Financial Education History |
"I give because...
|
In 2008 CCCM and the Friends of Christ Foundation were concerned with gross misrepresentation of personal finance being heavily advertised in the media. We had seen the beginnings of what was to be a massive failure in the financial industry and probable coming impact on our church family. We began to look for a biblical approach to individual finances that went beyond “don’t go into debt and tithe to the local church”. We wanted something with the biblical imperatives, but also the practical steps and resources to help people out of bad situations and teach them about best personal financial practices. After reviewing many programs we settled on Dave Ramsey’s
Financial Peace University. But we knew we needed to do more than play the video and walk through the material. Six days after the bottom of the market, March 9th, 2009 we ran two concurrent classes and had 160 people take the class. As an extra incentive, FoC paid 1/2 ($50) of the cost of the FPU kits…which FoC continues to do to this day. Out of these first classes, we had literally hundreds of questions around all aspects of personal finances. This resulted in us providing a second level resource with a deeper dive into six specific areas: financial planning, retirement, social security, insurance, charitable giving, and investment. These were designed specifically to address the unique aspect of living in the economic environment of the Silicon Valley and current tax codes. But we soon realized we needed to provide one additional level, personal financial counseling. Abbott Smith traveled to Dave’s Ramsey’s offices in Tennessee to attend financial counselor training and that began the financial counseling ministry that thrives to this day. The three ‘layers’ of the financial ministry offerings we provide are: 1. Financial Peace University (FPU) - taught annually as a core CCCM class subsidized by the Friends of Christ Foundation. 2. Financial education classes - 6 topics taught in one-hour segments as a supplement to Financial Peace University. 3. Personal financial counseling - for individuals and families at no charge. |