Pastor & Church Resources
A Personal Note…
I wish we could fill these pages with good news, but we cannot. Instead, this is a call to arms. Plans for gambling expansion in Missouri are already on the table. This means increasing devastation to Missouri families and communities; and who will help piece together the growing numbers of broken lives and relationships? With virtually no help coming from state or casino coffers, Missouri’s faith-based organizations and their leadership will foot the bill.
– Dan Hite, Chairman
Please browse this page and its links for a variety of educational articles, statistics, audio, and video messages.
Church Resources
Bulletin Inserts, Posters and Guest Speakers:
We have partnered with Casino Watch Foundation and their vision for encouraging and equipping your church with resources to help you guide and educate your congregation on the dangers of gambling. Click here to find a variety of complimentary resources and even programming.
Public Service Announcements:
“The Gambling Minute” is a series of 60-second commentaries that stimulate questions on gambling and its expansion. They are interesting and informative. We know of nothing quite like them anywhere in this format. After more than 40 years of pro-gambling “hype” in our country, now America can hear another perspective on gambling…one minute at a time. The Gambling Minute is best suited as a “public service announcement” for radio and may be downloaded and broadcast without charge. Radio stations are encouraged to provide this service to their listeners. To listen to and download The Gambling Minute, please visit our friend Harold Hendrick at www.haroldhendrick.com.
Missouri…Can We Talk… is a series of 30-second messages meant to arm listeners with the latest information on gambling in Missouri and attempts by the casino industry and politicians to expand gambling in this state and remove the $500 loss limit. To listen to and download these topical and informative audio messages please click here.
Info Sheets:
The following info sheets were compiled by the National Council on Problem Gambling and provide you with documented evidence on the dangers of gambling. These fact sheets make a great handout, flyer, or even sermon material.
– Gambling and Domestic Violence (PDF)
– Gambling and Smoking (PDF)
– Youth Gambling (PDF)
– Older Adults (PDF)
– Family Issues (PDF)
Other Websites:
http://stoppredatorygambling.org
Featured Article
GAMBLING: SHOULD WE CARE?
by Douglas Madi
Download the PDF(Pastor Doug Madi was the former Chairman of MOCAGE and a board member at Friendship Village South and member of South County First. He was a preaching instructor at Covenant Theological Seminary.)
Art Schlichter was a star quarterback for Ohio State University and was drafted by the National Football League. Despite his athletic success and living the dream of many a young boy (i.e. throwing that long pass to win the big game), Schlichter had a problem that destroyed his life. He was a compulsive gambler, who by the age of 23, owed family, friends and bookies $1,000,000. His wife Mitzi tells an all too familiar story. Though they used all of their wedding gifts to pay off his gambling debts and he promised he would never gamble again, the gambling continued and they lost all of their money and anything of value we ever owned. Our car. Our furniture. He even pawned my wedding ring.(Schlichter p21) Eventually Schlichter was imprisoned for stealing checks from his sister-in-laws bank account. Gambling not only ruined his life but it did a great deal of damage to his family, especially their oldest daughter who is now 11. The night the police came to the house to arrest her father, she cried herself to sleep. Mitzi said, It is terrible when you have to tell your child her father is going to jail. The worst thing about gambling, she continued, wasnt the money, it was the emotional toll it took on the family. It was devastating. (Schlichter p22). Sadly, Schlichters story is not an isolated case. Gambling and the problems it inevitably brings are spreading across the United States and are firmly entrenched in the St. Louis area. Yet it is often asked, Is this an issue that is proper for the church to address? What people do with their money is their own business. Why should I care? Isnt gambling harmless entertainment?
It is the aim of this paper to demonstrate that gambling is an issue that must concern us by briefly reviewing its history and demonstrating how it violates the law of God.
Missouri Clergy Against Gambling Expansion 