US News and World Reports on Dave’s Ramsey’s Financial Peace University, why it is sweeping the nation, and how you can get FPU at your church
April 12th, 2008 | by admin | 
Churches Tackle Worshipers’ Money Management By Liz Wolgemuth
When Justin Moore and his wife, Bonnie, cut up their credit cards in a show of financial freedom earlier this year, they did it in front of a group of supporters—at church.Moore, 25, works as an information technology coordinator for a staffing agency in Shelby, N.C., but on Sunday nights he heads back to church to serve as a group coordinator for a local course of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. Ramsey, an author and radio show host, created the popular 13-week program, which covers getting out of debt, living on a budget, and establishing better money management skills. It’s basically the nuts and bolts of personal finance with a notable twist: The course is biblically based.
As more and more churches around the country address their members’ financial situation, Christian believers like Moore are finding financial advice where they worship. The offerings vary. Some churches have well-established financial ministries that meet a variety of needs, while others simply play host to courses taught with outside materials. Moore’s church is offering the class for the first time. “We’re really starting to see a change in people’s lifestyles,” he says. “They have this financial stress relieved. They’re able to come closer to God. It just improves every other aspect of your life.”
The expanding universe of church-based financial help comes as churches recognize the connection between people’s relationship with money and their relationship with God, says Dave Briggs, director of the pioneering Good Sense ministry at Willow Creek Community Church, a megachurch in suburban Chicago.
Good Sense was established at the church in the early 1980s and has since spread through its network of affiliated churches. Now Willow Creek is getting ready to roll out a personal finance presentation that’s just for 20-somethings. Briggs says they need the same message in a different package—something other than the standard line about budgets, mortgage payments, and retirement plans.
“Debt doesn’t scare 20-somethings anymore, which is really a shame,” Briggs says. “So you’re really dealing with a different mind-set.” He points to the experience his own 28-year-old son, J. R. Briggs, had when buying a condo. The younger Briggs, a pastor in Souderton, Pa., carefully calculated exactly how much condo he could afford, and then the bank approved him for twice as much. (He went with his own math). “Society no longer has the fences around 20-somethings to help them avoid making bad financial decisions,” the elder Briggs says.
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