Hide Article Text (OCR)
CHICAGO (UPI) — The electronic church has its first game show — The New Bible Baffle. “We wanted to show that Chris tians can have fun, too,” said produc er Don Hancock, 28. ‘‘The Bible, bees book of not only spiritual but also historical nature, is something worth being quizzed on.” THE GAME show premiered two years ago on Chicago's WCFC-TV as Bible Scrabble but was given a new name and format last fall by Han cock and co-creators Tom Walters and Dave Oseland. The show, which won a 1980 Chicago Emmy, will probably be this fail. It has inspired another reli gious game show planned by a Kansas City station. The New Bible Baffle is sort of a combination of College Bowl, Family Food and A Lamp Unto My Feet. It features the flashing lights, rainbow-colored set and upbeat music that have come to character ize its television genre. And all the offers of prizes are there — but the rewards are of an unusually uplifting nature. PRIZES, the show's announcer tells viewers, include “‘a variety in Christian reading” and a one-year subscription to Christian Life maga zine, bank checks inscribed with a scriptural verse, a cassette tape recorder “to allow you to tape your favorite sermon,” and a 3-piece stationery set with “the praying hands inscribed on each piece.” The show’s “grand prize” is 2 weekend for two at Apostles Point, located on Lake Delton near the Wis consin Dells, and admission to the nearby Biblical Gardens — “where you can marvel at the beauty of nature.” Three contestants vie for prizes as they are quizzed on the Holy Scrip ture. For sceptics, the show's host, Raymond G. MacKillop, a former traveling minister, cites chapter and verse to confirm each answer. THE PERSON with the most points at the end of each of round wins the chance to unscramble a scriptural verse and win a prize. The player with the most points at the top of four rounds earns a stab at unscrambling another scriptural verse and winning the show’s grand “I prayed and prayed that I would win,” said Diane Brooks, a recent grand prize winner. “I really need a vacation and now I can have one. I bought all the Bible question-and-answer books I could and studied them every night.” The show which ended in Mrs. Brooks’ victory included such ques tions as: Who preached a sermon which lasted all night? (Paul, Acts 20:11.) Who is the father of a lie? (The devil, Jobs 8:44.) On what occasion in Jerusalem did the Holy Spirit come to the discs 2 ? What is the first and last tree mentioned in the Bible? (The tree of life.) THE QUESTIONS are compiled by Terry Hall, a former professor at Moody Bible Institute who is now with Media Ministries, a Christian seminar group. FBI agents and homemakers, real estate agents and janitors have com peted on the show. Last year’s programming included a battle of ministers and Hancock plans a ses sion this season with 10- to 12-year old contestants. Hancock described the program as “a hit” for Christian television and said he has received no complaints about the show being sacrilegious. ‘We're not making a game out of the Bible. We're testing people's knowledge of it,” he said, “I don't think anyone can construe sacrile gious connotations to that. Most of the studio crew describe themselves as ‘‘born again'’ and many are “PK's” (preacher's kids). Some, including Hancock, have work ed at commercial TV stations. THEY COULD be making more money at other broadcasting jobs, but there is a small pink sign posted in the control room, which reads, “Working for God may not pay that much, but the retirement plan is out of this world. Se ame Se ye Ce SL a Ren Byrd eae a ney HOST RAYMOND G. MacKillop, right, instructs contestant Tom Grosshe ider, 23, of Tinley Park, Ill, on the New Bible Baffle television show. Scrambled scriptural verse on screen was rescrambled correctly by Gros sheider to read “Call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.” (UPI).
Newspaper Details
The Chronicle Telegram
Elyria, Ohio, US
Sat, Oct 04, 1980
Page 20
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
