Last updated: Mar 8, 2021
As the number of primary source documents available regarding the Ravi Zacharias case has grown quite rapidly, I thought it would be useful to put together the links in a quick reference page.
- For a more exhaustive timeline / reference for the Ravi Zacharias case, take a look at Brad’s work over at Spiritual Sounding Board.
- For my commentary on this topic, see my blog posts diving more specifically into particular areas or my Twitter feed.
See anything missing?
If you know of other documents online that should be linked here, please let me know.
Also, many financial documents are not published, or were published at one time and have been taken down. If you happen to have received documents from RZIM in the past and are willing to share them, please send me an email. In particular, we are missing the financial report for FY 2017, which was the year of the sexting lawsuit.
Contents
Public statements
From Ravi Zacharias
- Dec 3, 2017—Ravi Zacharias public statement denying sexting allegations
- Aug 22, 2018—Ravi Zacharias statement to Warren Throckmorton apologizing for credential misrepresentation
From RZIM (US)
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~Nov 27, 2017—RZIM statements to Ministry Watch accusing Thompsons of “extortion” and stating that the Board stands unanimously behind Ravi, while admitting the Board had only been “briefed” on the contents of the emails. MinistryWatch noted also,
While RZIM has stated to us the ministry made no payments in the settlement of the case (presumably any payments made to the alleged extortionists came directly from Ravi Zacharias), they did not answer our question if Zacharias has received any unusual compensation from the ministry recently which may have assisted him in making payments to settle the case.
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We, the family and ministry teammates of Ravi Zacharias, can say that the accusations being made against Ravi do not comport in any way with the man we knew for 74 years, nor do we believe them to be true. These accusations pertain to businesses closed nearly a decade ago. While we would like to respond in more detail to these accusations, it is virtually impossible to do so at this time given these accusations were only made months after his death and were never raised during his 74-year life.
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Sep (15? 25? 29?), 2020—The RZIM Statement regarding September reporting of sexual harassment and abuse allegations at two spas Zacharias co-owned
was never published in full, that I can findseems to have been published at one point (broken link) but is no longer available. However, it is quoted in several news articles. Soul Purpose Magazine has the longest quote that I could find, which matches the internal text posted by Carson Weitnauer:We, the family and ministry teammates of the late Ravi Zacharias, can say the allegations now being made against Ravi do not in any way comport with the man we knew for decades—we believe them to be false.
These allegations pertain to businesses that were closed nearly a decade ago. These allegations were never made during Ravi’s lifetime, but were first presented to a third party more than three months after his death.
We have commenced an independent external investigation to look into this matter to the fullest extent we are able. We do not intend to comment further about this matter until the investigation’s findings are presented to the executive committee of the board of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. We at RZIM remain committed to truth; it is the foundation of what we do and that has not changed.
The date of the statement is unclear. Max Baker-Hytch’s first letter dates it September 25. Carson Weitnauer posted a (possibly internal) copy dated September 15. The first time it was referenced externally (that I can tell) was the Christianity Today coverage on September 29. The RZIM apology on Feb 11 dated it September 15. The version given to Protestia on September 11 has slightly different wording. While the statement is no longer on the RZIM website, the fact it existed is evidenced by links from news coverage.
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Sep 25, 2020—RZIM Statement standing behind previous handling of Thompson case (deleted Feb 4, 2021)
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Oct 7, 2020—RZIM Statement announcing Miller & Martin Investigation
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Dec 23, 2020—RZIM Intermediate Response: Allegations Against Ravi Zacharias - Dec 23
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Feb 11, 2021—Open Letter from the International Board of Directors of RZIM on the Investigation of Ravi Zacharias (apologizes for September statements)
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Feb 11, 2021—Why Make Public a Private Investigation?
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Feb 9, 2021—Miller & Martin Report of Independent Investigation into Sexual Misconduct of Ravi Zacharias (published Feb 11)
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Mar 6, 2021—Update from CEO Sarah Davis (unclear if this is from the Board as well)
From RZIM (other countries/affiliates)
- Dec 23, 2020—Extract from UK Board letter to Zacharias Trust staff
- Jan 7, 2021—A Message from the Board of RZIM Canada
- Jan 19, 2021—A Statement from the Board of RZIM Canada
- Feb 12, 2021—Statement from UK Board announcing separation from US org
- Feb 18, 2021—Statement from RZIM Canada announcing winding down
- Feb 19, 2021—Statement from RZIM Africa
From RZIM employees / former employees
- Dec 9, 2020—Baker-Hytch Letter Outlining Concerns - (published Dec 12)
- Dec 13, 2020—Thyer/Dickson Responses to Baker-Hytch Letter
- Dec 20, 2020—Alberry Statement Supporting Baker-Hytch
- Dec 20, 2020—Gilman Statement Supporting Women Making Allegations
- Dec 21, 2020—Weitnauer Statement
- Dec 20, 2020—Second Baker-Hytch Letter Outlining Additional Concerns (published Dec 21)
- Dec 21, 2020—Weitnauer Apology to Thompsons (published Dec 22)
- Dec 29, 2020—Dan Paterson interview (selected quotes)
- Feb 6, 2021—Ruth Malhotra letter to RZIM Board Chair (published Feb 14)
- Feb 14, 2021—Drew McNeil statement contra Ruth M statement (specific re: nanny/assistant)
- Feb 16, 2021—Mark DeMoss (RZIM consultant) response to Ruth Malhotra letter
- Feb 23, 2021—Vince and Jo Vitale (video)
- Mar 6, 2021—Update from CEO Sarah Davis (unclear if this is from the Board as well)
From Zacharias family members
- Oct 14, 2020—Drew McNeil (former son-in-law) statement (threadreaderapp)
- Jan 5, 2021—Naomi Zacharias instagram post
- Feb 5, 2021—Nathan Zacharias statement (pre-report)
- Feb 11, 2021—Nathan Zacharias statement (post-report): part 1, part 2, part 3
- Feb 11, 2021—Naomi Zacharias statement (post-report)
- Feb 16, 2021—Nathan Zacharias statement publishing Sharma-Zacharias messages
- Feb 17, 2021—Nathan Zacharias post questioning report objectivity
- Mar 6, 2021—Update from CEO Sarah Davis (unclear if this is from the Board as well)
From victims
- June 24, 2019—Statement from Shirley Steward alleging the Zachariases pressured her to have an illegal abortion at age 16
- Sep 8, 2020—Statements from two massage therapists, spa co-owner Anurag Sharma, and SBC pastor Johnny Hunt, published by Steve Baughman (selected quotes/transcript). One therapist told Baughman she knew Ravi’s wife Margie well and would be willing to speak to her about this.
- Sep 29, 2020—Statements from massage therapists alleging sexual harassment and abuse by Zacharias are included in the news coverage from Christianity Today and WORLD Magazine. The reporting also contains on-the-record corroboration from former spa managers.
- Oct 13, 2020—An Open Letter to RZIM from Brad & Lori Anne Thompson
- Dec 23, 2020—Thompson Response to Interim Report
- Feb 11, 2021—Shirley Steward podcast with The Roys Report: “Ravi Zacharias Pressured Me to Get an Abortion”
From The Christian & Missionary Alliance (C&MA)
Ravi Zacharias was ordained with C&MA in Canada originally and then transferred to C&MA in the US.
- Mar 5, 2018—C&MA US statement regarding credential fraud and sexting allegations
- Oct 12, 2020—C&MA US announcement of new investigation following spa allegations
- Feb 12, 2021—C&MA US Statement regarding the Miller & Martin report
- Feb 12, 2021—C&MA Canada Statement regarding the Miller & Martin report
Lawsuit documents (2017)
Financial/Governance documents
Audits/financial reports for RZIM
- 2013-2014 financial audit/report by Capin Crouse
- 2015-2016 financial audit/report by Capin Crouse
- 2017 financial audit/report is missing
- 2018-2019 financial audit/report by Capin Crouse
IRS documents for RZIM
- IRS annual disclosure Form 990 for 2014, fiscal year ending 2015: [version 1 - filed July 2016] [version 2 - filed Jan 2017]
- IRS annual disclosure Form 990s from 2001 to 2015 available at ProPublica
- IRS Determination Letter approving church status dated March 2019 || [Original TIFF from IRS]
- IRS Form 1023 (application for exemption in 1986)
Governance documents for RZIM, Inc (est 1986 in GA)
Note: RZIM’s history page says it was founded in 1984, but the corporation was registered in Georgia in 1986. They may have run unincorporated in the beginning, or perhaps they were registered in another state. According to RZIM’s 1986 application for tax exempt status with the IRS, a related organization was initially incorporated and exempt in New York in 1984-1985, and its assets were later transferred to RZIM (Georgia).
- Restated Articles of Incorporation (2018)
- Original Articles of Incorporation (1986)
- Original Bylaws (1986, provided as part of IRS Form 1023)
- All RZIM documents at Georgia Corporations Division
- Organization charts from early 2020, October 2020, and November 2020 (leaked to The Roys Report)
- Colorado Charities database (registration # 20073008252, withdrawn 2018, filing data is for previous year): 2017, 2016, 2015 (search “RZIM” here for more)
Other RZIM-related GA entities
RZIM Productions, Inc (est May 2017 in GA):
- RZIM Productions (est 2017) Articles of Incorporation
- All RZIM Productions documents at Georgia Corporations Division
Gate Project, LLC (est Jul 2018 in GA)
- Gate Project, LLC at Georgia Corporations Division (Jeanette Chuquire, RZIM CFO, is an Organizer according to filed Annual Registrations)
Financial / governance documents for RZIM international affiliates
Annual reports
Touch of Hope documents
On Jan 15, 2021, organization charts for RZIM from early 2020, October 2020, and November 2020 were leaked to The Roys Report. These charts show a woman (name redacted) who was known as Ravi Zacharias’s private massage therapist employed as a “Project Manager” for a project named “Touch of Hope”. She reported first directly to Zacharias, later to his daughter and CEO Sarah Davis, and later still to CFO Jeanette Chuquiure.
Touch of Hope 2011 launch news coverage:
- Jun 13, 2011—Apologist Ravi Zacharias’ ministry celebrates 25 years
- Jun 9, 2011—RZIM enters silver jubliee (sic)
- Jun 5, 2011—Lighting the lamp of hope for children
This scholarship appears to have been renamed the “Future Stars Scholarship” and was administered by RZIM India for a time. I can’t find it extant on the web any more.
- 2013 brief description on RZIM India site
- 2014 same brief description on RZIM India site
- 2015 longer description and specifies 25th anniversary launch
- 2017 longer description with testimonials from students
- RZIM India 2014-2015 financial report which lists this scholarship as spending about 600,000 rupees (about $8000 in USD) that year
However, according to the Miller & Martin investigative report, “Touch of Hope” at RZIM was operated as a purely discretionary fund which Ravi Zacharias used to wire substantials sums of money to women.