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Washington Post
If the pastor had ever wanted to channel his inner Oprah, this was his chance.
“You ready to give a car away?” Stephen Chandler boomed into his microphone, bouncing in his boots at the altar Sunday.
And then the pastor did it again. And later that day, he would do it again. And again. Five free cars in all, handed out to the lucky winners at Destiny Church in Columbia, Md., on Sunday.
“We were just going for something you would not expect a church to do,” Chandler said. “This is something you would not expect a church to do.”
It was part marketing ploy — but also theology, Chandler said. Randomly giving away cars to people who show up to worship demonstrates God’s unbelievable, no-strings-attached goodness, Chandler preached.
And it sure helps get people in the door on a Sunday morning.
The free-car promotion was Destiny Church’s out-of-the-box idea for drumming up attendance at its first official Sunday in its new location, a building in a Columbia strip mall that the seven-year-old nondenominational church recently moved into after several years of meeting in a high school auditorium.
New York Post
https://nypost.com/2018/03/06/this-c...-more-members/
COLUMBIA, Md. — Please God, give me salvation — and a car.
That prayer may have been uttered by more than a few people at a Maryland church on Sunday. That’s because Destiny Church in Columbia handed out five used cars to demonstrate God’s goodness and to attract new members.
The Washington Post reported that the church gave away the cars to increase attendance at its new location. It was the first Sunday at a building in a strip mall for the 7-year-old nondenominational church.
Pastor Stephen Chandler said the predominantly African-American church normally draws up to 1,100 people. This week, the church gave away 2,250 tickets in advance of three services.
The church added a fourth service, which meant it had to buy another car to give away. The fifth car was given to a family in need.
If the pastor had ever wanted to channel his inner Oprah, this was his chance.
“You ready to give a car away?” Stephen Chandler boomed into his microphone, bouncing in his boots at the altar Sunday.
And then the pastor did it again. And later that day, he would do it again. And again. Five free cars in all, handed out to the lucky winners at Destiny Church in Columbia, Md., on Sunday.
“We were just going for something you would not expect a church to do,” Chandler said. “This is something you would not expect a church to do.”
It was part marketing ploy — but also theology, Chandler said. Randomly giving away cars to people who show up to worship demonstrates God’s unbelievable, no-strings-attached goodness, Chandler preached.
And it sure helps get people in the door on a Sunday morning.
The free-car promotion was Destiny Church’s out-of-the-box idea for drumming up attendance at its first official Sunday in its new location, a building in a Columbia strip mall that the seven-year-old nondenominational church recently moved into after several years of meeting in a high school auditorium.
New York Post
https://nypost.com/2018/03/06/this-c...-more-members/
COLUMBIA, Md. — Please God, give me salvation — and a car.
That prayer may have been uttered by more than a few people at a Maryland church on Sunday. That’s because Destiny Church in Columbia handed out five used cars to demonstrate God’s goodness and to attract new members.
The Washington Post reported that the church gave away the cars to increase attendance at its new location. It was the first Sunday at a building in a strip mall for the 7-year-old nondenominational church.
Pastor Stephen Chandler said the predominantly African-American church normally draws up to 1,100 people. This week, the church gave away 2,250 tickets in advance of three services.
The church added a fourth service, which meant it had to buy another car to give away. The fifth car was given to a family in need.
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