Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and homophobia. If you see the ECFA sticker watch out.
They avoid direct statements, but a review of their activities and a slip up on their part reveal that they support homophobia and that it is extremely likely a requirement for membership.
Subscriptions are free.
ECFA Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability
I see their logo-sticker on a lot of websites for religious groups. They have theological requirements to join. This is a really good indicator of what religious groups LGBT should avoid.
The aren’t direct about it, and it took a lot of research, but given how often this is seen it needs to be done. Also, a lot of the non-denominational churches are stealth homophobes and this is another way to detect what their real views are.
ECFA Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability - My research.
Don’t confuse them with the Evangelical Free Church of America which uses the acronym “EFCA.” They are efca.org. the “f” and “c” are switched in their URL.
Their webpage
Their Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/accountability/
However, it isn’t just about financial standards, if you go to their ECFA Standards page, you will see that there is a doctrinal standard and it is Standard 1.
https://www.ecfa.org/Standards.aspx
Under Standard 1 – Doctrinal Issues you will see:
Every organization shall subscribe to a written statement of faith clearly affirming a commitment to the evangelical Christian faith or shall otherwise demonstrate such commitment, and shall operate in accordance with biblical truths and practices. [Boldface added.]
So what is an “evangelical Christian faith” and what are “biblical truths and practices”?
At this page you have the full “ECFA Standard 1 – Doctrinal Issues”
https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Comment1
The ECFA doesn’t go into detail what “clearly affirming a commitment to the evangelical Christian faith” or “shall operate in accordance with biblical truths and practices” might mean. Nor was the author of this post able to find out. It seems also that others haven’t looked into it.
The reviews of the applicants and the criteria by which it will be determined if they are “in accordance with biblical truths” or “clearly’ having an “evangelical Christian faith” are behind closed doors essentially.
However at the About page there is a listing of the ECFA board.
https://www.ecfa.org/About.aspx
The Board Chair is Paul Andersson, who the webpage says is, “Resource Development Director, North Central District of the Evangelical Free Church of America.”
The Evangelical Free Church of America is anti-Gay.
https://helps.efca.org/resources/credentialing-homosexual-belief-and-conduct
https://data.efca.org/files/view/1018
https://blogs.efca.org/strands-of-thought/posts/homosexuality-and-same-sex-marriage
The Board Vice Chair is Amy Nikkel, who the webpage says is, “Chief Financial Officer, Life.Church.”
This is their website.
This is a sermon by their pastor. It is his views on homosexuality with the “Love the sinner, hate the sin,” thing and other obnoxious things.
They have a lot of downloads which give a clear indication of their anti-Gay views.
This church is anti-Gay.
I am not going to review all of the board members, but at some time I might.
ECFA reporting on legislation and Supreme Court decisions reveal who they might really be.
What gives a fairly clear indication of their views is what support information they offer in regards to Supreme Court decisions and legislation.
When I use their general research engine I do get results. The thing is that the ECFA articles very narrowly concerns itself in the implication of legal decisions by the Supreme Court and the impact of legislation on issues of what they call religious freedom or the potential impact on members. They avoid directly making statements, but they do generally think of these court decisions and legislation for the rights of Gays as threats.
(Except in one case they do slip up and I will have that reviewed towards the end.)
This is an example:
“Supreme Court: “Sex” Discrimination Includes LGBT Discrimination, but Religious Groups Have Defenses.”
The ECFA is concerned that their accredited members “have defenses.”
These are some other webpages.
“Ask ECFA – The Equality Act”
https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Ask-ECFA-The-Equality-Act
The above webpage has a link to a document by the Christian Legal Society titled, “The Equality Act’s Direct Assault on All Americans’ Religious Freedom.” The link doesn’t work anymore.
The Internet Archive was able to archive it successfully on one date, (Not successfully on others, so use this specific link.)
Can’t use moral clauses to discriminate against Gays.
https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Morals-Clause-Ruled-Not-Within-Title-VII-Religious-Exemptions
They have a webinar about same-sex marriage and the legal issues for their members.
https://www.ecfa.org/ProductDownload.aspx?ProductID=55
Worried about Senate action on the Equality Act.
https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Expect-Senate-Action-on-the-Equality-Act
Supreme Court decisions related to sexual orientation.
https://www.ecfa.org/ProductDownload.aspx?ProductID=313
This is legal training in regards to a Supreme Court decision regarding sexual orientation and discrimination.
https://www.ecfa.org/ProductDownload.aspx?ProductID=317
This is, according to ECFA, a victory for free speech.
https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Supreme-Court-Delivers-Victory-For-Free-Speech
Two things however reveal what their certificiation requirements are very likely homophobic.
However a couple things make it clear or much clearer what the agenda of the ECFA churches are and what their membership standards are.
This post makes it fairly clear that their membership’s interest is being homophobic Christians. They are upset that many corporations won’t donate to homophobic groups. So you can see that it isn’t really about religious freedom, it is about them expecting others to support their policies. They also lobbied Microsoft to give a free pass to churches that are homophobic.
https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Legal-and-Integrity-Issues-Hidden-in-Charity-License-Agreements
They do slip up and make it clear where they stand in this one post.
This is the Introduction to the above webinar.
The Context: Diverging Social Views
As views on same-sex marriage, sexual conduct, and gender identity begin to shift in American culture, leaders of Christ-centered organizations should consider the important legal implications. This webinar outline summarizes some of the developments in this emerging area of the law at the federal, state, and local levels and provides churches and ministries with key strategic planning steps to consider.
They make it very clear with the table what “Christ-centered” churches are.
The seminar sees non-discrimination laws and legal decisions as adverse to themselves.
NOTE: I save each and every URL shown in this report in the Internet Archive.
Conclusion
Do we know absolutely that when we see the ECFA logo at the bottom of an Evangelical church that is it homophobic. No we don’t.
However, that is because we can’t find out what the criteria of the ECFA is specifically for accreditation.
I think that it is reasonable to conclude that when you see the ECFA logo used by a church or group it is very reasonable to conclude that it is not a good place for LGBT to be.
Subscriptions are free.
