In January 2011, ECFA established the Commission on Accountability and Policy for Religious Organizations ("the Commission").
The purpose of the Commission is to facilitate responses to Senator Charles Grassley, member of the Senate Finance Committee, on issues related to accountability and policy for religious organizations.
Commission Members
Mr. Michael Batts, Commission Chairman, is a CPA and the president and managing partner of Batts Morrison Wales & Lee, an accounting firm dedicated exclusively to serving nonprofit organizations across the United States. He is a member of the ECFA board and its former chairman. Mr. Batts has more than 25 years of experience serving nonprofit organizations. He is a national speaker and author, having written three books and numerous professional articles on matters related to the nonprofit sector. Mr. Batts was recently inducted by the National Association of Church Business Administration into its Hall of Fame in recognition of his significant professional contributions to the church community.
Rev. Luis Cortés, Jr., is the founder of Esperanza, Philadelphia, one of the largest Hispanic evangelical networks in the nation. A national leader of Hispanic concerns, he has provided technical assistance to over 450 Hispanic nonprofits with funding over $11 million. He founded The National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC and was a founding board member of United Bank, the first African American-owned bank in Pennsylvania. He serves on the board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh (an SEC corporation and a GSE), for which he also previously served as vice chairman; the boards of the Cancer Treatment Center, northeast region; and The American Bible Society.
Rev. Mark Davis currently serves as a ministry consultant to numerous churches and schools in the areas of strategic planning, finance, accounting, governance, and development. He served as the executive pastor of one of the top ten largest churches in the United States for 24 years. Mr. Davis has served on numerous boards including 4KIDS of South Florida, the Christian Community Foundation, Sheridan House Ministries, Taylor University, and the Standards Committee of ECFA.
Mr. Stephen Douglass is the president of Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru), Orlando, which is one of the largest nonprofit organizations in the United States. Campus Crusade (Cru) exists to help fulfill the Great Commission by winning, building and sending in the power of the Holy Spirit and helping the body of Christ do evangelism and discipleship. Mr. Douglass is also an author, speaker, and radio host.
Mr. Richard Hammar is an attorney, CPA, general counsel for the Assemblies of God, Springfield, Missouri, and best-selling author specializing in legal and tax issues for churches and clergy. Mr. Hammar has written over 100 books and is a noted speaker on church-related topics. He is a former ECFA board member.
Dr. Joel Hunter is senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed, in Longwood, Florida, a pioneering congregation of 15,000 that uses technology to connect people in worship around the globe. Dr. Hunter is also a member of the board of the National Association of Evangelicals and the World Evangelical Alliance. He served during the inaugural year on the U.S. President’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
Mr. Lauren Libby is president of TWR, Cary, North Carolina. Lauren co-founded Educational Communications in Colorado Springs, which comprises 15 radio stations and 28 translators. He formerly served at The Navigators in various senior executive posts. Lauren is a member of the boards of Northwestern College, NRB and ECFA, and a former ECFA Standards Committee chair.
Dr. Jo Anne Lyon is the general superintendent of The Wesleyan Church, Indianapolis, Indiana, and a member of the ECFA board. She was previously the founder and CEO of World Hope International, Alexandria, Virginia, a faith-based relief and development organization alleviating suffering and injustice in 30 countries.
Rev. William Townes, Jr., a CPA, is vice president for convention finance for the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), Nashville, where he provides oversight of the financial operation of the Executive Committee and the organization of the annual SBC meeting. Previously, Rev. Townes served as the chief financial officer for the Georgia Baptist Convention and chief development officer for the North American Mission Board, Atlanta.
Dr. Kenneth Ulmer is senior pastor and teacher of Faithful Central Bible Church, Inglewood, California. He ministers under the favor of God and is a nationally known speaker and author. Dr. Ulmer is also the former president of The King’s University as well as a founding board member, adjunct professor, and dean of The King’s University at Oxford, an annual summer session held at Oxford University.
Dr. Dolphus Weary is president of the Rural Education and Leadership (R.E.A.L.) Christian Foundation, Richland, Mississippi. He is a noted author and speaker on racial reconciliation issues. Previously, he served 27 years with Mendenhall Ministries, a multi-faceted Christian community development ministry, which was used as a model to launch the now Christian Community Development Association (CCDA); and then 10 years as the executive director/president of Mission Mississippi, a statewide movement encouraging the Body of Christ in Mississippi to work at eliminating racism. He serves on a number of national and local boards, including Belhaven University and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He is a former ECFA board member.
Mr. David Wills is president of the National Christian Foundation, Alpharetta, Georgia, serving over 9,000 families by providing giving solutions and tools to maximize resources for Kingdom purposes. An attorney, Mr. Wills is a member of the boards of ECFA (and board chairman), Generous Giving, Hope for the Heart, ProVision Foundation, and the Cathy Family Foundations (Chick-Fil-A). He is the co-author of two books and a frequent lecturer.
Mr. Mark Holbrook is the president and CEO of the Evangelical Christian Credit Union, a $3.2 billion (assets under management) financial cooperative serving the banking needs of ministries across the United States and missionaries around the world. Mark has served on several nonprofit ministry boards.
Mr. Dan Busby is the president of ECFA. He served as controller with the University Hospitals in Kansas City, as the founding partner of a CPA firm in Kansas City, and the chief financial officer of The Wesleyan Church denominational offices in Indianapolis. Serving with ECFA since 1998, Dan became the president in 2009. He has been Zondervan’s church and nonprofit tax and finance author since 1990 and is a noted speaker across the United States.