Recently the Sovereign Grace Leadership Team was contacted by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) informing us that Sovereign Grace Churches was approved as an accredited member of ECFA. Dan Busby, President of ECFA, said this in a press release, “We are pleased to accredit a ministry committed to planting and strengthening churches, training pastors, producing resources, and engaging in missions throughout the world.” We, in Sovereign Grace, are humbled by the decision of the ECFA Board of Directors and seriously take our commitment to financial integrity.
ECFA was founded in 1979 and provides accreditation to leading Christian nonprofit organizations that faithfully demonstrate compliance with established standards for financial accountability, transparency, sound board governance and ethical fundraising. The Christ-centered ministries accredited by ECFA include churches, denominations, educational institutions, rescue missions, camps, and many other types of tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations. If you would like to know more about ECFA, you can find it here.
Given the high standards that ECFA has defined, and requires accredited organizations to comply with, Sovereign Grace pursued accreditation to benefit from their accountability and years of experience. Why is this important? Because our pursuit of financial and organizational accountability from ECFA is another means to enhance the trust we have with our churches and individual donors.
We will begin to put the ECFA seal on the Sovereign Grace website, and in some of our printed material. May this accreditation and our pursuit of financial integrity be used to strengthen our collective efforts to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ for the glory of God alone.
Mark Prater is the Executive Director for Sovereign Grace and serves as an elder at Covenant Fellowship Church. He and his wife, Jill, have three married daughters and a growing number of grandchildren.