Televangelist Paul Crouch dies at 79
Paul Crouch, the televangelist who built what has been called the world's largest Christian broadcasting network, has died, aged 79. His grandson Brandon Crouch said he died at his home after a decade-long fight with degenerative heart disease.
Paul Crouch
1934-2013
Paul Crouch, the televangelist who built what has been called the world's largest Christian broadcasting network, has died, aged 79.
His grandson Brandon Crouch said he died at his home after a decade-long fight with degenerative heart disease.
"He was an incredible businessman, entrepreneur, visionary; he built something that impacted the world," he said.
Crouch began his broadcasting career while studying theology at Central Bible Institute and Seminary in his native Missouri by helping build the campus' radio station. He moved to California in the early 1960s to manage the movie and television unit of the Assemblies of God before founding Trinity Broadcast Network in 1973 with his wife, Jan.
They turned the network into an international Christian empire that beams prosperity gospel programming to every continent but Antarctica around the clock. The programming promises that if the faithful sacrifice for their belief, God will reward them with material wealth.