Catholic Relief Services Named Among 8 MacArthur Semifinalists for $100 Million Grant
MacArthur Foundation has announced eight semifinalists for their $100 million grant challenge named “100&Change,” the Baltimore Sun reports. “Among the semifinalists is Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services, the global humanitarian arm of the Roman Catholic community in the United States, serves 107 million people in 101 countries around the world. Its proposal seeks to change the way society cares for children in orphanages.” Other semi-finalists include HarvestPlus, Himalayan Cataract, Human Diagnosis Project, Internet Archive, Rice University, Sesame Workshop and International Rescue Committee, and The Carter Center. The semi-finalists “will be winnowed to as many as five in September, and then the finalists will present their ideas at a live event in December.”
Tim Keller Stepping Down as Redeemer Senior Pastor
Tim Keller, the senior pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian, a 5,000-member church in Manhattan, has announced he will be stepping down from leading the megachurch, according to Christianity Today. In addition, the multi-site congregation will transition into three separate churches. After his last day as senior pastor on July 1, Keller will transition to “full-time teaching in a partner program with Reformed Theological Seminary and working with Redeemer’s City to City church planting network.” With this change, he joins the movement of pastors of large congregations favoring succession plans over leaving due to age, illness, or scandal.
Ferry Line Enters Partnership With Mercy Ships Hospital Work
“Mercy Ships, a NGO humanitarian agency, and Stena Line, the world’s largest privately owned ferry company, have decided to enter a long-term partnership. The goal is to raise general awareness about the charity, promote volunteering and charitable giving both within the ferry line itself as well as amongst its passengers and partners,” reports Afloat Magazine. “Mercy Ships owns and operates the largest civilian hospital-ship in the world to deliver free, world-class health care services to the poorest of the poor together with capacity building and sustainable development to nations in the developing world. Since 1978 Mercy Ships has helped more than 2.5 million people.”
Nashville Megachurch Pastor Joins BET Network For “The Relevant Word”
“Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III, Nashville-based Senior Pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church and Presiding Bishop of Full Gospel Baptist Fellowship International, will become the new featured minister on Black Entertainment Television (BET), called ‘The Relevant Word,’” according to Marketwired. The pastor will begin airing on Sunday, March 5. Walker started his pastoral journey at age 24 at Mount Zion with 175 members; today the ministry has grown to 30,000 people across three locations.
New Turmoil at Feed the Children
Due to complaints from former CEO/President J.C. Watts about the charity’s operations, Feed the Children is facing an official inquiry, The Oklahoman reports. Watts’s chief complaint was the organization’s misuse of funds, for example the charity paying $2.3 million to “Christian bands, artist managers, a Christian comedian and a husband and wife Christian marriage therapist team” since January 2013. “Feed the Children once was one of the most well-known charities in the country and in the past reported getting as much as $1.2 billion in donations in a single year. It has been beset by a series of controversies dating back to 2009 when it forced out its founder, evangelist Larry Jones.”
Trinity Broadcasting Network Sells Costa Mesa HQ
Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) has sold its 6.19-acre property in Costa Mesa to Greenlaw Partners, an Irvine-based commercial real estate firm, according to the Los Angeles Times. The reason for the sale is TBN finding the campus “obsolete” as the organization grows nationally and internationally. “TBN was founded in 1973. It includes more than 30 24-hour networks, making it the world’s largest faith-based television group.”
