A megachurch pastor’s son won over $50,000 during a recent episode of “Wheel of Fortune” earlier this month.
Michael Hodges, son of Church of the Highlands founding Pastor Chris Hodge, took home $52,650 on the Dec. 7th episode of one of America’s longest-running game shows. During the episode, he solved a bonus round puzzle, which asked, "What are you doing?" The answer was "Opening a jar."
On Instagram, Hodges' pastor, Chris Hodges, celebrated the win by joking that it was good timing for the church’s offering.
“My son Michael won the Wheel of Fortune tonight!” Chris Hodges wrote on Dec. 7. “Just in time for the Legacy Offering 😜.”
“😂😂 Just trying to make an #eternalimpact,” Michael’s wife, Katie, replied.
In her post, Kate noted that she and her husband traveled to Los Angeles In October to film the Dec. 7 episode, Church Leaders reported.
“Still can’t believe it!! What a FUN adventure!” she said on Friday, Dec. 8. “We went to LA back in October but couldn’t say why we were there, but we were actually there to film Wheel of Fortune!”
The post included a clip of Michael expressing his excitement when he arrived at the “Wheel of Fortune” studio early in the morning, Church Leaders reports.
“It was the longest day. Michael left at 6 am that Thursday, and there was still a chance he may not be selected to be on the show,” she continued. “He couldn’t have his phone all day, so even after @kristinmartele [Kristin Mitchell] and I arrived at 11 am, we still didn’t know if he even made it on the show!”
The video also showed the couple checking out the “Wheel of Fortune” studio and taking a photo in front of a picture of Pat Sajak and Vanna White.
“After sitting in the studio audience through filming for 5 hours, he finally came on!” Katie wrote. “It was so much to take in, and I remember thinking, HOW IN THE WORLD DID HE SOLVE THOSE PUZZLES SO FAST! He does them pretty quickly at home, but doing them in person is a whole other ballgame! I was blown away!”
Michael is vice president of spiritual development at Highlands College in Birmingham, Alabama, and previously served as pastor at the Greystone campus of the Church of the Highlands. He is also the founder of GrowLeader, which trains and equips church leaders, and a co-founder of the Association of Related Churches (ARC).
Photo Courtesy: 'Michael's Bonus Round'/Wheel of Fortune via YouTube/12/12/23 @12:48pm
Video Courtesy: Wheel of Fortune via YouTube
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.