These are questions the person I brought with me to church (for the first time since he was a kid) asked me on the ride home…unfortunately I didn’t have good answers for him. It was an awkward moment for sure.
Him:
“So, I’m not sure how the Lets Make a Deal thing tied into the sermon or anything else, other than they were wrapped gifts and it’s Christmas…what was that supposed to mean? It just seemed like a meaningless giveaway. And if it wasn’t set up to pick a certain person, how did the “giveaway” pastor guy not recognize the wife of the “assistant” guy since they’re both on staff there right? Shouldn’t he know the spouse of the guy he works with if the church is supposed to be a family? I know he can’t know everyone in the church because it’s huge, but this guy works with him closely and often right, but he didn’t know who she was? That was odd to me. “
Chestnut Ridge Church
on December 27, 2015 at 4:46 pm
Hi Nancy,
Thank you for reaching out with your questions. The “Let’s Make a Deal” game was intended to be fun and engaging. We wanted everyone to feel comfortable in order to prepare them to hear spiritual truth later in the service. We want everyone to feel welcome, even those who don’t attend church. The service did have some serious and heavy moments, as well as, a clear gospel challenge. We encourage you and your guest to attend NEXT (held on the second weekend of the month in the HUB) to meet some of our staff, hear about our mission and why we do what we do. NEXT also provides a setting to ask questions such as these.
As for Adam, the giveaway guy, picking Mike’s wife (the guy in the Christmas suit) to play “Let’s Make a Deal”, it was an honest mistake. Adam didn’t recognize her with her new haircut and doesn’t see her on a regular basis. He didn’t know it was her until he got closer to her.
Please let us know if you have any additional questions and we hope to see you at NEXT in the near future!
These are questions the person I brought with me to church (for the first time since he was a kid) asked me on the ride home…unfortunately I didn’t have good answers for him. It was an awkward moment for sure.
Him:
“So, I’m not sure how the Lets Make a Deal thing tied into the sermon or anything else, other than they were wrapped gifts and it’s Christmas…what was that supposed to mean? It just seemed like a meaningless giveaway. And if it wasn’t set up to pick a certain person, how did the “giveaway” pastor guy not recognize the wife of the “assistant” guy since they’re both on staff there right? Shouldn’t he know the spouse of the guy he works with if the church is supposed to be a family? I know he can’t know everyone in the church because it’s huge, but this guy works with him closely and often right, but he didn’t know who she was? That was odd to me. “
Hi Nancy,
Thank you for reaching out with your questions. The “Let’s Make a Deal” game was intended to be fun and engaging. We wanted everyone to feel comfortable in order to prepare them to hear spiritual truth later in the service. We want everyone to feel welcome, even those who don’t attend church. The service did have some serious and heavy moments, as well as, a clear gospel challenge. We encourage you and your guest to attend NEXT (held on the second weekend of the month in the HUB) to meet some of our staff, hear about our mission and why we do what we do. NEXT also provides a setting to ask questions such as these.
As for Adam, the giveaway guy, picking Mike’s wife (the guy in the Christmas suit) to play “Let’s Make a Deal”, it was an honest mistake. Adam didn’t recognize her with her new haircut and doesn’t see her on a regular basis. He didn’t know it was her until he got closer to her.
Please let us know if you have any additional questions and we hope to see you at NEXT in the near future!