Church Defies NFL, Will Host Super Bowl Party

Posted Feb 3rd 2007 3:16PM by Michael David Smith
Filed under: Colts, Super Bowl

As we've previously reported, Fall Creek Baptist Church in Indianapolis was told by the NFL that it couldn't hold a Super Bowl party. But another church, Indianapolis Second Baptist, has decided to go ahead and have a party without the NFL's consent.

Second Baptist's senior pastor, the Rev. David Greene, said in a press release and a separate letter to his congregation that the church's Super Bowl event was a way to minister to people, and that the NFL shouldn't be able to stop it.

"The NFL implied that it has a problem with the venue and medium that local churches conduct ministry," Greene said in the news release. "We want to save souls by any means necessary. Football, traditional service, street ministry -- it doesn't matter."

Although I believe the NFL has the legal right to control whether its broadcasts are used to attract people to big gatherings, I also believe there is absolutely no chance that the league will go after the church. Suing a church for a Super Bowl party would be horrible PR, and the NFL values PR above all else.