(Photo: Pastor Paula White prays with Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Secretary of Health and Human Services during National Faith Advisory Board Leadership Summit.)
Washington, D.C. operates like a magnet drawing people to the allure of political power.
This week American pastors met with White House staff during meetings coordinated by the National Faith Advisory Board (NFAB) as part of the organization’s Leadership Summit.
Also, this week pastors attended the Israel Allies Foundation Gala Awards Dinner to honor President Donald Trump.
Both events were coordinated with the White House Faith Office.
Attendees such as Jentezen Franklin, pastor of Free Chapel in Gainesville, Georgia, Greg Locke, pastor of Global Vision Bible Church, in Lebanon, Tennessee, and Mark Driscoll, pastor of Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, shared photos taken during the events.
By mixing religion and politics, religious leaders run the risk of moral compromise and being associated with causes and politicians opposed by a large number of voters. As a result, voters with differing political views are less likely to attend such churches.
Jesus warned his followers to avoid hypocrisy by correcting themselves before correcting others. (Matthew 7:5) If this principle were applied to politics, it would result in members of political parties holding their own politicians accountable first, before criticizing the other party’s policies and politicians.
However, preachers are less likely to criticize or hold accountable politicians that give them access.
In his book Kingdom’s in Conflict, the late Charles Colson describes how he recruited evangelical leaders for the Nixon administration. Leaders dined in the White House dining room and received “gold-plated cuff links with the presidential seal.”
Colson surmised that religious leaders were especially susceptible to political power and noted, “Ironically, none were more compliant than the religious leaders. Of all people, they should have been the most aware of the sinful nature of man and the least overwhelmed by pomp and protocol. But theological knowledge sometimes wilts in the face of worldly power.”
Financial Disclosure Loophole
In 2021, televangelist Paula White’s church City of Destiny registered the National Faith Advisory Board as a trade name in Florida, allowing the organization to operate as an integrated auxiliary, thereby avoiding financial disclosure requirements for non-church organizations.
The IRS website explains, “The term integrated auxiliary of a church refers to a class of organizations that are related to a church or convention or association of churches but are not such organizations themselves.”
In 2011, after the conclusion of Senator Chuck Grassley’s inquiry into six TV ministries, a Senate report revealed that staffers were concerned that religious media organizations were exploiting church status and misusing integrated auxiliaries.
In 2023, a separate legal entity was created by incorporating in Florida; the new National Faith Advisory Board, Inc. claims to operate as “an association of churches and ministries.” Paula uses different variations of her name. When Paula White incorporated this latter entity, she used the name Pastor Paula Friga. Her husband Jonathan Friga uses the stage name Jonathan Cain.
Like individual churches, associations of churches are also exempt from financial disclosure requirements. They are not required to file a Form 990 with the IRS which would disclose total revenue, total expenses, income of highly compensated employees, and various expenses.
Until the trade name National Faith Advisory Board expires at the end of 2026, both Paula White’s church and the separate corporation can both use the name “National Faith Advisory Board.”
Trinity Foundation describes this practice as the Same Name Game. In addition to allowing two different entities to use the same name, both organizations may operate separate bank accounts with that name.
Donations to the National Faith Advisory Board appears to have been deposited into two different bank accounts. 990s show that donations to the advisory board were affiliated with two different Employment Identification Numbers (EIN): 93-2166989 and 59-3383244 (City of Destiny Church).
The National Faith Advisory Board articles of incorporation state, “The corporation shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered and to make payments in furtherance of the purposes set forth herein.”
Because the National Faith Advisory Board avoids filing 990s, Paula White’s compensation is secret. It is unknown if her compensation meets the IRS reasonableness test.
“How do we know whether the compensation we’re paying to our officers and key employees is reasonable?” The answer: “Reasonable compensation is the value that would ordinarily be paid for like services by like enterprises under like circumstances.”
According to a review of Form 990s, five non-profit organizations together contributed more than $1.9 million to the National Faith and Advisory Board during 2023 and 2024.
- America First Policy Institute: $100,000
- Faith and Freedom Coalition: $50,000
- Cityserve: $100,000
- USATransform: $650,000
- Servant Foundation (2023): $606,000
- Servant Foundation (2024): $425,000
Total: $1,931,000
Meanwhile, it is possible the National Faith and Advisory Board is also the recipient of dark money. Wikipedia explains that “dark money refers to spending to influence elections, public policy, and political discourse, where the source of the money is not disclosed to the public.”