Mark Stinnett has Philmont Scout Ranch in his blood. 

As a youth, he became an Eagle Scout and member of the staff of Philmont, Scouting’s premier high adventure camp in New Mexico. While on staff, he met the young woman, Carol, who would become his wife. After graduating from college and law school, he became president of the Philmont Staff Association, an alumni group made up of thousands of former Philmont staff members. He took a position on Philmont’s Ranch Committee, an oversight board charged with making strategic decisions for the ranch.

The Salvation Army struck gold over the weekend. Bell ringers found a gold bar worth almost $1,500 inside a red kettle for donations in Kentucky.

The Chick-fil-A Foundation’s announcement of its shift in giving priorities ruffled many feathers in the evangelical world, but a review of tax documents suggests the chicken restaurant still gives the vast majority of its charitable dollars to Christian ministries. 

UPDATE, JAN. 2: Preemptive Love Coalition provided an online response on Dec. 4 to this story, calling it “false” and asking WORLD to issue a retraction. In response, WORLD again contacted local officials to ask about PLC’s list of 37 locations where the group said it had provided assistance. That included “3,000 family food packages—1,800 of which have already been distributed, and 1,200 more to be distributed shortly.”

It’s a bright Sunday morning in Tegucigalpa, and Michael Miller is late for church.  

Miller serves as an elder at the bilingual Union Christian Church, but he’s spent the morning trying to talk a 15-year-old boy off the streets and back into the Micah Project—a Christian ministry Miller’s led for nearly 20 years. 

It’s been a long night.

When staff members join Christ the King Community Church in Burlington, Wash., one of the largest churches in the United States, they sign onto the employee handbook, which has a tightly defined confidentiality clause. By signing, staffers agree never to discuss information “designated as confidential” such as “sensitive information regarding members” or donation records or discipline issues. The handbook is publicly available.

Nobody’s ever confused me with “Dear Abby.” In the 33 years I’ve edited this column, nobody’s ever written me asking for advice about courtship, marriage issues, or an intrusive mother-in-law.

But it’s a rare week’s mail that doesn’t bring several appeals for advice of a different kind. What do I think about ABC College? Would I recommend DEF University? What about GHI Seminary? Is the JKL Relief Agency careful in its use of funds? Is the MNO Home for Children a reliable orphanage?