This fall the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association will begin moving into their new $27 million headquarters. According to the Charlotte Observer the building was paid for with $17 million from the sale of the property in Minneapolis and $10 million worth of savings in “staff reductions and consolidation.” Not exactly the line they pitched to us during all those relocation meetings, but hey, now I can say my salary helped pay for the new BGEA digs. You’re welcome, Billy. Glad I could help.
In other news, the long-forgotten World Wide Pictures film Last Flight Out will finally see the light of day. The BGEA’s September TV special will feature the thrilling story of a washed-up pilot paid by the man he truly hates to rescue the woman he once loved from menacing drug lords (and their gringo body guard) threatening her isolated mission station in the jungles of Colombia. Whew.
I had the chance to read a few early scripts, and despite the incredible potential and current relevance in a story of a missionary being rescued from violent drug lords/terrorists, Last Flight Out is “intensely mediocre” (with props to Nick Ciske). I’ve talked about the film before, but it’s just a painful reminder of what could have been.
Check local times here and consider watching a non-Mel Gibson Christian movie. I’d tune in for laughs, but it’s airing during youth group here in the Twin Cities (Sept. 15 @ 6:30 p.m. on WB 23). (And no, I don’t think it’d be a good idea to have the youth group watch it)
What’s even more amazing than the mediocrity is the fact that the BGEA buys time on local TV stations across the country four times every year to air Gospel presentations. Sometimes they’re subpar movies and sometimes it’s a few Christian artists followed by a sermon from a recent crusade. But every time they do it nobody pays attention. Maybe it’s the subpar content, maybe it’s the lack of a single, national time slot, but whatever the reason nobody pays attention. It’s exactly what conservative Christians have been begging for, and nobody cares. I’ve never understood that.
My question: How much did BGEA pay in rent/renovation/relocation costs to move everyone to temporary office space… not to mention the costs of moving everyone to the final office space come this fall?
All in all, I highly doubt BGEA came out ahead… and Franklin was certainly delusional when he was initially telling us that we’d have money in the bank after all this was over.
BG HQ $$
I may have sent Kevin the Charlotte Observer article, but he said it
sometimes the sarcasm doesn’t quite come through when it’s written instead of spoken, but here goes:
I find it hard to believe that anything produced by BGEA, particularly their films, could be labeled as mediocre.
Dave, I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic. But trust me, LFO is mediocre. Why? Because it’s really an FGEA movie, not a BGEA movie. One letter makes all the difference.