Center for Pastor Theologians
Legal name: The Society for the Advancement of Ecclesial Theology
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 262742007
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2019–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2017
- Location
- Oak Park, IL, United States
- Phone
- 708-386-3900
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Religion Related N.E.C.
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $783,660
- Expenses
- $1,092,405
- Assets
- $615,127
- Liabilities
- $1,540,096
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
14 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JOEL LAWRENCE (President)
Highest reported compensation
- JOEL LAWRENCE (President): $113,918 total reported compensation
- RACHEL PAUL (Director): $77,291 total reported compensation
- DWIGHT GIBSON (Director): $75,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Forming pastor theologians to shepherd the church in our complex world. If you resonate with our mission and vision for the church, would you consider partnering with us financially? You can donate now to support the work of the CPT by clicking the link below. Give now. GRACE** — The Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us heaven’s unswerving demand for holiness as well as God’s abundant grace to restore and renew those who are repentant. While we commit to hold one another accountable to the high calling of holiness, we also commit to do so with the patience and mercy of Christ, as God grants us his help. These are some of the areas of biblical virtue that we believe are vital to the spirit and practice of Christian fellowship as a theological community. Just as the CPT allows for a diversity of theological views within the firm boundaries of evangelical faith, so the CPT respects a...
What it reported doing in 2024
Symposiums, conferences, and fellowshipempowering pastor theologians to lead thriving congregations that nuture faithful christians who cultivate renewed communities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 92% 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.
The verdict
STRONG - 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: 88
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 82
- Sustainability: 10
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 96.9%; rating input score 97
- 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -39.4%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.56; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 2.5; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 29.6%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 16.3% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 35.1% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 96.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $114K · 14 people listed
- Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 9 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.