Rich Brown: 'Town Hall of Hope' program offering financial advice
4/11/09
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A church can be a hallowed haven of help in these worrisome times. On April 23, Dave Ramsey will be taking this idea one step further.
Ramsey, noted financial consultant, author and radio-talk show host, will be offering advice on how to handle your money in these troubled economic times. His words will go forth through telecasts in churches around the United States, including the Joplin area.
Six Joplin churches and seven others in the area will be among those nationwide to see "Town Hall for Hope," a live telecast by Ramsey. The simulcast, which will also be shown at Memorial Hall, courtesy of the city of Joplin, will be at 7 p.m.
"We encourage people who do not have the technology to host the 'Town Hall for Hope' to go to Memorial Hall," said Jane Obert, who is coordinating the event for Byers Avenue United Methodist Church.
Ramsey is founder of Financial Peace University, a life-changing program that teaches how to make the right decisions with money. FPU offers lessons that many churches, including Byers Avenue, take part in weekly.
In addition to Byers Avenue, other Joplin churches serving as sites are College Heights Christian, Abundant Life Christian, St. Paul's United Methodist, Christ's Community United Methodist and Destiny Church.
Other congregations in the area participating in the simulcast are Mount Hope Church of Christ and First Baptist in Webb City; Fairview Christian and First Christian in Carthage, Calvary Church and Church of Christ, Rocketdyne Rd., in Neosho; and First United Methodist of Mount Vernon.
Ramsey will speak for 30 minutes and then take questions from people across the nation during the last hour.
"This is a uniquely developed idea considering the times we are in," Obert said. "(Ramsey) wants to give people ideas and how to have hope and a positive attitude through this financial crisis."
Since the telecast will be the first of its kind, Obert is not quite sure how many will attend at Byers Avenue, which has a capacity for 250 people. She said that it could range anywhere from 100 to 200 people.
Ramsey will offer straight talk about such issues as the economy, recession and foreclosures. His discussion will center on where we have come from, where we are now and what we should be doing with our money in these times.
Ramsey, whose column "Dave Says" has a 4.5 million circulation, stresses the importance of hope on his Web site: www.davesays.org.
It is not unusual to see his photo along with the caption: "I am an American and I am not participating in this recession."
Also on his Web site, Ramsey tells of his good and bad experiences with money in "A Letter from Dave Ramsey."
Part of the letter is as follows:
"After losing everything, I went on a quest to find out how money really works, how I could get control of it and how I could have confidence in handling it. I read everything I could get my hands on. I interviewed older rich people, people who made money and kept it. That quest led me to a really, really uncomfortable place - my mirror.
"I came to realize that my money problems, worries and shortages largely began and ended with the person in my mirror. I realized also that if I could learn to manage the character I shaved with every morning, I would win with money."
The Lampo Group that Ramsey formed in 1988 was meant to counsel folks hurting from the results of financial stress. The company now has more than 100 team members and a variety of products and services to help people reach their financial goals.
The company's mission statement is:
"The Lampo Group, Inc. is providing biblically-based, common- sense education and empowerment which gives hope to everyone from the financially secure to the financially stressed."
Address correspondence to Rich Brown, c/o The Joplin Globe, P.O. Box 7, Joplin, Mo. 64802.
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