“March Gladness”
March Madness has turned into March Gladness.
Everybody’s got their brackets done for the NCAA basketball tournament. Now it seems a faith group has found a way to help you give more during this basketball bonanza.
Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation, an Episcopal group working to eradicate poverty, aims to do good with its project focusing on the tournament.
The group is running a bracket for the tournament to raise money for charity, the Associated Press reported.
Money raised through the “March Gladness” pot will be donated to nonprofits that work toward the group’s Millennium Development Goals. I know from having talked to the Rt. Rev. Ed Konieczny, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma, that meeting these goals is a high priority for the bishops and Anglicans across the globe.
The eight goals, drafted in 2000, are to: feed the hungry, educate all children, empower women, save children’s lives, keep motherhood safe, heal the sick, care for the environment and work together to heal the world.
Check out the March Gladness effort and see how it all works by going online to www.e4gr.org/marchgladness.html.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Courtney Paris: Fellowship of Christian Athletes leader
Courtney Paris, the Big 12 Women’s Player of the Year, is featured on the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Sharing the Victory Web site this week.
The story is just in time for March Madness, with the Big 12 Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament under way here in Oklahoma City. The story includes comments not just from Paris, but also her friends and coach
.
Among other things, Paris talks about being a part of FCA on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman and what it has been like being one of the leaders of her FCA Huddle.
Read the story “Center of Attention” by Susie Magill. Scroll down to the bottom and read more comments from Sherri Coale, Paris’ coach.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Reminder: Churches OK to broadcast Super Bowl
We reported this last year, but for those churches that didn’t get the word: It’s OK to broadcast the Super Bowl game on Sunday.
Lots of churches offer Super Bowl watch parties to bring congregations together and also as an outreach opportunity to football fans in the surrounding community.
The Religion News Service sent out a brief today noting that the Rutherford Institute, which joined members of Congress in challenging the National Football League’s previous rules, has reminded churches that they can host viewing parties on Sunday on large-screen televisions in their buildings.
“As long as they follow the basic guidelines set forth by the NFL, churches can now rest assured that they are free to have football parties and show the Super Bowl game,” said John W Whitehead, president of the Charlottesville, Va.-based civil liberties organization, told the RNS.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals face off in Super Bowl XLIII in Tamp, Fla., on Sunday.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the modified policy eliminated past rules regarding the size of the screens on which the game is shown.
McCarthy said the only thing his organization asks is that churches not charge admission and that they hold the parties at locations they regularly use for large gatherings.
McCarthy told the RNS that his New York offices continue to receive calls from churches about the policy. “We had always had calls throughout the history of the Super Bowl,” he said. “It hasn’t been that substantial this year.”
Members of Congress and church leaders objected to the NFL’s previous ban on widescreen televisions. The league had said churches could not hold Super Bowl parties featuring TV screens larger than 55 inches, even though sports bars routinely did.
Last February, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, sent NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell a letter with a series of questions about the policy, and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., introduced legislation that would permit churches to show the game on widescreen TVs.
Goodell wrote back to Hatch to inform him of the rule change and noted that the league believed the legislation was not necessary.
(AP PHOTO above)
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Talking faith with Bradford and Tebow
Thursday’s BCS National Championship is, of course, the big news this week and lots of folks are talking about the two young men who will have a lot to do with who wins the big game.
In the days leading up to the championship, Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford (at left)and Florida quarterback Tim Tebow have shared their thoughts about Thursday’s game, but they also have talked about something else: Their faith in God.
Fans who want to see them share about their faith can visit www.BeyondTheUltimate.org.
“The key things I’ve learned are patience, perseverance and trusting God,” Bradford said in a video interview on the Web site.
“Everything that God does He’s doing for a reason. He has a purpose and we need to trust Him and know that His plan is the right way.”
Tebow said: “I found true satisfaction, true happiness — and it is not by having your name in a newspaper, it is not by winning trophies, and it is not by winning championships. It is by having relationship with Jesus Christ.”
Other college football stars share their stories on the Web site, as well.
The site was originally developed in partnership with Athletes in Action, the sports ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, as a platform for Super Bowl coaches Tony Dungy, Lovie Smith and their players to share the important role that faith in Christ has played in their lives. BeyondTheUltimate.org has since expanded to reach fans of a variety of sports.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Faith a sore spot at the Olympics?
I remember archery lessons in my freshman PE class in high school.
I really recall how bad I was at it and how grateful I was that I never had to do it again.
The sport is on my mind today after I read a recent story in the New York Times about U.S. Olympic archery coach Kisik Lee (pictured at right) stirring the waters, so to speak, at the games in Beijing.
It seems that Lee is a Christian and has baptized several people, including several of his archers, prior to the games in Beijing.
According to the Times, the United States Olympics Committee is concerned that Lee may have imposed his faith values on the U.S. archers who competed in Beijing. At least one archer’s parent, according to the story, was not happy with Lee on this issue, but was afraid that her child might draw some sort of retaliation if she spoke out.
Here’s what Lee had to say, responding to charges that he tried to impose his faith on his team. His comment was the Religion News Service’s Quote of the Day on Wednesday.
Read the Times story by clicking here: “For Coach, God and Archery are a Package Deal.”
What do you think? Did Lee go too far?
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Beijing to host Christian athletes
Michael Redd
With the Olympics on my mind (is everybody else counting down as well?), I was delighted to get an interesting report about Christian athletes competing in the Summer Olympics set to begin Friday in Beijing, China.
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes sent out “The Heart And Soul in Sports” report today, which lists some of those athletes and their comments about their faith.
Included in the FCA report is NBA star Michael Redd. The Milwaukee Bucks guard said: “Since I’ve had the Lord Jesus Christ in my life, miraculous things have happened to me. I just thank God every day for Him blessing me and showing me favor when I’m not worthy of any of that. I keep Him first and I’m diligent in keeping Him first.”
Incidentally, Redd was already on my mind because we just found out today that the Bucks will play the new Oklahoma City NBA team in the latter’s season opener in October at the Ford Center.
Meanwhile diver Laura Wilkinson of Houston is also among the Christian athletes listed. She said: “I know that I don’t need a gold medal or a certain score on the scoreboard to know that I’m special, that I matter and that God has a plan for me. We each matter because God made us each unique and special. No collection of titles, medals, degrees or money can give you that. We can put our hope in Jeremiah 29:11 when God says that He has plans for us, not to harm us, but to give us hope and a future.”
Men’s marathon runner, Ryan Hall, had this to say about his faith: “Being free to run means not carrying the burdens of this world. It’s the freedom to not have to achieve something to be able to just go out and do it for the love of doing it.”
For more about the Olympics and the Christian athletes who have competed in the games, visit FCA.org.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
