If you’re evaluating Christian financial literacy courses for your congregation, most of what you’ll find online falls into one of two categories: purely devotional content with no real budgeting mechanics, or generic secular personal finance material with a Bible verse added on top. Neither actually does the job well. Here’s what to actually look for in a program built for adults, and the questions worth asking before you commit to one.

Start With the Audience the Course Is Actually Built For

Not every “Christian financial literacy” course is built with the same learner in mind. Some are designed specifically for church staff onboarding (our staff-focused course guide covers that specific use case). Others are built for a general adult congregation, different ages, life stages, and financial starting points, from a young couple just starting out to someone nearing retirement. Before evaluating any specific program, get clear on which audience you’re actually serving, since a course built for one doesn’t always translate well to the other.

What Actually Matters When Evaluating a Program

Real budgeting and debt mechanics, not just principles. A course can be biblically rich and still leave people without a usable plan. Ask to see actual worksheets or tools included in the program, if a provider can’t show you something concrete beyond a workbook of discussion questions, that’s worth noting.

Content built for a range of financial starting points. Adult congregations include people in very different financial situations, some deep in debt, some financially comfortable but lacking a giving plan, some just beginning independent financial life. A strong program addresses this range rather than assuming everyone starts from the same place.

A structure that supports more than one session. As we cover in our post on financial discipleship, real change tends to require more than a single workshop. Look for a program built as a multi-session or multi-module curriculum, not a one-time seminar.

Genuine biblical grounding, not a surface-level add-on. There’s a real difference between a course built from biblical principles of stewardship and contentment from the ground up, versus a secular curriculum with a devotional bolted onto the front of each session. Ask how the provider integrates theology into the actual content, not just the marketing.

Facilitator materials, if you’re running this in groups. If your church plans to deliver the course through small groups or classes, facilitator guides and discussion prompts matter as much as the participant-facing content, a program without them puts a lot of extra prep work on whoever’s leading each group.

Flexibility for different delivery formats. Some churches want a single large class, others want to run it through existing small groups, others want individual, self-paced enrollment. A program that only supports one delivery model may not fit how your church actually wants to use it.

Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Provider

• Who developed this curriculum, and what’s their background in both financial literacy and biblical teaching?
• What does the actual content look like beyond the marketing page, can we preview a module?
• Is this designed for a single class, or built for ongoing, multi-session implementation?
• What support is provided for facilitators or small group leaders running this?
• Can this be licensed for church-wide use, or is it priced per individual?
• What’s included for follow-up after the initial course, is there anything built for reinforcement over time?

Red Flags Worth Watching For

• Vague claims about “biblical principles” with no specific examples of how Scripture is actually integrated into the content
• No real budgeting tools or worksheets, just conceptual teaching with nothing practical to apply
• A single-session format with no path to ongoing engagement
• No facilitator support, if you’re planning to run this through small groups
• Pricing that’s unclear until far into a sales conversation

Winning With Money as One Option to Evaluate

Prospera’s Winning With Money is a 7-module Christian financial literacy curriculum built specifically to check these boxes, real budgeting and debt tools alongside genuine biblical grounding, structured for multi-session implementation rather than a single event, and licensed for church-wide, small-group, or individual use depending on what your church actually needs. It’s one option worth evaluating against whatever criteria matters most for your congregation, not the only one, but we built it specifically to answer the gaps most programs in this space leave open. You can learn more on our financial curriculum page.

How to Roll Out Whatever Program You Choose

Regardless of which curriculum you select, a few things tend to determine whether it actually works: leadership going through it visibly first, delivering it through existing community structures like small groups rather than as an isolated event, and building in some form of follow-up rather than treating the initial course as the finish line. Our post on biblical financial literacy covers this rollout thinking in more depth if you want the broader congregation-wide strategy, not just the curriculum-selection piece.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I look for in a Christian financial literacy course for adults? 

Look for real budgeting and debt tools (not just principles), content built for a range of financial starting points, a multi-session structure rather than a single event, genuine biblical integration, and facilitator materials if you plan to run it in groups.

How is a Christian financial literacy course for adults different from one built for church staff? 

Adult congregation courses need to address a wider range of financial situations and life stages, while staff-focused courses are typically scoped to a smaller, more consistent group as part of onboarding or professional development.

Should a church build its own financial literacy curriculum or license one? 

Licensing an existing, structured curriculum is typically faster to implement and more consistent than building content from scratch, especially for churches without dedicated curriculum-development resources.

Can a Christian financial literacy course be delivered through small groups? 

Yes, and many programs are specifically designed to support this. Look for facilitator guides and discussion materials if this is how your church plans to deliver the course.

Is Winning With Money designed for a general adult congregation or just church staff? 

Winning With Money is built for flexible implementation, congregation-wide, through small groups, or for individual enrollment, not limited to a single audience type.

Find the Right Financial Literacy Program for Your Congregation

Explore Winning With Money and see whether it fits what your church needs, or use this guide’s criteria to evaluate any program you’re considering.