Church gives away gas to get members
What’s undoubtedly the biggest complaint in America? It’s the price of gas, now threatening $4 a gallon just one week before Memorial Day, the official kickoff of summer.
Speaking of ridiculous prices, I was sad to see the city of McMinnville snatch a page from the book of big oil. The city, figuring it has a monopoly on the local swimming pool market, raised the price of admission to $8 for every adult who lives outside the city limits. Consumers are getting gouged, from the pump to the pool, and it’s starting to leave a mark.
But a church in Snellville, Ga., has an answer to the gas woes. First Baptist Church of Snellville is giving away two $500 gas cards in an effort to get people to attend services. A message on the church board located near the road proclaims ‘Free Gasoline.’ If nothing else, that’s sure a way to get people’s attention.
I guess in this new generation of worship services where people wear jeans and hard-rocking bands perform at church, gas giveaways are the next step.
‘Some pastors have questioned our motives,’ said Rusty Newman, the church’s senior pastor. ‘If it was just to get people in the building, it would be wrong. But we want to meet someone’s physical needs and eternal spiritual needs.’
Newman says the church, located in a suburb north of Atlanta, boasts about 9,000 members, but only about 2,500 regularly attend services. Each time a person attends services, they will receive a pink raffle ticket for a chance at the gas cards.
For people upset about the unique membership drive, Newman claims scripture supports this idea. He points to the passage where Jesus fed 5,000 with only a few loaves of bread and a couple fish.
While I don’t mean to be critical, it’s a real reach to claim the Bible supports a gas giveaway program. Newman is going to have to show me another verse.