Paul Franklin Crouch, a pioneering televangelist who founded Trinity Broadcasting Network, the world”s largest Christian TV network, died on Saturday, according to the network’s website. He was 79.
A short statement, read: “Dr Paul F Crouch passed into the presence of the Lord on November 30, 2013. We are grateful for the life of this amazing servant of God. Please pray for the Crouch family during this time.”
Crouch had fallen ill in October while on a visit to a TBN facility in Colleyville, Texas, and was taken to a Dallas-area hospital. He had “heart and related health issues,” the network said, and he was later returned to California for continued treatment.
“The son of a Missouri missionary, Crouch moved to California in the early 1960s to manage the movie and television unit of the Assemblies of God,” wrote Elaine Woo in the Los Angeles Times. “A decade later, after receiving what he believed was a message from God, he began to buy television stations, cable channels and satellites and developed enough Christian programming to sustain a 24-hour network.
“By the mid-1980s, Orange County-based TBN was “the country”s most-watched religious network,” according to J Gordon Melton and Jon R. Stone in their book Prime-Time Religion: An Encyclopedia of Religious Broadcasting.”
Woo went on to say, “With his bubbly wife Jan, Crouch anchored TBN”s flagship program, Praise the Lord, a nightly two-hour talk show featuring guests, Scripture and entertainment. He was known for preaching a gospel of prosperity, imploring viewers to open their pocketbooks to further God”s works and reap spiritual and material blessings in return.
“During four decades on air he often generated controversy, in particular because of the extravagant lifestyle he and his wife led. Critics complained that his jets, mansions and lavish expense-account meals were paid by tax-exempt donations from TBN”s legion of “prayer partners,” whose pledges enabled the network to surpass its rivals in size and global reach.”
According to Christian News Service, Brandon Crouch, grandson to Crouch, Sr, wrote on his Facebook page, “Today, my grandfather, #PaulCrouchSr went home to be with Jesus in heaven. Thank you for your prayers in this heavy season.”
John Hagee founder and senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, said, “Paul Crouch changed the course of Christian history by building a Christian network that spreads that Gospel of Jesus Christ to the nations of the world every day. Our deepest sympathies for his loved ones today.”
The Christian News Service story went on to say, “In recent years the ministry has been plagued by questions of financial accountability about use of donated funds.
“Born in St. Joseph, Missouri, Crouch graduated from the Central Bible Institute and Seminary in Springfield, Mo., in 1955 with a degree in theology. TBN reaches every major continent via 84 satellite channels and over 18,000 television and cable affiliates around the world.
“Crouch is survived by his wife, Jan, and sons Paul Crouch, Jr. and Matthew Crouch, who has since been named as the new president of TBN.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
