Pastor Insists He Gets No Commission for Book Recommendations

Evansville, Indiana – It was just a typical Sunday sermon for Pastor Ben Haugen, when he was caught off guard by an “emergency” board meeting he was asked to attend following a morning service.

“The board felt I needed to discuss how much Amazon was paying me to recommend books,” claimed Pastor Haugen, rolling his eyes. “I thought I was just recommending some good material – things I had read myself and believed would be beneficial – but the board thought I may be up to something more… sinister.”

For eleven straight Sundays, Pastor Ben would reportedly stand before the congregation and make statements such as, “If you’d love a good book on that topic for further reading, check out John Piper’s book, A Peculiar Glory: How the Christian Scriptures Reveal Their Complete Truthfulness. It’s only $18.52 on Amazon right now!” or “I thought our Men’s Bible study on Thursday was fantastic, it really shows how much The Promise Principle by Phillip Hunter – only $7.55 for your Kindle – has helped us expand our study!”

Pastor Ben has been the lead pastor at New Faith Non-Denominational for the past two years, but the board had heard enough after his recent string of sermons. Said one board member, who requested she remain anonymous, “It just felt like there were commercial breaks during the sermon, like, why does he have to state the price of the books? Is Amazon giving him a cut of the sales?”

After the pastor displayed his checking account for the board to examine, the argument was put to rest and they were comforted to know the pastor was not getting a check from Amazon. Although, they did all agree that the pastor’s wife, Ruth, has been spending too much money at Joann’s Fabrics.

Recordings of Pastor Ben’s commercials – sorry, sermons – can be heard in the church’s podcast, available for free on iTunes.

Reporter: Crass Christian