The newly released 2025 Form 990 for the Jesus Calling Foundation is raising fresh questions about the Presbyterian Church in America's internal investigation of one of the best-selling devotional books of all time. According to the tax filing, now available through the ProPublica nonprofit database, the foundation contributed more than a million dollars from Jesus Calling royalties to the PCA in 2025 — the same year the denomination completed its investigation of the late Sarah Young's devotional.

One line of the filing stands out in particular. The PCA's missionary agency, Mission to the World (MTW), received $582,500 from the foundation — a triple increase over the $280,000 it received in 2024. MTW produced one of the two investigative reports on the book, and Protestia, which reported the figures, argues that the foundation was funding the very agency tasked with examining it.

The timeline is worth laying out plainly. In 2024, the PCA General Assembly directed MTW to examine its relationship with Jesus Calling and to consider what actions the denomination should take in light of that study. That same year, MTW received $280,000 from the Jesus Calling Foundation.

In 2025, MTW reported that it had "no formal relationship with the book" and offered no recommendations regarding any actions related to it. That conclusion came despite a notable fact: Sarah Young, a longtime PCA member whose husband is an ordained PCA minister, served as a missionary under MTW's oversight from before the book's creation until her death — just before sales of her work exceeded 45 million copies.

A parallel track ran through the PCA's Committee on Discipleship Ministries (CDM), which the General Assembly asked in 2024 to assess the book's appropriateness for Christians and to recommend remedial materials, advisory statements, or General Assembly actions if needed. In 2025, CDM reported that "neither CDM nor its staff recommend Jesus Calling," but it declined to issue advisory statements or propose any denominational actions, instead leaving the matter to local church elders.

It is Protestia's judgment — not a legal finding — that the flow of money amounts to a clear conflict of interest. The dollar figures themselves come from the foundation's own publicly filed tax returns, which anyone can review. The article reports no response from the PCA or MTW to the conflict-of-interest characterization, and neither body has announced any plan to revisit the matter.

For context, Jesus Calling, published in 2004, has sold more than 45 million copies, making it one of the most recognizable devotionals in modern church life. It has also been one of the most debated, with some conservative Christians raising concerns over its first-person "voice of Jesus" format and its treatment of Scripture's sufficiency. The franchise has since grown to include spin-off devotionals, children's editions, Bible storybooks, apps, and podcasts.

Christians watching this story should keep two truths in view. The financial records are real and public, and the appearance of a financial interest overlapping with an investigation is a serious matter for any church body. But the heaviest charge — that the investigation was compromised — is an inference drawn from those records, not a proven finding. Discerning believers weigh the documented facts first and let conclusions follow the evidence.