For Second Year TBN Founder Paul Crouch Named One of America’s Top 50 Christians

Son Paul Crouch, Jr. also makes Church Report’s listing of influential believers

LOS ANGELES --(WDC Newswire) -- Calling him an “internationally recognized visionary in the field of Christian television,” the Church Report named Dr. Paul Crouch Sr., Founder and President of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), one of the “50 Most Influential Christians in America” for 2005. It is the second year in a row Dr. Crouch has been named to the prestigious listing.

Dr. Crouch was ranked as number six this year, up from his number nine ranking in last year’s listing. Bishop T.D. Jakes, pastor of the Potter’s House in Dallas, was selected as the nation’s most influential Christian this year. Jakes program, The Potter’s Touch, is broadcast daily on TBN, and the popular pastor and speaker has guest-hosted TBN’s “Praise the Lord” program.

Rounding out the Church Report’s top five listing of influential American Christians was Joel Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston; evangelist Dr. Billy Graham; Dr. Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.; and the Rev. Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill.

Dr. Crouch’s son, Paul Crouch Jr., also made the Church Report’s listing for the first time, coming in at number 29. He serves as vice president of administration for TBN, and works closely with his father in the network’s rapidly expanding reach into new family-friendly broadcasting formats.

“It is indeed an honor to be named with the many fine and Godly men and women on this year’s Church Report listing,” said Dr. Crouch. “The tremendous influence they have had in our society through their varying fields of endeavor simply cannot be overstated. I am humbled to be named among them.”

That Dr. Crouch placed high on the list demonstrates the influence he has had in media and faith-based broadcasting. He and wife Jan Crouch started TBN in 1973 with a vision to build a Christian television network that spanned the whole world. Today TBN ranks as the world’s largest Christian television network and America’s most watched faith channel.

Across the nation and around the world TBN is carried by television stations and cable systems to millions of homes. For over 30 years, under the guidance of Dr. Crouch TBN has beamed wholesome family and Christian programming to the nation and the world. With over 12,000 stations and cable affiliates fed by 46 satellites, TBN has a global presence that literally blankets the world with faith-based, family friendly programming.

“To place as highly as Dr. Crouch has on the Church Report’s prestigious listing is a testament to God’s faithfulness to fulfill the vision he placed inside this man of God,” said Susan Zahn, an expert in faith-based media and president of the Christian public relations firm WDC Media. “And the addition of his son Paul Crouch Jr. signifies that God is faithful to raise up leadership to maintain the continuity of this great work. Only eternity will reveal the impact that the Crouches and TBN have had for the kingdom of God.”

For more information about the TBN family of Christian networks visit www.tbn.org. To watch TBN, check your local cable, broadcast or satellite guide for a channel near you.

For a complete listing of the Church Report’s “50 Most Influential Christians in America,” visit www.thechurchreport.com.

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