Jan Crouch, co-founder of TBN, dies at 78
She was not on the list.
Jan Crouch, a co-founder of Trinity Broadcasting Network and
popular televangelist, has died following a stroke, her son announced Tuesday
via a posting on his and his wife's website. She was 78.
"Laurie and I have just watched the transition of our
precious mother from this world to the next; watched her step into the presence
of Jesus and into her heavenly reward," Matt and Laurie Crouch said in a
statement.
"Jan Crouch, known around the world as Momma Jan, has
gone home."
Crouch and her late husband, Paul, founded Trinity
Broadcasting Network, now known as TBN, in 1973 and watched it grow to become
the world's largest and most successful religious broadcasting network.
Born Janice Bethany in Columbus, Georgia, she was the
daughter of Edgar and Laurie Bethany. Her father was a preacher and official in
the Assemblies of God denomination.
She would meet her future husband through a church event.
In a 2007 TBN newsletter, Paul Crouch recalled seeing her at
a camp meeting in Rapid City, South Dakota, where her father was preaching.
"Heads turned (especially the boys) as a slight,
beautiful angel seemed more to glide than walk toward the front of the
auditorium," Crouch wrote. "Head down — timid it seemed to me -- yet
the bright red dress contrasted with the retiring, even shy, demeanor of this
stunning young lady!"
Crouch was thrilled to learn the young woman with which he
was smitten was scheduled to start classes in the fall at Evangel College, an
Assemblies of God liberal arts school, in his hometown of Springfield,
Missouri. After she invited him to hear her sing at a youth event, the pair
began dating and married in August 1957.
What followed was the birth of their sons, Paul Jr. and
Matthew, and the blossoming of their ministry from a single station to a
multimillion-dollar business empire.
The couple were a popular fixture on their show "Praise
the Lord."
"Janice Crouch, called 'Mama' on the air, is known for
her pink-tinged wigs, which look like huge swirls of cotton candy, and for
talking emotionally about the Lord's blessings," Erik Eckholm wrote in a
2012 piece for The New York Times. "Mr. Crouch, or 'Papa,' is relentlessly
upbeat as he quotes flurries of Bible verses on signature programs like 'Praise
the Lord.' "
Paul Crouch Sr. died in 2013. In Tuesday's statement, her
family wrote, "She has taken a piece of our hearts with her, but it's so
wonderful to know that Paul and Jan Crouch are together again, in the arms of
Jesus."
But TBN was not without controversy.
The New York Times article documented a family fight that
highlighted the lavish lifestyle of the Crouches, including matching
multimillion-dollar homes in a gated community in Newport, California.
