She’s gone to hitch the Lord: Televangelist Jan Crouch who founded the world’s largest ‘prosperity praying’ church and was well-known for her purple hairdo and lavish spending dies aged 78.
– Jan Crouch, 78, suffered huge stroke at residence in Florida 5 days ago
– Son Matthew revealed that she died yesterday surrounded by her household
– Crouch founded Trinity Broadcast Network in 1973 with husband Paul
– Pair turned it into multi-billion greenback empire paid for with donations
– Promised hundreds of thousands of viewers salvation in the event that they handed over their cash
– Couple had been accused of diverting funds from church work to pay for mansions, personal jets and a $100,000 cellular dwelling for canines
Born the daughter of a minister in Georgia, Janice Crouch grew up amongst all the trimmings of the church and a lifetime of holy devotion.
But earlier than she handed away yesterday, days after struggling an enormous stroke at her Florida dwelling, the 78-year-old lived a lifetime of monumental wealth funded by her Evangelical TV empire.
Alongside her husband Paul, Crouch preached to tens of millions of viewers on a weekly foundation, promising them wealth if solely they’d open up their very own pockets and donate to her.
Using that cash the couple purchased adjoining mansions in Florida, jets value virtually $60million and a $100,000 cellular house simply to accommodate Janice’s canine, in keeping with a lawsuit filed in 2012.
In a lawsuit filed by granddaughter Brittany Koper after she was sacked from her place because the couple’s accountant, they have been accused of receiving $300,000 to $500,000 in meal bills, in addition to the usage of chauffeurs.
Koper’s lawsuit, reported by the New York Times, additionally claimed that employees members on the community, together with sound engineers and chauffeurs, have been ordained as ministers so their salaries may very well be tax exempt.
This additionally made it simpler for the Couches to say their 13 mansions as ‘parsonages’, additionally exempting them from a great deal of state and federal taxes.
Koper added: ‘My job as finance director was to search out methods to label extravagant private spending as ministry bills.’
Janice, or ‘Momma Jan’ as she turned recognized, additionally based the Holy Land Experience in Orlando, a weird theme park that she took to overseeing personally.
Troy Clements, a former government on the park, mentioned that Janice’s perception that she was doing the Lord’s work led her to justify extravagant spending on private whims.
Clements instructed the New York Times that he was as soon as pressured to transform a restaurant on web site 3 times in six weeks.
When Janice was challenged on the habits, she merely responded: ‘No one has instructed me “no” for 30 years, and also you’re not going to start out now.’
Clements additionally stated that, when she started the transforming challenge, she rented two rooms on the adjoining Loews Portofino Bay Hotel as a way to be near the undertaking.
One room, he mentioned, was for her – whereas the opposite housed her two Maltese canine alongside together with her garments. The rooms had been rented for 2 years, he added.
Son Matthew paid tribute to his mom right now alongside spouse Laurie, and their kids Cayden and Cody, saying: ‘Laurie and I’ve simply watched the transition of our valuable Mother from this world to the following; watched her step into the presence of Jesus and into her heavenly reward.
‘Jan Crouch, identified world wide as Momma Jan, has gone house.
‘Those who battled for the Kingdom of God knew her as a fighter – somebody who didn’t quit, somebody who fought relentlessly to get the Gospel around the globe.
‘Viewers of the Trinity Broadcasting Network knew her as somebody who partnered with Paul Crouch within the launch and enlargement of TBN, and as somebody who got here into their properties for over 40 years.
‘To 1000’s of orphans around the globe, and people orphaned in spirit, she was Momma Jan, fast with a smile, a present, and a phrase of encouragement.
‘To a choose few she was not a tv determine, however was sister, spouse, Mom, or Grandma — an integral a part of a household.
‘Jan Crouch liked many issues, however most of all she beloved Jesus, and now has seen Him head to head and has skilled His grace in fullness.
‘She has taken a chunk of our hearts together with her, however it’s so fantastic to know that Paul and Jan Crouch are collectively once more, within the arms of Jesus.’
Paul Crouch died in 2013 aged 79 after years of affected by a degenerative coronary heart illness.
Born Janice Bethany in Columbus, Georgia, she was the daughter of Edgar and Laurie Bethany, along with her father serving as a preacher within the Assemblies of God denomination.
Growing up with a powerful non secular background, Jan met her future husband at a church occasion in Rapid City, South Dakota, the place her father was preaching, in keeping with <a category=”” href=”http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/31/entertainment/jan-crouch-obit/index.html” goal=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>CNN.
Paul Crouch later recalled the second in a TBN e-newsletter, saying: ‘Heads turned (particularly the boys) as a slight, lovely angel appeared extra to glide than stroll towards the entrance of the auditorium.
‘Head down – timid it appeared to me – but the intense purple gown contrasted with the retiring, even shy, demeanor of this gorgeous younger girl!’
Paul found that she was attributable to begin courses at Evangel College in his hometown of Springfield, Missouri, the place he studied at close by Central Bible Institute.
After Janice invited him to see her sing at a neighborhood occasion the pair started relationship and married in 1957.
Paul had labored in broadcast ever since faculty, having helped create an academic AM station, earlier than changing into a radio character in Rapid City, South Dakota.
In 1973 the couple struck out on their very own, shopping for southern California station KLXA-TV, now KTBN-TV 40, and turning it right into a 24-hour, industrial free, Evangelist community.
Over the years the couple noticed the enterprise balloon, thanks largely to donations despatched in from followers, and it now has stations in Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma and New York.
