more
24min
August 13, 2025 Ep. 496: “Shiny Happy People” Grows Dull
The producers of the new season of “Shiny Happy People” have taken a page out of the Geraldo Rivera School of Journalism.
To read a transcript of today’s podcast, click here.
The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. Until next time, may God bless you.
...more
15min
August 08, 2025 Ep. 495: ACNA and Stewart Ruch, T.D. Jakes, the ERLC
On today’s program, a third prosecutor has been appointed in the trial of Anglican Church in North America Bishop Stewart Ruch after the first two resigned. The Bishop is on trial with the denomination for welcoming abusers into the church, and minimizing the needs of abuse survivors.
A North Carolina church was the victim of an online scam that stole nearly $800 thousand from their new building fund. That was two years ago—we’ll look at where the church is now.
Plus, Brent Leatherwood resigns from the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, just one year after being fired…then unfired. Leatherwood led the agency for four contentious years. We’ll have details.
First, the defense attorney in a lawsuit involving T.D. Jakes has been sanctioned by the court for using artificial intelligence in the preparation of court documents.
The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today’s program include Kim Roberts, Kathryn Post, Daniel Ritchie, Bob Smietana, Katie Ruth Bowes, and Isaac Wood.
A special thanks to the Biblical Recorder and The NonProfit Times for contributing material for this week’s podcast.
Until next time, may God bless you.

MANUSCRIPT:

FIRST SEGMENT
Warren:
Hello everybody. I’m Warren Smith, coming to you from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Christina:
And I’m Christina Darnell, in for Natasha Cowden this week, and we’d like to welcome you to the MinistryWatch podcast.
Warren:
On today’s program, a third prosecutor has been appointed in the trial of Anglican Church in North America Bishop Stewart Ruch after the first two resigned. The Bishop is on trial with the denomination for welcoming abusers into the church, and minimizing the needs of abuse survivors.
And, a North Carolina church was the victim of an online scam that stole nearly $800 thousand from their new building fund. That was two years ago—we’ll look at where the church is now.
Plus, Brent Leatherwood resigns from the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, just one year after being fired…then unfired. Leatherwood led the agency for four contentious years. We’ll have details.
Christina:
But first, the defense attorney in a lawsuit involving T.D. Jakes has been sanctioned by the court for using artificial intelligence in the preparation of court documents.
Warren:
The attorney is Tyrone Blackburn, and he was defending Duane Youngblood in a defamation lawsuit filed by TD Jakes.
Blackburn has been sanctioned by a federal court because he presented documents that contained material fabricated by artificial intelligence.
U.S. District Court Judge William Stickman ordered Blackburn to pay over $76-thousand in fees to cover expenses Jakes had to pay to defend himself against the “AI-generated hallucinations and other misrepresentations in Defendant’s motion to dismiss briefing.”
Christina:
Last year, Duane Youngblood accused Jakes of attempted sexual assault. Jakes has maintained his innocence and filed a defamation lawsuit against Youngblood in November 2024.
Jakes noted that Youngblood is on parole after felony convictions for sexual assault and corruption of minors.
Warren:
According to a statement provided to Dallas Morning News, Blackburn said he purchased an A-I program because he doesn’t employ paralegals and most of his current clients are pro bono. The A-I program generated its own legal prompts and motions, and contained false quotes and case law.
Before he could fix the A-I generated errors, Youngblood asked him to leave the case.
Christina:
But the judge essentially told him that wasn’t an excuse—that he was fully responsible for the accuracy of his legal briefs, regardless of who—or what—contributed to it. It was Blackburn’s signature on the document.
Warren:
Right.
...more
32min
August 06, 2025 Ep. 494: Remembering Bob Case and His Impact on MinistryWatch
If you are a regular reader of MinistryWatch, and you appreciate our approach to the news, you should know about Bob Case.
In fact, if you read WORLD Magazine, or Christianity Today, or The Dispatch, or any of dozens of other news outlets, you have – whether you know it or not – been influenced by Bob Case.
Robert Allen Case II is one of the unsung heroes in the development of Christian news outlets over the past 30 years, in part because of his co-founding and leadership of World Journalism Institute, whose graduates are at all the news outlets I mentioned above, and many more besides.
Bob died July 15. He was 81 years old.
Today, I share a bit of his life and legacy.
The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. Until next time, may God bless you.
...more
13min
August 01, 2025 Ep. 493: My Faith Votes, Christian School Tax Credits, The King’s College, and Bill Gothard
On today’s program, conservative leader Jason Yates, who was the former CEO of My Faith Votes, has pleaded guilty to the possession of child sexual abuse material. We’ll have details.
President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill…school choice advocates welcome a provision in the bill that includes a private school tax credit…but the impact on Christian education remains uncertain. We’ll take a look.
Plus, The King’s College in New York City. After years of financial woes and false restarts, the school has shut down—for good, this time.
First, a Texas court says a lawsuit against Bill Gothard and the Institute for Basic Life Principles can move forward. The Texas Supreme Court ruled on June 27 that a lawsuit against the Institute for Basic Life Principles (IBLP) and its founder Bill Gothard could continue, despite the defendants’ petition to dismiss the lawsuit under the First Amendment and the Ecclesiastical Abstention Doctrine.
The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today’s program include Isaac Wood, Kim Roberts, Daniel Ritchie, Tony Mator, Kathryn Post, Clemente Lisi, and Christina Darnell.
A special thanks to the Religion UnPlugged for contributing material for this week’s podcast.
Until next time, may God bless you.
...more
33min
July 30, 2025 Ep. 492: Dr. K Believes Artificial Intelligence Provides Us With A “Gospel Moment”
You’ve probably been reading or hearing a lot about artificial intelligence these days. AI stocks such as NVIDIA have been driving the stock market. AI programs such as ChatGPT are already disrupting a number of industries, including education, journalism, and social media platforms. And lots of smart people believe that the disruptions have only just begun. AI generated video content is already blurring the lines between reality and something that is not reality, but which very closely resembles reality. And everyone involved with AI is unanimous in this: AI will only get better, more realistic, more powerful.
What are Christians to make of artificial intelligence?
Kathy McReynolds has made a career of studying the frontier between Christianity, technology, and anthropology, and she has some thoughts on the subject of artificial intelligence. Dr. McReynolds graduated with a BA in Christian Education at Biola University, and then went on to earn an MA in Systematic Theology at the Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. After earning her degrees, she took five years off, wrote five books, had three children, and then went on to earn her PhD in Ethics at the University of Southern California. She has since written nearly a dozen more books.
She has been a US intelligence officer and has advised the Department of Defense and the Office of National Intelligence on AI issues. For many years she was a professor in the Bible Department at Biola University. She currently serves as an AI Theologian for FaithTech, integrating biblical theology and emerging technology.
Dr. K, as she is often called, spoke to me via zoom.
The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. Until next time, may God bless you.
...more
40min
July 25, 2025 Ep. 491: Burk Parsons and St. Andrew’s Chapel, Church Security, Child Evangelism Fellowship Pursues Ambitious Goal
On today’s program, St. Andrew’s Chapel, the church founded by RC Sproul and now led by controversial pastor Burke Parsons, delays its long-awaited vote on leaving the Presbyterian Church in America. We’ll have details.
The murders of two women at a Kentucky church this month point to a troubling trend—and churches are seeking help to prevent more violence. We’ll take a look.
Plus, two years ago, Child Evangelism Fellowship set a goal of reaching 100 million children a year with the gospel through its ministry initiatives. MinistryWatch reporter Kim Roberts checked in for an update.
First, former pastor Brady Boyd is starting a new ministry—just one month after being asked to resign from his Colorado Springs megachurch.
The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today’s program include Kim Roberts, Tony Mator, Kathryn Post, Jessica Eturralde, Henry Durand, and Christina Darnell.
A special thanks to the Christian Index for contributing material for this week’s podcast.
Until next time, may God bless you.

MANUSCRIPT:

FIRST SEGMENT
Warren:
Hello everybody. I’m Warren Smith, coming to you from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Natasha:
And I’m Natasha Cowden, coming to you from Denver, Colorado, and we’d like to welcome you to the MinistryWatch podcast.
Warren:
On today’s program, St. Andrew’s Chapel, the church founded by RC Sproul and now led by controversial pastor Burke Parsons, delays its long-awaited vote on leaving the Presbyterian Church in America. We’ll have details.
And, the murders of two women at a Kentucky church this month point to a troubling trend—and churches are seeking help to prevent more violence. We’ll take a look.
Plus, two years ago, Child Evangelism Fellowship set a goal of reaching 100 million children a year with the gospel through its ministry initiatives. MinistryWatch reporter Kim Roberts checked in for an update.
Natasha:
But first, former pastor Brady Boyd is starting a new ministry—just one month after being asked to resign from his Colorado Springs megachurch.
Warren:
Brady Boyd, who resigned as lead pastor of megachurch New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in June, has started a new ministry — Psalm 68 Ministries.
Psalm 68 Ministries says its mission is to serve widows, orphans and the forgotten, as well as ministry leaders.
Natasha:
Boyd had served at Gateway Church, founded by Robert Morris, from 2001 to 2007. He claimed he didn’t know that Morris had allegedly abused Cindy Clemishire when she was 12 years old.
Warren:
New Life elder Scott Palmer told the congregation on Sunday, June 22, that the elders believed Boyd’s insistence that he didn’t know Clemishire’s age was untrue. It is the primary reason the elders asked Boyd to step down.
Natasha:
Next, St. Andrew’s Chapel delays vote on leaving PCA.
Warren:
St. Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Florida, was scheduled to vote on leaving the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) on Sunday, July 20.
Instead, in something of a surprise move, the congregation referred the matter to the church’s board of elders, also known as its session, to study the situation and return with a recommendation.
Natasha:
St. Andrew’s was originally formed as an independent congregation in 1997 with Dr. R.C. Sproul as its founding pastor. It then joined the PCA in 2023.
Warren:
Its pastors are ordained by and members of the Central Florida Presbytery.
In June, a judicial commission of the Central Florida Presbytery found St. Andrew’s Senior Pastor Burk Parsons guilty of three charges and indefinitely suspended him from the duties of teaching elder in the PCA. He has appealed the judgment. Parsons is also a teaching fellow with Ligonier Ministries.
The St. Andrew’s session is expected to report back about the decision to leave the PCA...
...more
33min
July 24, 2025 Ep. 490: Will Repeal of the Johnson Amendment be Good or Bad for the Church?
In a recent court filing, the IRS said the-so called Johnson Amendment, which bars all nonprofits from being involved in political campaigns, should not apply to political speech during religious services.
The IRS decision still awaits a judge’s approval, but – if it comes – it will be a major victory for the Trump Administration and the fulfillment of a promise to at least one segment of his political base. Trump made the repeal of the Johnson Amendment an important part of his stump speech to religious groups at least since 2016. I was in a meeting in Trump Tower that year with Trump and about forty other evangelical leaders. In that meeting, Trump seemed tentative about many of the issues that energized the people in his conference room that day. But about the Johnson Amendment, he was abundantly clear. “I’m going to do that for you,” he said.
There is, however, another perspective. The perspective that repeal of the Johnson Amendment is a bad idea and will result in bad actors using religious groups as a mere front for political activism. It is a perspective I hold, and I’d like to share a few thoughts with you today.
The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. Until next time, may God bless you.
...more
12min
July 23, 2025 Ep. 489: Amanda Ripley on Why and How We Get Trapped in Conflict
Have you noticed that we live in contentious times? I certainly have. Our politics is polarized. Even our church life is too often contentious and ideological, with positions being driven as much by tribalism as by Scripture or a principled theology. Why is there so much conflict today, and is there a way out of it?
Amanda Ripley thinks there is. She’s an investigative journalist who has written for Slate, The Atlantic, and many other publications. She is also trained in conflict mediation, and she teaches other journalists how to cover high conflict situations in a professional and ethical way.
Her book High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out came out in 2021, but I am just discovering it, and when I read it – a few months ago – I thought it explained a lot of what is going on today in the world of media, politics, and religion. Amanda Ripley doesn’t write for Christian audiences, per se, and she draws on traditions that are not explicitly Christian for many of her examples and lessons. That said, I found this book to be both enlightening and nourishing, and I think you’ll enjoy this conversation with her.
Amanda Ripley spoke to me from her home in the Washington, DC, area, and I spoke with her from Covenant College, on Lookout Mountain, Georgia, where I was speaking to students at Summit Ministries.
The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. I’m your host, Warren Smith. Until next time, may God bless you.
...more
43min

FAQs about MinistryWatch Podcast:

How many episodes does MinistryWatch Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 511 episodes available.

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