More congregations than ever are hosting Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. Now he’s looking at their budgets, too. Originally published in Christianity Today. It’s December 28, two days after the last Sunday of 2010. Dick Giesler has just reviewed the year’s financial numbers—three years after the start of the country’s worst economic disaster in nearly a… [Read more…]
January 8, 2010
Conor Friedersdorf has an interesting discussion with moral implications. We reap the benefits of generations before us (who were much poorer) who chose to invest rather than consume their wealth. It’s an issue that’s relevent today as we neglect investment — indeed borrow from the future — for consumption today. And there are moral issues… [Read more…]
November 13, 2009
By Rob Moll Christian missionaries have always brought institutions from home and planted them in foreign lands. Schools, hospitals and social services are staples of missionary activity. But recently those who spread the faith overseas have realized that it’s not enough to educate and provide health care. In the midst of a world-wide recession, people… [Read more…]
October 14, 2009
The Wall Street Journal today reported “Catholic Principles Guide Mutual Funds.” The piece went on to describe the Ave Maria Funds’ investment philosophy and performance. I couldn’t find the story on the newspaper’s website, but this Greek site has it. Here’s the paper’s take on the socially responsible investment style: “The key principle behind the… [Read more…]
August 20, 2009
I have to say that in this debate between Andrew Cuomo, the NY attorney general, and Charles Schwab, I’d rather talk to Chuck than Andy. When the auction rate security market failed last year, it was a big deal. I remember my brother in law—a broker at the new Morgan Stanley Smith Barney—trying desperately to… [Read more…]
August 20, 2009
This seems like a great step forward for Christian investors. It will make faith-based investing easier and more accessible to the individual investor. These ETFs follow specific investment recommendations of different denominations, and they seek to track the benchmarks set by the denominational funds. I plan to look into these securities. I would be happy… [Read more…]
August 12, 2009
Rusty Leonard may be the only evangelical figure loved by the secular press and scorned by his Christian peers. When MinistryWatch, the nonprofit he started, reported on financial problems at Joyce Meyer Ministries, The Wall Street Journal and the St. Louis Post Dispatch used Leonard’s findings in their articles on the Bible teacher. The pressure… [Read more…]
August 12, 2009
Church construction has become big business. With more than $20 billion spent each year on new churches, financing those buildings has also grown into big business. Last November, Houston-based investment firm Capstone Asset Planning launched the first-ever mutual fund composed of church bonds. • Most churches finance building projects with capital campaigns and mortgages. But… [Read more…]
September 15, 2011
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