Gayle Erwin, Gospel for Asia Whistleblower, Dies at 86

Erwin was known to many as a long-time Calvary Chapel pastor

I was sad to see at the Phoenix Preacher that Gayle Erwin passed away. Erwin, who was 86 at his death, was known to most people as a long-time pastor in the Calvary Chapel fellowship of churches. I knew Gayle as a former board member of the Gospel for Asia mission organization. After serving on the GFA board for many years, he was courageous enough to go public in 2015 about the internal corruption at the organization.

I first contacted Erwin in October, 2015. I saw a Facebook article he posted and we discussed some matters relating to board resignations. He was aware of my reporting regarding financial irregularities at GFA and we spoke about shared concerns.

Later, in December 2015, Erwin went public on my blog with a report written by the Evangelical Council for Financial Responsibility. Here is the beginning of that blog posting.

In response to ongoing claims from Gospel for Asia about the investigation conducted by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, former GFA board member Gayle Erwin has released a series of documents, including the report of the ECFA investigation as well as the GFA response. As is now widely known, the result of that investigation was a vote of the ECFA board to terminate GFA’s membership. I believe it is important to note that Erwin put in over 30 years of service as a board member and was cited in the original edition of K.P. Yohannan’s first book (ghostwritten by Bill Bray) as an influence.

Erwin also released correspondence which documents his efforts to bring change to GFA before he resigned. Given the lack of public accountability by GFA, these documents provide some answers to remaining questions raised by the public, GFA donors and former donors, former and current staff, and current recipients of GFA’s services.

The documents Erwin released exposed the misrepresentations and mismanagement by GFA’s leadership at the time. The report of the ECFA made it clear that GFA was out of compliance with multiple financial standards and had been for quite some time. The leadership of the organization had kept the board in the dark, and when some board members attempted to correct matters, the leadership, specifically the late K.P. Yohannan thwarted their efforts. The documents provided by Gayle Erwin provided donors with a clear window into the facts about how Gospel for Asia had been managed. It was a brave thing for him to do and I am aware he suffered some backlash over it.

However, in time, he was vindicated by a $37-million class action settlement GFA agreed to in March 2019. My blog posting on March 1 began:

In court documents filed today, Gospel for Asia settled with plaintiffs Garland and Phyllis Murphy by agreeing to set aside $37-million in a Settlement Fund to provide relief for donors as well as cover court costs and attorneys’ fees. GFA also agreed to have Dr. Murphy join the board of the organization. Murphy and GFA will also work together to designate a replacement for K.P. Yohannan’s wife who will go off of the GFA board. GFA also agreed not to appoint any other relative of Yohannan to the board.

GFA also agreed to create a board subcommittee which shall not include Yohannan in order to provide oversight for the organization’s compliance with the settlement. The mission organization also agreed to comply with Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability guidelines and seek readmission to membership.

K.P. Yohannan and Gospel for Asia seemingly recovered from the unprecedented settlement but didn’t seem to improve their transparency with donors. The organization lost their ability to accept foreign funds in India but to my knowledge did not disclose that to American donors. The organization is now active in Africa.

Tragically, Yohannan died on May 8, 2024 from injuries suffered after being hit by a car near the organization’s complex in Wills Point, TX.

For more about Gayle Erwin’s life and ministry as a Calvary Chapel pastor, please see this tribute in the Calvary Chapel magazine and see his website.