The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "evangelism" ...
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A story of hope, and a lopsided deal
A six-month Boston Globe investigation revealed that a contractor from California was repeatedly employing impoverished, drug-addicted men from an evangelical church to renovate hotels across the country. The story started in Boston, where reporter Casey Ross discovered that the contractor, Installations Plus, was paying illegally low wages to workers trucked up from Victory Outreach Church in Philadelphia. He also traced the illegal behavior to other Massachusetts communities and then to California, where he spent several days tracking down Victory Outreach members who recalled working for the contractor in that state. The result of his reporting was a richly detailed narrative that took readers into a little-known corner of America’s underground economy. After the story’s publication, the state of Massachusetts announced an effort to strengthen labor enforcement against companies that fund and manage projects where significant violations are found. In addition, California labor officials initiated an investigation into the employment practices of Installations Plus.
Tags: Economy; low wages; contractor; workers
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Preaching for Profit
The story exposes of the nation's top televangelists, Kenneth Copeland, and his extravagant lifestyle through the donations from members of his church. Records obtained show that Copeland purchased a $20 million dollar jet, expensive cars and motorcycles, and 18,000 square foot home.
Tags: evangelical; Senator Charles Grassley; ministry; God; funding; payroll; for-profit
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God's Harvard: A Christian College on a Mission to Save America
"Since 2000, America's most ambitious young evangelicals have been making their way to Patrick Henry College, a small Christian school just outside the nation's capital. God's Harvard grooms these students to be the elite of tomorrow, dispatching them to the front lines of politics, entertainment and science to wage the battle to take back a godless nation." The book's aim was "to capture this nerve center of the evangelical movement at a moment of maximum influence and also of crisis, as it struggles to avoid the temptations of modern life and still remake the world in its own image."
Tags: God's Harvard; evangelical movement; Roe V. Wade; gay rights; lawyers; politics; immoral; godless nation
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Exporting Faith
The Boston Globe used "a complete raw database of all USAID awards (prime contracts, grants and agreements) obligated from FY 2001 to FY 2005" to investigate the results of President Bush's Executive Orders that "created the faith based initiative and relaxed federal regulations for religious groups using government funds that once sought to protect church-state separations." The series shows that the percentage of USAID awards going to ngo faith based organizations in 2005 was almost doubled the percentage in 2001, from 10.5% to 19.9%. This creates the potential for problems where aid recipients "might forgo assistance because they don't share in the religion of the provider."
Tags: separation of church and state; faith-based initiatives; foreign aid; executive orders; church-state ties; White House Office of Faith and Community Based Initiatives; President Bush; USAID; NGO; Christian evangelicals; Kenya; Angola; Pakistan; Focus on the Family; James Dobb; FOIA; UNICEF; UNDP; State Department; Samaritan's Purse; National Association of Evangelicals; Americans United for Separation of the Church and State; Global Health Outreach; Offfice of Volunteers for Prosperity; Youth for Christ; World Vision; Yellowbook;
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Religious Intolerance in the U.S. Air Force Academy
This story exposed incidents of religious bullying and an atmosphere of religious intolerance at the U.S. Air Force Academy. It includes the first television interview with Melinda Morton, the Air Force Academy Chaplain who blew the whistle about religious bigotry at the academy. Morton's charges spawned a Pentagon task force and generated interest from Congress. The academy's superintendent retired early after the charges became public.
Tags: religion; evangelical Christian; Air Force Academy; discrimination; Air Force
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Return of the Black Widow: Seductress of the Saints
This profile of Sandra Bridewell maps out her cross - country journey of fraud and deceit. Nicknamed the "black widow", Bridewell left a trail of lies, debt and suspiciously dead husbands behind her. Whitley, who has covered Bridewell's story from the beginning, picked up the investigation again once she learned that the aging Bridewell has fallen from a wealthy socialite to a homeless religious fanatic.
Tags: murder; death; suicide; evangelism; evangelists; fraud; lies; insurance fraud; widow
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Iranian Minister
KPHO-TV investigates money schemes used by an Iranian minister at an Arizona evangelical church. The report details how "both Americans and Iranian parishioners began giving Edward Yousfi, and his brother Joseph, hundreds of thousands of dollars ... to invest in a supposed offshore trading company" and "to help get [Iranian] relatives out of Iran and into the United States." The story reports on how the minister has failed to keep his promises, and reveals that he had lied to other communities in the past. The story also describes how the minister has caused "many wounds in the Iranian community" by spreading misinformation about former church members.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; Persian; religion; church; immigrants; refugees; FBI
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The Brownsville revival: The money and the myths
The News Journal investigates the Brownsville Revival, the United States' biggest revival this century. The investigation found that the spiritual leaders had lied about how they were using the millions of dollars pouring in, how much they were making personally, their backgrounds and lifestyles and the origins and spiritual basis of the revival.
Tags: RELIGION Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability IRS Internal Revenue Service
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The Promise Keepers Are Coming
The authors examine the growth of the Promise Keepers and the influential people behind the movement.
Tags: None
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No title (id: 12691)
The stories exposed the Foundation for New Era Philanthropy, a fast-growing charity that was, in fact, a giant Ponzi scheme. The articles traced how New Era managed to dupe hundreds of colleges, evangelical groups, churches, museums, other charities and prominent philanthropists out of more than $100 million. (May 15, 16, 19, June 2, 15, 22 & Nov. 1, 1995)
Tags: Stecklow A big charity faces tough questions about its financing Contest entry 18 pgs.