Ancient Faith Ministries

Legal name: Ancient Faith Ministries Formerly Conciliar Media Ministries

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
331061947
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chesterton, IN, USA
Phone
8009677377
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,793,812
Expenses
$3,692,039
Assets
$2,120,935
Liabilities
$225,012

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Melinda Johnson (President & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Melinda Johnson (President & CEO): $135,387 total reported compensation
  • Robert Maddex (Digital Media Dir.): $132,223 total reported compensation
  • Nancy Colakovic (Dir. of Finance): $120,723 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Mission Evangelize, edify, educate, and engage. Ancient Faith Ministries exists to carry out the Great Commission of Jesus Christ through accessible and excellently crafted publications and creative media that evangelize, edify, educate, and engage, leading to a living experience of God through His Holy Orthodox Church.

What it reported doing in 2024

Ancient Faith Publishing publishes a large number of books, booklets and brochures with regard to various aspects of Orthodox Christianity. It also sells religious icons, religious jewelery and liturgical items for the home. It also sells books from other publishers regarding Orthodox Christianity. Presently, Ancient Faith Publishing has approximately 240 active book titles in print in addition to E-books, audio-books and an array of literature in booklet/brochure format. Approximately 50% of its sales are to Orthodox and other Christian bookstores, churches and church bookstores. The other 50% of its sales are to individuals. It distributes Orthodox books and literature to approximately 2,000 wholesale customers (bookstores and church bookstores) as well as a number of individuals. The purpose of this distribution is to introduce Orthodox Christianity to non-ORthodox Christians and to enlighten and teach Orthodox Christians about their faith.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 83% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 61
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 76.9%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 22
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.7%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.57; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.6%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.1% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.9% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 76.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $2.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $135K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 57/100.