What is a Certified Kingdom Advisor®?
The CKA® is the best-known professional designation for financial advisors who plan from a biblical worldview. Here's what it actually certifies, how it relates to credentials like the CFP®, and how to evaluate whether any advisor — designation or not — genuinely fits a faith-driven household.
The short version
The Certified Kingdom Advisor® designation is granted by Kingdom Advisors, the professional community for Christian financial advisors that grew out of the work of Larry Burkett and Ron Blue. It signals two things at once:
- Technical legitimacy — candidates must already be credentialed professionals (designations like the CFP®, CPA/PFS, ChFC®, CFA, or equivalent experience in the field), so the CKA® sits on top of professional competence, not in place of it.
- A trained biblical-wisdom framework — completing the CKA educational program and exam, which covers planning topics through a stewardship lens: generosity, contentment, debt, and integrating a family's faith into real financial decisions, plus character and client references and ongoing renewal requirements.
In other words: a CKA® designee is a real advisor who has also invested in doing faith-integrated planning well, inside a professional community that holds them to it.
CKA® vs. CFP®: not competitors
| CFP® | CKA® | |
|---|---|---|
| What it certifies | Broad technical competence in financial planning | Faith-integrated planning framework on top of existing credentials |
| Who grants it | CFP Board | Kingdom Advisors |
| Prerequisites | Education, exam, experience, ethics | An approved credential (often the CFP®) or substantial experience, plus the CKA program, exam, and references |
| What it tells you | They can plan | They plan from a biblical worldview, by training and commitment |
The strongest profile for a faith-driven household is usually both: fiduciary, fee-only, technically credentialed — and trained in stewardship-first planning. That's the profile we match for.
What faith-integrated planning changes in practice
- Giving is a first-class goal. The plan is built around your generosity commitment (start with the tithing calculator), using the efficient mechanics — appreciated stock, donor-advised funds, qualified charitable distributions.
- The portfolio can reflect conviction. Values screening (biblically responsible investing, USCCB guidelines for Catholic families) handled with eyes open about tradeoffs — see our stewardship guide.
- Lifestyle and contentment are on the table. A stewardship-trained advisor will actually talk about "how much is enough" — most advisors won't.
- The family's story matters. Legacy, children's training, ministry intentions, and estate generosity get planned, not just mentioned.
Questions that reveal real alignment
Designation or not, five questions quickly separate advisors who market to Christians from advisors who plan faithfully:
- "How are you paid?" Fee-only fiduciaries are paid by you, not commissions. This is the cleanest conflict screen in the industry, faith aside.
- "How would a 10–15% giving commitment change the plan you'd build us?" Listen for whether giving is treated as a goal or a problem.
- "What's your approach to values-aligned investing — and its tradeoffs?" A real answer names costs and definitional choices, not just fund logos.
- "What training do you have in faith-integrated planning?" CKA® is the recognizable answer; a thoughtful equivalent can also be credible.
- "Tell me about a client you advised to give more." The answer tells you everything.
Finding one
Kingdom Advisors maintains a public directory of designees, and that's a fine route. We go one step further: we match you with a fee-only fiduciary who serves Christian families — vetted for the alignment questions above, with the stewardship conversation as the starting point, not an upsell. It's free and there's no obligation: tell us about your household.
Get matched with a faith-aligned advisor
Free, confidential, no obligation — a fee-only fiduciary who plans around your convictions.