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The senator who has investigated six prominent charismatic ministries for questionable finances has praised one of them—Joyce Meyer Ministries—for joining the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

“This is a positive development,” said Senator Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), who is the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. “It’s good to see increased financial accountability, transparency, board governance, and ethical fund-raising taken seriously.”

Members of the Baptist World Alliance’s executive committee, after hearing a sobering financial report detailing investment losses over the last year, agreed to slash the group’s 2009 budget by $900,000, or nearly 30 percent.

Leaders of the global umbrella organization, meeting March 3-4 at Falls Church, Virginia, reduced the budget to $2.1 million. Ellen Teague, finance director, said the cuts were necessary to maintain a decent amount of reserve funds.