Peterborough Church Offers Free Gas - March 29, 2010

Victory Christian Church in Peterborough Ontario thought they had found a unique way to help people on a tight budget and entice them to visit the Sunday morning services.  The church, which airs commercials on a local TV stations to introduce itself to the community, yesterday offered $20 gift certificates for gasoline to the first 50 first-time visitors at its Sunday morning services.

Victory Christian Church isn’t the first church to make this offer. First Baptist Church in Snellville Georgia did a similar thing in 2008.  In that case, anyone attending their revival services could sign up for a draw for a $500 gas card.  At the conclusion of the Wednesday evening service, the draw was held.

The idea for churches to offer free gas became popular in the United States in 2008 when gas hit $4 a gallon.  So many churches were offering them that the USA Today newspaper ran an article about it. Not everyone was in agreement with the idea.  When the Congregational United Church of Christ of Valley City North Dakota made such an offer a couple of members left the church.  They saw it as the church offering a bribe. 

Nathan White, an Atlanta-area Baptist, was troubled by that church gas card raffle in Snellville, Georgia. The corporate executive, who plans to become a pastor, thinks gas giveaways are shameful financial gimmicks that undermine the Gospel.  “They are appealing to the natural corruptions in unbelieving people .... The Bible warns very explicitly about the dangers of greed, the love of money being the root of all evil," said White. "Appealing to the selfish motives of people is not Christianity."

Robert Kruschwitz, director of The Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University, called the promotions "unseemly" and "misguided." However, Rev. Carl Borden, pastor of the Congregational United Church of Christ in Valley City ND said the overriding goal is to have a little fun and remind people that the church is there. “It's a method of marketing for the church," he said. "For a $200 investment we've made, we got featured in the local newspaper once, twice on TV, and it's the buzz around town. I can't get a quarter-page ad for $200."

Yesterday’s free gas card giveaway at Christian Victory Centre in Peterborough wasn’t quite the success the church had hoped it would be however.  Only six first time visitors showed up to collect their gas card.

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