Senator lauds a move toward accountability: Chuck Grassley's investigation

The senator who has investigated six prominent charismatic ministries for questionable finances has praised one of them—Joyce Meyer Ministries—for joining the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

“This is a positive development,” said Senator Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), who is the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. “It’s good to see increased financial accountability, transparency, board governance, and ethical fund-raising taken seriously.”

The council announced the new membership of Meyer’s Missouri-based ministry, known for its Enjoying Everyday Life television and radio program, on March 12—the same day it announced that Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, had also been approved for membership.

Grassley said his investigation into the six ministries is continuing. Meyer’s ministry and Benny Hinn Ministries in Grapevine, Texas, have given him “extensive answers” to questions his staff has sent them. Creflo Dollar Ministries in College Park, Georgia, has declined to provide any information.

And the three other ministries have given “incomplete responses”: Bishop Eddie Long’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia; Kenneth Copeland Ministries in Newark, Texas; and Randy and Paula White’s Without Walls International Church in Tampa, Florida. –Religion News Service