Ep. 445: Trump and NPO Resettlement Agencies, 50 Ministries Receiving Gov’t Funds, DOJ Intervenes In Behalf of Churches

On today’s program, the Trump administration cancels grants to refugee aid agencies…despite legal battles. We’ll take a look. And, a staggering 30 percent of nonprofits don’t survive a full decade—but when they go under, what happens to their assets? Our finance writer Shannon Cuthrell digs into the hidden risks and loopholes of nonprofit dissolutions. And, we’ve released our MinistryWatch list of the 50 Christian ministries receiving the largest government grants.  But first, the U-S Department of Justice has intervened on behalf of a Pennsylvania church trying to expand. The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today’s program include Kim Roberts, Jack Jenkins, Yonat Shimron, Jessica Eturralde, Shannon Cuthrell, Tony Mator, Bruce Buursma, Brittany Smith, and Christina Darnell. Until next time, may God bless you.   MANUSCRIPT:    FIRST SEGMENT Warren: Hello everybody. I’m Warren Smith, coming to you this week from Charlotte, North Carolina. Natasha:  And I’m Natasha Cowden, coming to you from Denver, Colorado, and we’d like to welcome you to the MinistryWatch podcast. Warren: On today’s program, the Trump administration cancels grants to refugee aid agencies…despite legal battles. We’ll take a look. And, a staggering 30 percent of nonprofits don’t survive a full decade—but when they go under, what happens to their assets? Our finance writer Shannon Cuthrell digs into the hidden risks and loopholes of nonprofit dissolutions. And, we’ve released our MinistryWatch list of the 50 Christian ministries receiving the largest government grants. Natasha: But first, the U-S Department of Justice has intervened on behalf of a Pennsylvania church trying to expand. Warren: On March 3, the Justice Department section for the Western District of Pennsylvania filed a statement of interest supporting the Hope Rising Community Church in its lawsuit against the Borough of Clarion. The church has outgrown its current facilities and wants to expand using a facility in the city’s commercial district. While Clarion allows nonreligious assemblies in the commercial district, such as theaters, the city would not approve the church’s zoning use variance request. Officials from the city allegedly said they didn’t “need any more churches” because of the loss of property taxes. Natasha: Hope Rising Community Church filed its lawsuit in November alleging the city was violating the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a federal law that protects houses of worship from discrimination in zoning. When Clarion filed a motion to dismiss the church’s claim, the Justice Department intervened. Warren: The city argued the church had not suffered any concrete injury as a result of Clarion’s actions, the DOJ argued that the city’s zoning code has “stymied [the church’s] efforts to buy and develop the only suitable property for the church in Clarion.” As of March 2024, the DOJ had opened over 155 formal investigations and filed nearly 30 lawsuits related to RLUIPA’s Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) land use provisions, and had filed 36 “friend-of-the-court” briefs addressing the interpretation and application of RLUIPA in privately-filed lawsuits. Natasha: Next, The Trump Administration cancels grants to refugee aid agencies. Warren: President Donald Trump’s administration is making moves to shutter a decades-old partnership between the government and a group of mostly religious organizations to resettle refugees, with the State Department abruptly canceling grant agreements with all the agencies despite ongoing legal battles. On Wednesday (Feb. 26), refugee resettlement organizations, such as Church World Service, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, say they received “termination notification” letters from the State Department. Natasha: Myal Greene, the president of World Relief, an evangelical Christian ministry said, “With the cancellation of World Relief and other Resettlement Agency agreements, this is effectively ending a 45 year, bi-partisan, refugee resettlement program with the stroke of a pen.” Warren: The letters come as the government is involved in two separate lawsuits over the president’s decision to freeze the refugee program via an executive order signed his first day in office. On Wednesday, Church World Service, HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), and Lutheran Community Services Northwest won a victory over the Trump administration in their lawsuit, known as Pacito v. Trump, with a federal judge blocking the president’s order and calling Trump’s actions a “nullification of congressional will.” According to The Associated Press, the judge argued from the bench that the president does not have “limitless” authority over refugee admissions, noting the law establishing the program was passed by Congress. Natasha: Later in the program, we’ll take a look at Christian ministries receiving the largest government grants. But now, the wife of slain missionary Beau Shroyer, has officially been charged as a “co-author” in his murder. Warren: Jackie Shroyer, who was arrested in October 2024 in Angola, Africa, for the alleged murder of her missionary husband Beau Shroyer, has now been formally charged as a "co-author" in his death. For three years, Beau and Jackie Shroyer and their five children had lived in the "remote bush" of Angola. On October 25, police found Beau Shroyer brutally stabbed to death in his vehicle outside Lubango, where the family lived in a walled compound. Jackie Shroyer's statements at the scene sparked police suspicion that Beau's slaying was an organized plot involving three men paid to kill him. They began an investigation, alleging that Jackie might have been the mastermind. Natasha: What did they uncover in the investigation? Warren: During their investigation, detectives gained "strong suspicion" to believe Jackie was having an affair with one of the men—the family’s security guard. Jackie allegedly offered the men $50,000 to kill her husband by luring him to a secluded location and stabbing him to death. According to the statement, Jackie will remain in custody and will now face trial before a judge. A court date is expected to take place within the next six months. Natasha: Up next, A Kanakuk Kamps sexual abuse survivor can continue his lawsuit, according to a Missouri judge. Warren: On February 27, Judge Jessica Kruse denied the motions to dismiss and will allow Andrew Summersett’s case to continue against Kanakuk and ACE Insurance Company. Summersett filed suit in June 2024 alleging fraud and fraudulent concealment, claiming Kanakuk and its leaders intentionally omitted critical information and made misrepresentations that prevented Summersett from pursuing his claim for bodily injury against them. Natasha: Can you give us a little more background to this story? Warren: Summersett, now 37, claims he was abused by former Kanakuk camp director Peter Newman in 2001 and 2002. He allegedly told Jamie Jo (Braner) Johnson and Andrew Braner, former directors of Kanakuk Colorado, about the abuse in 2009. Johnson allegedly told him she did not know about them, while Andrew Braner warned Summersett against making “a mess of this,” and saying “now [was] not a good time to talk.” He also told Summersett to “back off, given the circumstances,” the court filings claim. Kanakuk asserted that Summersett’s claim for fraud was time barred by the statute of limitations and ought to be dismissed. Summersett asserted that he is alleging in his lawsuit that Kanakuk concealed its knowledge of Newman’s conduct. Natasha: Warren, let’s take a quick break. When we return, when a nonprofit closes its doors, what happens to its funds? I’m Natasha Cowden, along with my co-host Warren Smith, and we’ll have that story and much more, after this short break.   BREAK   SECOND SEGMENT Natasha: Welcome back.  I’m Natasha Cowden, along with my co-host Warren Smith, and you’re listening to the MinistryWatch podcast. Next, the story we promised before the break. Warren: Despite amassing billions of dollars in charitable contributions every year, a surprising number of nonprofits (about 30%) don’t survive beyond a decade. With 1.8 million tax-exempt organizations operating in the United States today, this churn amounts to thousands of nonprofits dying on an annual basis. Natasha: So what’s the legal framework governing nonprofit dissolutions? Warren: Tax-exempt organizations are legally required to follow a structured dissolution process, which includes settling their outstanding debts and filing a final Form 990 tax return detailing their asset distribution plans. In notifying the Internal Revenue Service of their closure, nonprofits must disclose a description and fair market value for each disposed asset, the recipient(s), dates, and transaction fees. ​When a nonprofit organization dissolves, IRS Code 501(c)(3) requires that its remaining assets be allocated exclusively to another charitable entity or a federal, state, or local government for a public purpose. Organizations are also prohibited from distributing any property to individuals, including board members, employees, or volunteers, during the dissolution phase. ​In some cases, nonprofits may pay outstanding salaries or debts to individuals before closure, but surplus assets cannot be distributed as a windfall. Natasha: In a recent trend, some Nonprofits are Converting Into For-Profit Businesses Warren: Some nonprofits choose to restructure as for-profit entities rather than dissolve,...