| Crown Financial Ministries | |
|---|---|
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| Type | Non-profit |
| Founded | 1976, merged in 2000 |
| Headquarters | Gainesville, GA, USA |
| Key people | Howard Dayton, Co-founder Chuck Bentley, CEO Ron Blue, Chairman Larry Burkett, deceased Co-founder |
| Industry | Christian Finances Financial Planning Debt Relief |
| Slogan | True Financial Freedom |
| Website | www.crown.org |
Crown Financial Ministries is a nondenominational, evangelical Christian ministry with the mission of equipping Christians around the world to learn, apply and teach financial principles based on the Bible. The ministry's goal is to teach 300 million people by September 2015. It was formed in 2000 by a merger of Larry Burkett's Christian Financial Concepts (founded 1976) and Howard Dayton's Crown Ministries (founded 1985). However, Burkett focused his ministry on mass media (his radio show, Money Matters and a number of books) while Dayton focused on activities within churches. The two had met in the 1990s and quickly became friends; they considered the merger logical due to the near-identical mission of their two groups. Burkett was chairman of the board of the combined entity until his 2003 death; Dayton has been CEO since the merger. Its activities include:
- A radio show, Crown Radio: Money Matters hosted by Dayton and Steve Moore, and aired on 1,100 radio stations. An estimated 2,000,000 listeners in the US listen to the program, which is also aired in Africa, Australia and China. A Spanish-language version is aired in 23 countries.
- Training volunteer "Money Map" coaches (there are currently over 10,000) to assist individuals and families.
- Various activities (small-group studies, workshops and seminars) with churches of all denominations.
- Selling guides for career management and computer software.
- Providing financial guides for children and teens.
Its message is similar to the message given by financial talk show host Dave Ramsey, in that getting out of debt and controlling one's expectation of living are two important parts of Christian discipleship. While they acknowledge there is no direct admonition in the Bible against assuming debt, they heavily discourage taking it on. While most of what they say is praised, some Christian financial planners, such as Gary Moore, criticize Crown for what they consider an aversion to taking on debt.
References
- www.crown.org - the ministry's website
- http://www.ministrywatch.com/mw2.1/F_FullRpt.asp?EIN=581260812 - a history and financial profile of the ministry
- http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/005/23.40.html - May 2006 article from Christianity Today about Crown, Dave Ramsey and Gary Moore
- http://www.christiandebthelp.info - Reviews Crown and compares it to other Christian debt services and ministries
