Watch Thursday, As Dominican Sisters Compete in “The American Bible Challenge”!

This Thursday, I’m betting on the Sisters! 

At 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, March 21, three of the Ann Arbor-based Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist will compete for a $140,000 top purse on the Game Show Network’s top-rated show, “THE AMERICAN BIBLE CHALLENGE”.

The Sisters are tight-lipped about the outcome of the show, which has already been taped; but comedian Jeff Foxworthy, host of the program, obviously had a good time at the taping.  Foxworthy said of the contestants,

“These nuns are funny, fun and let me tell you, they came to win!  Viewers are going to really enjoy seeing them in action.” 

Sister Peter Joseph and Sister Evangeline, both novices, and Sister Maria Suso, a Professed Sister, the three contestants, enjoy a challenge.  They use their free time to play games—everything from soccer to Scrabble.  So it’s only natural that they would particularly love a good competition based on the Bible.

Foxworthy’s popular one-hour game show is in its second season on the Game Show Network.  The tournament starts with 18 three-person teams—three teams in each of the first six episodes of the season.  The winning teams from each of those six episodes advance to play in two semi-final games.  During the final round, one team will be named champions of THE AMERICAN BIBLE CHALLENGE.

If the Sisters of Mary do emerge as winners of the $140,000 grand prize for the season, they plan to use the money for the benefit of their Religious Order.   “We look up to our older Sisters who have generously given their lives to God,” they assert, “and the prize money from this show would be the perfect way to show our gratitude for all of their inspiration.”

Be sure to tune in at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the Game Show Network.

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The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist (affectionately called the “white sisters” by some who see their flowing white habits) have caught the attention of the media before.

They were featured on Oprah Winfrey’s show not once, but twice.  In the first interview, the daytime TV queen seemed mind-boggled that these cheerful adult women had freely chosen a life of celibacy.  (I remember her incredulous question, “You never have SEX?”)

And in May 2010, reporter Lisa Ling visited their Ann Arbor convent and profiled “a day in the life of the nuns.”  Here is a video clip from that show.

And I wrote about THE AMERICAN BIBLE CHALLENGE when the show premiered in 2012.  You can read more about it here.