Does it “Take a Church” to Make a Match?

A recent press release caught my eye. Following on the success of the game show “The American Bible Challenge”, a new series entitled “It Takes a Church” promises to help “unattached fellow parishioners find their partner”.

I have to admit, I’m intrigued by the idea of a faith community help one of their own singles find love. I’ve been known to mentally “match make” — at least in my mind — among my single Catholic friends. Do we need to make a tv show out of the process? Probably not. But should faith communities endeavor to create an environment where single believers can discover one another? I would say yes.

Here’s a press release that offers the details on “It Takes A Church”. It airs tomorrow night on GSN. I’ll be watching!

May 9, 2014, Santa Monica, CA  — GSN, the home of classic game programming and competitive entertainment, premieres its new original series, IT TAKES A CHURCH on Thursday, June 5 at 9 p.m. (ET/PT), following new original episodes of THE AMERICAN BIBLE CHALLENGE at 8 p.m, the network’s highest rated original series of all-time.  GSN also revealed an integration deal with ChristianMingle, the largest online community for Christian singles for the new series.  

Hosted by Multi-Grammy nominated Curb Recording Artist Natalie Grant, IT TAKES A CHURCH features Christian congregations across the country who play matchmaker in a competition to help an unattached fellow parishioner find their partner.  Each one-hour episode features a different congregation from across the country including Brooklyn, NY; Baltimore, MD; Goshen, IN; Milwaukee, WI; Rock Hill, SC; Oxnard, CA; and Tempe, AZ.

Each week, one unsuspecting single who has a desire to find a mate, is surprised to learn that their church is coming together to help them find love, led by their own Pastor, who speaks to the situation and gives advice on the potential suitors. The partnership provides ChristianMingle with in-show integration throughout the season; plus all of the daters who are not ultimately chosen will receive annual memberships to the dating service.  In addition, GSN will produce a custom short form micro-series for ChristianMingle that will air as interstitials throughout the commercial breaks of the show. Terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.

IT TAKES A CHURCH is produced by Authentic Entertainment for GSN, with Tom Rogan and Lauren Lexton (“Flipping Out,” “The Best Thing I Ever Ate”) serving as Executive Producers along with Richard Hall (“The Amazing Race”) of Great Blue Productions. Sean Kelly (“Minute to Win It”) is Consulting Producer.

Natalie Grant was nominated for two 2014 Grammy® Awards, in the categories Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance and Best Christian Music Song for the single Hurricane.  A Christian vocalist and multiple Dove Award winner, Grant is a singer-songwriter currently residing in Nashville, TN. Grant’s work has gained international acclaim, including five GMA (Gospel Music Association) Dove Awards for Female Vocalist of the year.  A mainstay on the Billboard Christian Songs chart with numerous #1 hits over the past decade, Grant has affirmed her status as one of gospel music’s most popular artists, enjoying out of the box success with the recent “Hurricane” #1 debut on the Christian and Gospel Billboard Albums charts (and #17 on the Billboard 200 chart). The infectious, double Grammy-nominated title track and single, Hurricane, quickly hit #1 on iTunes and added to the list of Grant’s chart- topping radio hits.  Grant will also be seen in a supporting role in the upcoming film, “Persecuted.” Produced by multiple Oscar^®-winner Gray Frederickson (“The Godfather” Trilogy, “Apocalypse Now”), the independent thriller – set for release in July – sees Grant co-starring alongside James Remar, Bruce Davison, and Fred Thompson.