This week in Christian history: TBN founder dies, John of the Cross founds monastery, First Crusade begins
Paul Crouch dies – Nov. 30, 2013
This week marks the anniversary of when Paul Crouch, co-founder of globally prominent Christian media company the Trinity Broadcasting Network, died at age 79.
The son of Assemblies of God missionaries, in 1973 Crouch and his wife, Janice Crouch, launched TBN, which eventually became the largest Christian cable station in the world.
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Crouch was known to generate as much as $90 million a year in donations to his ministry work, with much of the money going to charitable efforts like homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and his wife’s international aid group, Smile of a Child.
In 2011, he also donated over 150 television stations to Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, an entity that helps minorities and women oversee radio and TV stations, reported the Los Angeles Times in 2013.
In the latter years of his life, Crouch and TBN became embroiled in litigation surrounding allegations of financial corruption and mistreatment of relatives who opposed the alleged misuse of funds.
"Observers have often wondered how the Crouches can afford multiple mansions on both coasts, a $50 million jet and chauffeurs," said Tymothy MacLeod, an attorney who represented Brittany B. Koper, granddaughter to TBN founders Paul and Jan Crouch, in a lawsuit filed in 2012. "And finally, with the CFO coming forward, we have answers to those questions."
