Church Leadership Conversations

  • Operation Christmas Child is not effective and enables enrichment of Franklin Graham and his family

     

    A thread by Andy Rowell

    Dear Church Board,
    I would like our church to consider not doing Operation Christmas Child. Franklin Graham made $636,451 from Samaritan's Purse, and hundreds of thousands from BGEA, and he is one of President Trump's most vocal defenders, and the shoeboxes are not effective. Also 2 of Board of Directors of Samaritan's Purse are his children.
    – Jane Cissie Lynch, Ministry Spokesperson and Special Projects Producer, Samaritan’s Purse.
    $48,617 (+ BGEA $?)
    – Roy Graham, Director of Donor Relations, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
    Also paid by dad. His son Will also works for him as Vice President, BGEA. Last disclosure was $98,698 in 2014.

    "the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
    exists to support and extend the evangelistic calling and ministry of Franklin Graham"

    4th child Edward (Army) seems not to be paid by dad.

    On Operation Christmas Child:

    Quotes in thread below from:

    "Except in response to emergencies, this form of charity suppresses local markets, creates feelings of dependency, and does not address systemic problems or empower local leadership." (washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-f…)

    "Because each box is filled by individual donors, there inevitably will be inequitable loot among the kids opening them …
    Moreover, it leaves those selling gifts and other products in their own country undercut by the freebies showing up."

    "imagine how parents feel watching their children open these boxes …
    children [sending the boxes] certainly learn a lesson through these giveaway programs, but it’s the wrong one …
    it’s a … 'solution' that does nothing to expose the underlying conditions behind the need."

    "Americans can do the most good when they give to organizations that do development work in specific places and respond to the need that will bring long-term change."

    "The Bible instructs Christians not only to be generous, but also to be smart. For anyone who values effective charity and wants to see their generosity make the biggest impact, sending shoeboxes of little gifts is just not smart."

    Quotes above from: "Filling millions of shoe boxes of toys for poor kids seems like a great idea. Here’s why it’s not."
    Brian M. Howell
    @BrianHowell
    Washington Post
    December 20, 2017 (washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-f…)

     

    And on Franklin Graham's salary: 

     

     

     
     

     
    Franklin Graham
     
    @Franklin_Graham
     
    I wish President

    ’s enemies would give it a rest. For 2 years all the American people heard was collusion. Not true. Then accusations seemed to come out of the woodwork by various women. Then all we heard was impeachment. Now it’s a whistleblower claim.

    7:22 AM · Sep 23, 2019Twitter Web App

    A thread by Andy Rowell

    True:

    Collusion is not a legal term. The Trump campaign welcomed assistance from Russia and Trump has repeatedly acted to assist Russia since.

    "At least 24 women have accused President Donald Trump of sexual misconduct since the 1970s."

    Trump bullied Ukraine for his gain. This tweet by Franklin Graham demonstrates ignorance, moral callousness, and a perverted partisan loyalty to an immoral person.

    A person with this poor judgment should not lead a Christian disaster relief organization or an evangelism association. @realDonaldTrump

    Mitt Romney

    @MittRomney

     

    If the President asked or pressured Ukraine’s president to investigate his political rival, either directly or through his personal attorney, it would be troubling in the extreme. Critical for the facts to come out.

    54.7K people are talking about this
     
     

    Franklin Graham made $636,451 from Samaritan's Purse (Operation Christmas Child) in 2018.

    BGEA "exists to support and extend the evangelistic calling and ministry of Franklin Graham." In 2015 it became a "an association of churches" so salaries not disclosed. 2014 was $205,999.

    In 2014, the last time Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association both disclosed salaries, they reported that Franklin Graham worked 40 hours a week at both organizations.

  • Sept 19-20 What issues evangelicals care about

     

     
     

     
    Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux
     
    @ameliatd

     
    Replying to

    It seems low to me as well. But another way to read that finding is also that of all those issues, white evangelicals were most likely to say abortion/reproductive rights was a dealbreaker. 14% for abortion, 12% for immigration, less than 10% for everything else.
     
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    Samuel Perry
     
    @socofthesacred

     
    I always show my students this one from Pew, taken summer before the election. For all the talk about abortion & supreme court justices, abortion didn't even crack the top 10 for white evangelicals in terms of "very important" issues determining their presidential vote.
     
     

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    Jesse Curtis
     
    @jncthehistorian

     
    Abortion: a deal-breaker for 14% of white evangelicals. a rhetorical tool for 100% of white evangelicals when defending their Trump vote.
     
     

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  • Malcolm Gladwell’s new book Talking to Strangers focuses on sin though he does not call it that

    A thread by Andy Rowell

    As usual, Malcolm @Gladwell's latest book "Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know" (Sept 10, 2019) is stimulating in its stories and commentary. But this is a dark one: sexual abuse, suicide, abuse by police, scams, alcohol, rape, and torture. Gladwell is a story-teller, popularizer, opinion columnist, pundit, reporter, writer, commentator, searcher for truth. I think his tone invites pushback, further research, and correction. He respects academics and researchers. I think he is a force for good. I have read all his books and listened to all of his Revisionist History podcast episodes. I have very occasionally been disappointed in his sloppiness and flippancy, but more often his curiosity, love for learning, joy, moral seriousness, and humanity have given me much joy. The "Talking to Strangers" audiobook is better than normal audiobooks in that he has used recordings of quotes when possible. I thought this critique of Gladwell's work back in Oct 2013 was fair.
    But I think he has matured since then—perhaps due to his return to Christianity while writing David and Goliath, which he shared publicly that month.
    @spulliam

    Andy Rowell@AndyRowell
     

    "The question is whether Gladwell is accurately conveying the science … whether he is getting the big ideas right." http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/10/malcolm_gladwell_critique_david_and_goliath_misrepresents_the_science.single.html 

    See Andy Rowell's other Tweets
     
     

    (washingtonpost.com/local/author-m…)

    This review out last week of "Talking to Strangers" is also fair:
    Yes, I'm not sure the book has an overall thesis, except that sin is real. And yes, the stat about poets committing suicide frequently is thin but it is not important to Gladwell's argument. (theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…)

    Malcolm Gladwell

    @Gladwell

     

    Oh yeah..

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