By Crown Ministries
530 Crown Oak Centre Drive
Longwood, FL 32750
1997
phone: 407-331-6000 fax: 407-331-6001
www.crown.org
Summary: Reviews a series of small group financial studies for teens produced by Crown Ministries.
These days it is not unusual for our youth to begin adulthood with a burden of debt and the responsibility of credit cards. In the hurried pace of rearing and educating them, we have failed in equipping our youth with strong money management skills.
Crown Ministries, an interdenominational ministry that trains people to apply biblical financial principles to their lives, has a series of financial studies for different groups. This column focuses on the one for teens. (The other four studies are The ABC\s of Handling Money God\s Way for ages 7 and younger; The Secret--Discovering God\s Secret of Handling Money for ages 8 through 12; Biblical Financial Study--Collegiate Edition for young adults; and Biblical Financial Study for adults.)
The Crown Ministries Financial Study for Teens, designed for 13- to 19-year olds, is written with plenty of practical applications and humorous illustrations relevant to teenagers. The package is designed for 12, 50-minute sessions, and has both a Leader\s Guide and a Teen Manual. The study is versatile and can be used in any learning environment--church school, one-on-one, in a small group, in Sabbath School or at home. Crown Ministries recommends that each leader have no more than eight students.
Before each class students are required to memorize a scripture and complete a practical application and homework assignment--this takes approximately one hour outside of class. Because of the homework involved, every student needs to have his or her own Teen Manual.
This is a rigorous and systematic study of what Scripture teaches about managing money, covering topics such as earning an income, giving, saving, spending, investing and budgeting. Because of its well-defined structure and strong biblical themes, Crown Ministries has a training requirement for the leaders. The Teen Study teacher is required to study the first nine pages of the Leader\s Guide and listen to the audiocassette titled, How to Lead the Crown Ministries Financial Study for Teenagers in its entirety. (The Adult Study Leader is required to be a graduate from the small group study and take a six-hour training session.)
