Ga. church hopes $500 gas raffle will lure worshippers
Pastor Dale Morgan
Ga. church hopes $500 gas raffle will lure worshippers*
SNELLVILLE, Ga. (AP) — So much for spaghetti suppers: The First Baptist
Church of Snellville is fueling its membership drive with a sign in
front of its sprawling campus proclaiming "Free Gasoline."
There's a catch, of course. The offer is a not a giveaway. Instead, each
time newcomers or members attend a church event during a
Sunday-to-Wednesday revival they get a pink raffle ticket for a chance
to win one of two $500 gas cards.
"We don't know how far it will go with these soaring prices," said Rusty
Newman, the church's senior pastor. "But it may make someone's night."
Newman's congregation boasts roughly 9,000 members, but only about 2,500
regularly attend Sunday services.
The church, like others, has long relied on special dinners and
giveaways to draw in members, but elders wanted something a little more
timely for this latest pitch.
They set up a sign advertising the offer outside the church's parking
lot on a busy road near downtown Snellville, a traffic-clogged suburb
northeast of Atlanta.
"How can we capture those people?" asked James Lee, the church's
minister to seniors, who came up with the idea. "We're strong in
door-to-door evangelism, but there's no way to reach them all."
Soon the calls came flooding in. Church staffer Lisa Gauthier said she's
handled dozens of them each day, some from as far afield as Seattle.
Radio show hosts in Oregon caught wind of the idea and invited Newman on
air. So many inquiries came pouring in that Newman had to order a new
phone line and dedicate a receptionist to answering each one.
Newman views it as a service to the community, and he's looked to the
Bible for his endorsement. One passage he mentions to support his idea
involves Jesus feeding 5,000 with a few loaves of bread and a couple of
fish.
"Some pastors have questioned our motives," Newman said. "If it was just
to get people in the building, it would be wrong. But we want to meet
someone's physical need and eternal spiritual needs."