Increased door-knocking...

[Doubting Thomas]

I think that might be the same place, Thor. One of the pieces of mail was a promise of a "prayer cloth" which if you send them a bunch of money, they'll send you the cloth which will somehow make your prayers that much stronger or some bullshit like that. There was also a bunch of other nonsense they were trying to sell, which, I guess if you were a poor religious person looking for your prayers of prosperity to be answered you'd fall for it, but to a rational person just smelled like a ripoff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Matthew's_Churches

They tend to target low-income neighborhoods, just the right people who might be praying for money. Just like religious people to target those in need with promises of magic spells that will raise them out of misery. And of course being a "church," all donations are considered free-will offerings, so if you give them the contents of your bank account, you'll never see it again. It's hard to file fraud charges against people like this. It's a pretty good scam they've got going, since all the money they're raking in is tax free.

[Thor]

I think that might be the same place, Thor. One of the pieces of mail was a promise of a "prayer cloth" which if you send them a bunch of money, they'll send you the cloth which will somehow make your prayers that much stronger or some bullshit like that. There was also a bunch of other nonsense they were trying to sell, which, I guess if you were a poor religious person looking for your prayers of prosperity to be answered you'd fall for it, but to a rational person just smelled like a ripoff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Matthew's_Churches

It looks like the same place to me. I just received another one of their mailings recently and the bullshit testimonials are a riot.

"The Lord has healed my throat..." A.R.F, California

""I've gotten a new car and a job..." Mrs. O.C., Texas

"God made it possible for us to buy 17 acres of land..." R.T., Delaware

Etc, etc...

Of course, these testimonials are vague, nonspecific, bereft of detail and impossible to verify. Yeah, let's go looking for a "Mrs. O.C." in Texas! They'll be getting their "prayer rug" returned after I make a few modifications to it.

I could let them know who sent their crap back to them, but I want them to waste their money and repeatedly send me their garbage. If enough people do this, they'll eventually go bankrupt. Hallelujah!

[Doubting Thomas]

After reading that wiki article about the "prayer rug," I'm convinced it's the same outfit. Yeah, those testimonials sound about as convincing as the ones you hear in commercials selling crap for $19.95.

[Thor]

After reading that wiki article about the "prayer rug," I'm convinced it's the same outfit. Yeah, those testimonials sound about as convincing as the ones you hear in commercials selling crap for $19.95.

I've received their mailings probably half a dozen times over the past 8 or 10 years. I don't know how they even have my name because I'm not a member of any church or religious organization. I'm quite certain these people are not affiliated with any actual church. It's nothing but a scam to suck money out of people. But then, isn't that what all churches do anyway?