The National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) announced that Precept Ministries International’s television program Precepts For Life, hosted by Kay Arthur, received the NRB’s award for Best Television Teaching Program for 2009. Mrs. Arthur accepted the award—which she also received in 2004—at the organization’s annual convention which began Saturday in Nashville.
“This award really thrilled my heart,” said Kay Arthur. “I feel like they have honored the word of God and its power with our call to live by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. Precepts For Life is all about taking people through the Bible, book by book, and teaching them to discover God’s truth for themselves.
What’s exciting is that our audience is taking lessons they download for free from our website and sharing them with their small groups, Bible study classes, friends and family. We want them to meet with God. That’s our role. That’s our passion. Media is a way to get them engaged. With a lot of ministries, it stops with TV or the check you send. For us it’s a network. We want to capture you and bring you into inductive Bible study.”
David Arthur, Ms. Arthur's son, said, “Our program looks different from others because we’re not there to entertain, or raise money, or bring about current political commentary, or develop celebrities. Our purpose is to engage people and establish them in God’s Word.”
Mr. Arthur, who is an ordained minister, has had a varied career, including pastoring a church, working in the corporate world, and now at Precept Ministries. He returned to work full-time at Precept in 2006 and will eventually assume leadership of the ministry when his parents retire. He serves as Precept’s Vice President of Teaching and Training.
In addition to bringing David Arthur into a larger role, in October 2008, Precept hired business executive Tom Hall as the organization’s Executive Director, reporting to Precept’s founders and co-CEOs Kay and Jack Arthur. Mr. Hall was most recently president of International Women’s Apparel, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hartmarx. He serves in a key administrative role responsible for leading and managing the organization.
Kay and Jack Arthur remain involved in the day-to-day work of the ministry. Ms. Arthur is a highly sought after speaker and appears frequently at events around the country.
“In every organization’s life there is a time when it needs to expand beyond its founders and a small group of long-time leaders. In business, they talk about ‘growing out of the garage,’” said David Arthur. “For Precept to do that, we need high-capacity leaders. We did not bring Tom Hall on board to maintain what we’ve done. We brought Tom to expand Precept to the next level. From a ministry standpoint we’ve proven the concept, not just in the United States, but also in nearly 150 counties and 70 different languages, working with men, women, teens and children. I see my role as building on the foundation my parents have laid for 38 years and driving it to the future generations.”
“A lot of people have the mistaken idea that Precept is a women’s ministry,” said David Arthur. “When you look at everything we do, our activities and audiences are very diverse. That’s especially true overseas, where our inductive Bible studies are used in seminaries, in schools, in small group studies and by pastors in churches.”
Precept Ministries International was founded in 1970 by Jack and Kay Arthur. The ministry hosts training workshops, Bible studies, study tours to biblical sites, and Bible-centered conferences. More information about Precept can be found at www.precept.org or by calling 423-892-6814. Precept Ministries International headquarters is located at 7324 Noah Reid Road.