Jan “Momma” Crouch, the 78-year-old founder and Vice President of Trinity Broadcasting Network, died after a massive stroke this week, two years following the death of her husband and co-founder, Paul Crouch. Beyond her garish pink wigs and eye makeup so heavy that blinking seemed a feat, Crouch will, one hopes, be remembered for the oft-told story of the time she raised a chicken from the dead.
As the tale goes, the daughter of a Georgia Assemblies of God preacher who went on to help found the world’s most successful televangelism television network was just a girl when her beloved pet chicken was hit by a car. Its feet were twisted and its head was bent. And horrifyingly, (this is where Jan Crouch’s tears reliably begin to fall and coat her layered lashes, nearly blinding the woman) its eye had popped out from the trauma and was hanging limply from its socket.
The chicken was dead. But the 12-year-old girl, then Janice Bethany, would not be burying any fowl that day. She stood over her chicken and prayed. And lo and behold, the Lord heard her prayer and the chicken was resurrected.
