Dave Ramsey hopes to help churches develop financial 'Momentum'

The idea for church-focused workshops on financial freedom came about several years ago, recalls Ramsey, when he spoke to a group of pastors in Washington, DC. "I walked up on stage to do my talk, my section, and I opened it up by saying, 'You guys need to quit preaching on tithing. Don't preach another sermon on giving,'" he recounts. "Boy, you could have heard a pin drop in there."

Ramsey likens that advice to "telling a preacher not to eat." But he says the idea he was trying to convey was "that if you will do five sermons on how to get out of debt and three sermons on how to put together a budget, biblically, how to manage your money ... giving will [increase] as a natural byproduct."

Soon Ramsey's concept became a reality with the launch of "Momentum," a four-day workshop program developed by his Lampo Group. The workshop instructs people how to get of debt, develop a spending plan, and save and give generously.

The financial counselor says the church in America will be radically changed, if Christians grasp simple, biblical principles about money management. "If I can just get 20 percent of the congregation completely out of debt, and get them on a budget, and they know what tithing is, and they know what giving is," he continues, "it will change the church budget by double."

According to Ramsey, 85 percent of churches in America do not have a comprehensive financial plan related to stewardship -- and only 2.3 percent of evangelicals in North America practice tithing.