Televangelists in the US who encourage people to call in, aren’t doing a very good job of answering a salvation question, let alone even staffing their phone lines. A US group who did a similar measuring test last year, decided to phone television ministries and ask how to become a Christian. Inspired Direct contacted various televangelists and religious TV shows with the question, “how do I accept Jesus into my heart?” Charisma Magazine:
More than 25 percent of the calls went to voicemail, with the outgoing message mentioning that it was “after hours.” (All calls were made on a weekday before 5:30 p.m. EST.) This included three of the largest broadcast ministries of our day.
Of the calls answered by a live operator, 17 percent of them led the caller through the Scriptures, another 8 percent supplied an array of Bible verses for the donor to look up later, and 39 percent—far less than half—actually led the caller in the Sinner’s Prayer.
Clearly, not all of the operators were trained for such a call. In fact, during 28 percent of the calls, the operators seemed uneasy or unprepared. One even suggested, “Call your pastor …”
Thirteen percent of the ministries that answered the phone had a free resource or book that would help the caller understand the decision they had made and what the next steps should be.
But 28 percent tried to sell the “new convert” a product and 10 percent asked for a donation.
Not many ministries were willing to invest significant time for such a call:
- 37% spend less than two minutes on the call
- 27% spend two to five minutes on the call
(Yes, more than 64 percent spend less than five minutes on salvation!)
23 percent spent six to 10 minutes on the call
5 percent spent 11 to 20 minutes on the call
8 percent spent more than 20 minutes on the call
In the end, the caller found that only 13 percent of the operators were warm, knowledgeable and friendly.
Inspired Direct does not publicly name the tv shows in the latest test, nor did they name the ministries in the prior letter writing response test. The purpose of calling the help lines was to show the tv ministries what they are like from a donor’s point of view.
These people are trained to hurry the call along. The bigger the volume the better. I was one of them and left after while during the TV show we on the phone in the back ground were told to pick up the phone even though it wasn’t busy and pretend to talk. This was to encourage others to call. I found it deceptive. And this is just a way for most TV ministries to make more money. It’s a big business with big money and Jesus is a little too humble for their greedy britches.
Two equally horrifying scenes from my past quickly flash into view.
The first is myself, as a much younger person taking calls at both The 700 Club and 100 Huntley Street. I was not ready. I was not trained. In the former case, I thought I would just be taking telethon pledges, but immediately found myself spiritually in over my head. In the latter case, I was working as part of the studio technical crew, but wasn’t always indispensable to the broadcast, and the phones were ringing. But oh my! If only I knew then what I know now.
The second scene is a evening I stayed up until 2:00 AM to watch a program which took calls live on air in the middle of the night. The host was a pastor, but when a caller — clearly hurting — begged the pastor for the source of the prayer which begins, “Lord, Make me an instrument of Thy peace…” this ordained Christian minister looked directly into the camera and told the man, “Sorry, I’ve never heard of it.” And with that the call ended. I know St. Francis of Assisi doesn’t rate high on the list of Pentecostal heroes, but surely you have to study a little Church History to graduate as a pastor, right?
The point is, both the television set and the telephone are grossly inferior to sitting across the desk from a real, live pastor.
I know that today, I could much better handle calls if I had the opportunity, but even after all these years it’s so easy to miss the heart-cry of the people who call seeking both answers and comfort.
Hi, I have called all of those lines and have been shocked at the voices on the other end, 98% of the time the person was cold, rude and distant, couldn’t care less and with a judgment tone of voice. I stopped calling those christian TV lines. I prefer calling smaller obscure church helplines, whenever I did I felt God’s presence and the other person was warm and truly cared and truly prayed in the Spirit, not just like a “machine” to get rid of you and get to the next caller. I don’t get WHY have a christian program to “reach” the lost if when they call in you don’t even care. Another thing is (many may disagree) that the gospel we see today is not the real one. Saying a sinners prayer doesn’t save you. You never see people repent and cry over their sins. Something needs to happen on the inside. I’m sorry but repeating a prayer after someone doesn’t save anyone. Do these people encounter Jesus. Most true salvations I know of are people who felt the burden of their sins and felt a deep inner conviction and felt a change on the inside; no wonder most of those people backslide, they never got saved in the first place just repeated a prayer and lived a christianity from the intellect. Some people DO get saved by saying the sinners prayer don’t get me wrong because their hearts are sincere but the percentage is low. Please don’t argue with me, it’s only my opinion, I’ve seen too much to think otherwise.
As for those phone lines, I just don’t get it. WHY? I’ve called all of them. Useless.
The whole point of the excerise is to get the ‘mark’ to phone in. More often than not there is a little tricket, offered for free, to people who call. The Crystal Cathedral folks used this very successfully…..in hushed tones Schuller would offer something ridiculous like a vile of ‘holy annointed oil’ on a chain to wear around one’s neck. This is what makes people wait so long-everyone wants a freebe.
They want to send whatever cheap item to the caller, but more than anything they want the caller to become committed enough to give a donation. And give right then and there by credit card. A few weeks ago I tuned into a show. The speaker was offering people who called in a piece of paper that would help them eliminate their debts. Just another shabby extension of the same old con.