Confessing Movement - Debate About Outside Money

Debate About Outside Money

The confessing movements state that they receive no funding from the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD). The groups that accuse the Confessing Movements groups of conspiring with the IRD claim that they derive a significant percentage of their budgets from the IRD, and in turn, the IRD itself is funded largely the by Scaife Family Charitable Trusts/Scaife Foundations, and to a lesser extent by the Smith Richardson Foundation.

In 2007, the IRD released a report that showed that in fiscal year 2005 the National Council of Churches mainline umbrella organization actually received more money (US$1.76 million) from secular foundations and other non-church organizations than from member communions. (US$1.75 million). IRD remarks, "We should be clear that there is no necessary sin in a Christian organization—the NCC, the IRD, or the Salvation Army—accepting contributions from or forming alliances with persons or groups who may not themselves be Christians. The problems come when the non-church funding and alliances loom so large that they cannot help but change the nature of a Christian organization. Then serious questions arise: Are the non-church funders and allies determining the programs and positions of the Christian organization? Or are organization leaders reshaping their programs to fit the priorities of the funders and allies?"