Food for the Poor, the largest Christian ministry in the world, takes in about one billion dollars a year. According to MinistryWatch.com, the 500 largest Christian ministries in the world take in a combined total of about $15 billion. That’s less than the estimated amount of money that was wasted by “ecclesiastical crime” each year. In fact, the total amount of money that “leaks” out of the church and Christian philanthropy system via waste, fraud, and abuse could top $27 billion in 2009. “That’s about six percent of the global total of $410 billion given to Christian charities,” said Bert Hickman, a research associate with the Center for the Study of Global Philanthropy at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
