Posted on 02/04/2007 6:28:00 AM PST by mcg2000
INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indianapolis church on Friday said it will defy the NFL's demand that churches not use projectors to show the Super Bowl, saying it is taking "a stand for what's right."
Second Baptist Church, located at 3705 Kessler Blvd. North Drive, will show the game Sunday -- using a projector and a screen -- following an afternoon service, an assistant to the church's senior pastor told 6News.
The decision to proceed with the plan came after the NFL told a different Indianapolis church not to use a wall projector to show the game, citing copyright laws.
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.
"All we want to do is increase fellowship with believers and demonstrate true love to people that don't know Christ."
In the letter to the congregation, Greene said that the NFL doesn't want churches to host Super Bowl gatherings, though "people can gather at sports bars and other secular locations with no problem."
"I believe that God's people have to take a stand," Greene said in the letter. "If the church continues to compromise with the world, it will soon have no influence on the world that God has instructed us to reach in His Great Commission as directed in St. Matthew 29:18-20."
Earlier this week, the NFL, having spotted a Web site promoting a Super Bowl gathering at Indianapolis' Fall Creek Baptist Church, told Fall Creek Baptist that it couldn't use a wall projector to show the game. The NFL's stance prompted many churches across the country to cancel their planned Super Bowl events.
The NFL said the law generally limits Super Bowl showings to one TV no bigger than 55 inches.
This week, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league's long-standing policy is to ban "mass out-of-home viewing" of the Super Bowl. An exception is made for sports bars and other businesses that show televised sports as a part of their everyday operations.
"We have contracts with our (TV) networks to provide free over-the-air television for people at home," Aiello said. "The network economics are based on television ratings and at-home viewing. Out-of-home viewing is not measured by Nielsen."
It is also the reason no mass viewings are planned in large arenas like the RCA Dome or Conseco Fieldhouse.
On Friday, an NFL statement expanded on Aiello's explanation, saying the league's policy is "nothing new."
"We are simply following copyright law and have done so with regard to any type of commercial establishment including hotels, theaters, museums, schools, arenas and others," the statement said.
The statement said the NFL "has absolutely no objection to churches and others hosting Super Bowl viewing parties as long as they do not charge admission and show the game on a television of the type commonly used at home."
Great! Nice to see they have a spine.
I think this is an easy decision. There's no way the NFL will sue a church for showing the Superbowl. I suspect the lawyer who sent the initial warning has already been reprimanded.
I thought the NFL recanted and said these churches could go ahead and have their superbowl parties with large screens.
Render unto Caeser that which is Caesers. The NFL is protected by copyright laws so how about abiding by them?
Great...now we have churches teaching their flock that it's OK to steal.
Well I am glad the NFL will allow me to watch the game on my personal TV today. Are they wanting a portion of the football pools friends will start, dictate what kind of pizza, beer and cola I can have while watching the game?
The NFL makes so much money. Don't they realize the end to their means are the FANS???
I admit I'm addicted to football. Can I bring a class action suit against the NFL?
I do think I'm going to go nuts thought when they should one of their "community service" ads showing one of their "stars" serving soup in a soup line at the local baptist church!
GO BEARS!
People gathering to watch TV in a church is not stealing.
If these folks aren't Nielsen homes, how are they stealing?
Fine, then charge for the munchies.
God does not think he is a lawyer for the NFL.
Hooray for an organization with guts. There will probably be about eight million sports bars showing the program on projection TVs, why not a church? Stuff the NFL on this one.
Let me get this straight. The NFL has no problem if you go out to a sports bar to watch the game, drink and then drive yourself home. However, if you want to go to a church, watch the game and be exposed to the word of God, then the NFL will see you in court. Good luck with that litigation, NFL, you will need it.
I've read some and believe the NFL is in the right, not the churches mentioned. The NFL is bascially saying you can have an entire city watch the game on tv, but you can't charge any of those persons a fee for watching the game.
The churches cancelling the parties must've been planning to charge a fee. It's an easy work around if their intentions were non-profit.
Huh? You made all that up out of thin air.
They did, early yesterday - the only thing that can't be done is "charge admission".
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