Matthew W. "Matt" Crouch /kraʊtʃ/ (born October 26, 1961) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

broadcaster, on-air personality, and filmmaker. A second-generation television producer and executive, he is currently president of

Trinity Broadcasting Network The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) is an international Christian-based broadcast television network and the world's largest religious television network. TBN was headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, until March 3, 2017, when it sold its ...

(TBN), and serves as the primary host (along with his wife Laurie) of the network's flagship program ''

Praise Praise as a form of social interaction expresses recognition, reassurance or admiration. Praise is expressed verbally as well as by body language (facial expression and gestures). Verbal praise consists of a positive evaluations of another's att ...

''.

Personal life

The younger of

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

and

Jan Crouch Janice Wendell Crouch () (née Bethany; March 14, 1938 – May 31, 2016) was an American religious broadcaster. Crouch and her husband, Paul, founded the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) in 1973, along with Jim Bakker. She, along with her ...

's two children, Matt was born in

Muskegon, Michigan Muskegon ( ') is a city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Muskegon County. Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, pleasure boating, and as a commercial and cruise ship port. It is a popular vacation destination because of the expans ...

, where his parents worked as assistant pastors at a local Assemblies of God outpost. The family later moved to California, where his parents would co-found Trinity Broadcasting Network in 1973. Crouch married Laurie Orndorff on August 25, 1985. They are the parents of two sons, Caylan and Cody. Crouch has also been heavily criticized for his endorsement of the prosperity gospel and later promoting seeker-sensitive "preachers" who claim there is nothing wrong with abortion, drug use, or domestic violence.

Career

Along with his older brother Paul Crouch Jr., Crouch spent his youth working behind the scenes at TBN in its early years. Crouch eventually rose to producing the network's flagship program, '' Praise The Lord'', by the mid-1980s. Crouch later produced a Christian music video series, ''Real Videos'', and a children's program, ''Kids' Club'', for the network with his wife Laurie. In 1995 Matt and Laurie Crouch co-founded

Gener8Xion Entertainment Gener8Xion Entertainment, Inc. is a Christian independent film production company based in Hollywood, California. The company is a spin off from Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). The company was led by Matt Crouch (TBN) until mid-2010. Fil ...

, a Christian film studio based in Hollywood. Crouch was producer or executive producer for all of the studio's productions, such as ''

The Omega Code ''The Omega Code'' is a 1999 apocalyptic thriller film directed by Rob Marcarelli, written by Stephen Blinn and Hollis Barton, and starring Casper Van Dien, Michael York, Catherine Oxenberg and Michael Ironside. The premillennialist plot revolve ...

'' (1999), '' Megiddo: The Omega Code 2'' (2001), ''

One Night with the King ''One Night with the King'' is a 2006 American religious epic film produced by Matt Crouch and Laurie Crouch of Gener8Xion Entertainment, directed by Michael O. Sajbel, and starring Peter O'Toole, Tiffany Dupont, John Rhys-Davies and Luke Goss ...

'' (2006), and '' Noëlle'' (2007). In 2009 Crouch co-directed the documentary feature '' The Cross: The Arthur Blessitt Story''. In 2010 Matt and Laurie Crouch resigned their positions at Gener8Xion Entertainment and sold their shares. Crouch subsequently joined TBN's staff full-time as a vice-president, eventually becoming president in 2012 when his father Paul Sr. symbolically "passed the torch" to become the head of TBN operations. In addition to his role managing TBN's day-to-day operations, Crouch and Laurie also appear as hosts of ''Praise the Lord'', TBN's signature nightly program. In 2015, he became the president of

.Colby May, tbn.org
MATTHEW CROUCH NAMED CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF THE TRINITY BROADCASTING FAMILY OF NETWORKS
USA, September 8, 2015

References

External links

Official TBN website
* *
Gener8Xion Entertainment

"God, Mammon and 'Bibleman'
article by

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crouch, Matthew 1961 births Film producers from Michigan Living people American evangelicals Christians from Michigan People from Muskegon, Michigan Film directors from Michigan Crouch family Pentecostals from California