Carol Umsted went to church this summer at Congregational United Church of Christ of Valley City, ND. She won the weekly raffle of $50 worth of free gas. To boost attendance, several churches nationwide are making offers of gas card raffles and 99 cent gas sales at local stations to boost attendance.
I don't think this is quite what the writer of Hebrews had in mind when he admonished us to "forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, and so much the more as ye see that day approaching." Church has already become an entertainment venue with loud music, uproarious applause, standing ovations, and I have even heard an occasional whistle in our services. Michael Cromartie, vice president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a Washington think tank, said that there is a fine line between advertising a church and using huckster means to entice people.
What's next? I can see it now -- the pastor stands at the pulpit, draws a card from a fishbowl, and yells, "Jane Jones! Come on down! You're the next contestant on the Scripture's Right!" Lights will flash and curvy models will display washing machines, refrigerators, and the crowd will go wild when they open the curtain on A NEW CAR!
And just somewhere in there, they might sneak in a sermon, a prayer, and a hymn. We've come a long way since Thursday night Bingo at the Catholic church!
"Offered in a spirit of giving?" The Dallas Morning News; August 28, 2008, p. 9A.
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