For
over three decades, ECFA has served churches. Today, four of the 11 largest
churches in America are ECFA members. Through our member denominations and
other associations of churches, ECFA’s reach extends to over 30,000 churches.
Now in
2012, ECFA is beginning a more intentional focus on the evangelical church
community.
Why is ECFA
highlighting its service to churches? ECFA’s standards of
accountability apply equally to churches and other nonprofit organizations.
ECFA’s outstanding leadership in governance, financial management, and
stewardship relates to churches and nonprofit organizations alike.
ECFA’s
accreditation of a church sends a strong credibility signal to those who attend
and support church ministries through tithes and offerings. Through ECFA’s
32-year history, givers have relied on the ECFA seal to enhance their trust in
a church they support.
What are the
commitments of an ECFA accredited church? Accredited churches
demonstrate their commitment to exceptional governance by utilizing an
independent board (primarily comprised of non-staff, non-family members). They
reflect their commitment to sound financial management policies and practices,
including compliance with applicable laws. Additionally, they commit to handle
stewardship issues with integrity—using giver-designated gifts for the intended
purpose, providing proper gift acknowledgements, and much more.
When is the time for
churches to partner with ECFA? Today is the time for
churches to step up and demonstrate their accountability, transparency, and
integrity. Regulatory issues related to churches are more in focus on Capitol
Hill now than at any time in my memory.
The three-year
investigation of entities organized as churches was closed last year by Senator
Charles Grassley. His staff produced a 61-page memorandum primarily relating to
church issues. The Senator turned to ECFA to facilitate thoughtful responses on
these matters. This placed ECFA at a pivotal place to speak into national tax
policy for churches.
The article on page
three of this issue summarizes the church-related issues under consideration by
the national commission formed by ECFA: the Commission on Accountability and
Policy for Religious Organizations.
How does a church
partner with ECFA? The highest level of partnership with ECFA is
through the accreditation process. Accredited churches use the ECFA seal to
communicate their high accountability status to givers. They have full access
to the ECFA Church Knowledge Center, may participate in ECFA’s valuable Church
Webinars at no cost, benefit from ECFA’s compliance program, and more.
Through our online
membership application process, churches can easily file a membership application.
Even if your church is not
accredited by ECFA, we provide an outstanding church subscription service at
the silver, gold and platinum levels—all at very modest cost. A church
subscription keeps you up-to-date on current issues of interest to churches and
provides access to certain key documents in ECFA’s Church Knowledge
Center. Learn more about church
subscriptions at: http://churchwise.org.
Whether as an accredited church member or a church subscriber, we look forward
to opportunities to serve your church!
