Church To Defy NFL, Show Super Bowl With Projector

Church To Defy NFL, Show Super Bowl With Projector Fri Feb 2, 9:24 PM ET

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 3705 Kessler Blvd. North Drive, will proceed with its plans to show the game Sunday -- using a rear-projection TV screen -- following an afternoon service, an assistant to the church's senior pastor told 6News.

"The NFL implied that it has a problem with the venue and medium that local churches conduct ministry," the senior pastor, the Rev. David Greene, said in a press 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 a letter to his 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."

Greene's decision came after the NFL, having spotted a Web site promoting a Super Bowl gathering at Indianapolis' Fall Creek Baptist Church, told the church that it couldn't use a wall projector to show the game, citing copyright laws. The NFL's stance prompted many churches across the country to cancel their planned Super Bowl events.