This article will examine NAR evangelist Dan Bohi’s ministry, Becoming Love Ministries. Anyone who feels called into formal ministry must choose a vehicle by which to do it. You can involve yourself in the ministries of your local church, start an apologetics blog, host a small group, or launch an independent ministry. In this case, Bohi founded Becoming Love Ministries.
In the prior article about Bohi, I detailed the serious red flags related to his theology on the NAR, faith healings, and impartations. In this article, I will detail the organizational red flags of Becoming Love Ministries. When there is smoke, there is inevitably fire; and a fire is burning in the pockets of Becoming Love Ministries.
Becoming Love Ministries
I began by reviewing Becoming Love Ministries’ website. I would generally describe the “Statement of Faith” as being consistent with orthodox Christianity. It appears to be thoughtfully written and theologically sound. For this, I applaud Bohi. Every Christian ministry needs to have a Biblically orthodox statement of faith. In this regard, Becoming Love Ministries has done well. However, does Bohi and his ministry operate in a Biblically consistent way?
Is Becoming Love Ministries a good steward of its donations? Upon review of the publicly available finances, it became clear that there were red flags. Charity Navigator gave Becoming Love Ministries a failing score on their “Finance & Accountability” section. ProPublica publishes publicly available tax information for nonprofits. 2019 was the last recorded year with accessible tax documentation. Dan Bohi, the founder of Becoming Love Ministries, was compensated $259,589. To put it in perspective, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated the median annual wage for clergy in 2021 was $49,720. Bohi is earning $209,869 more than the median annual wage for clergy. In 2021, the U.S. median annual wage was $45,760. In 2022, the median U.S. household income is $61,937. The average salary in 2021 for a doctor is $229,311. Statistically, Bohi easily falls within the top 10 percent of income earners. Lastly, so I can make a strict apples-to-apples comparison, the average salary for a founder of a nonprofit is $147,241, which is $112,348 less than Bohi’s salary.
Perceptions are very important in ministry. Christian clergy (i.e. staff pastors) commonly accompanies a lower salary. Personally, I feel pastors are underpaid for their work due to the eternal importance of what they do, but that is the nature of being clergy. They’ve committed themselves to God because it’s a calling. So, there is no dispute about whether pastors should be adequately compensated for feeding the souls of their flock with the word of God. My concern about Bohi’s salary is that his compensation is considerably more than 90% of the U.S. population. Again, perceptions are important in ministry. When every available economic metric suggests that Bohi is earning roughly five times the median annual income of an average clergyman, it’s not unreasonable to inquire about why Bohi accepted such an excessively high salary.
Conclusion
Referring back to my introduction, Bohi will have a higher degree of accountability due to his tenure in the faith and the position he holds. Questions about finances will arise because his compensation is dramatically disproportionate to others performing the same or similar tasks.
My prayer is that Bohi is placing his wealth in God’s hands for good use. In light of that prayer, nobody should ignore that his finances are a red flag due to economic disparities. His excessively high salary dwarfs the average clergyman’s salary by a magnitude of five. Is this a responsible stewardship of the donations Becoming Love Ministries receives? If I was on the board of Becoming Love Ministries, I would vehemently oppose this level of compensation in lieu of a prudent level of compensation commensurate with his occupation. This demonstration of fiscal irresponsibility is a red flag, especially when accompanied by many false teachings.
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