# The Gospel According to Cecil

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gospel-according-to-cecil/291131>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [February 21, 2005, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gospel-according-to-cecil/291131 "2005-02-21T05:16:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gospel-according-to-cecil/291131/1 "2005-02-21T05:16:24Z")

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The Straight Dope was mentioned in the sermon at my church this morning!

The reading for this week was from the Gospel of John and included verse 3:16. In the children’s sermon, the preacher (a friend of mine who graduated seminary last year) got the children’s attention by having a member of the congregation (her husband) jump up in the pew and run around holding a “John 3:16” sign. In the adult sermon, she gave examples of various people whose lives have been affected by that one verse. One of her examples was “Rock’n” Rollen Stewart, the guy who once held up those signs.

She pointed out that no everyone knows what those signs mean, and read a portion of the [letter](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_186.html) to Cecil asking about it. She then went on to tell part of Rollen’s life story, obviously gleaned from Cecil.

After the service I told her “I love the Straight Dope!” and she admitted that was indeed her source. She also knew the [sad conclusion](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a971107.html) to Rollen’s tale. She didn’t mention Cecil or the Straight Dope by name, but she described it as a website which answers people’s questions. She told me she didn’t think she could say to this congregation that she was looking at a website called “The Straight Dope.”

Is this a cool preacher or what?

(BTW, this is one of the larger, more affluent congregations of my denomination in DC! The Straight Dope is coming on in the world!)

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**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gospel-according-to-cecil/291131/2 "2005-02-21T05:53:56Z")

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I wonder which member your preacher is? Hmmmm…

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**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gospel-according-to-cecil/291131/3 "2005-02-21T06:13:02Z")

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She didn’t know about the boards, just the columns. But I made her promise to check us out.

I wonder if any other dopers were in the congregation?