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Mercer Island Enjoys 'Super' Fellowship on Sunday
MERCER ISLAND, WA (February 7, 2006) - It was by design that Mercer Island
Covenant Church looked as much like a sports restaurant as a church on
Sunday afternoon when members turned out to watch the Super Bowl.
Mercer Island member Mike Holmgren was in Detroit coaching the Seattle
Seahawks, so the congregation figured the least it could do was gather
together to watch the game. Tables and chairs and three eight-foot by
eight-foot projector screens were placed in the sanctuary, says senior
pastor Greg Asimakoupoulos. Food - pizza, hot dogs and plenty of snacks
- was abundant.
The 125 people who attended the event got into the spirit of the day.
Children waved homemade signs and would run onto the stage to be
cheerleaders, Asimakoupoulos says. "People cheered as if they were
actually in the stadium and as if the players could hear them.
"As the momentum of the Seahawks ebbed and flowed, the emotions followed
suit," Asimakoupoulos continues. "But there was no booing, as many
Seahawks fans across the country were doing to express their displeasure
with the officiating."
During halftime, the church played a segment from the Friday broadcast
of ABC World News Tonight that featured the trip to the Democratic
Republic of Congo by Kathy Holmgren and the couple's daughter, Calla –
they are part of an eight-member medical team currently working at the
Karawa hospital. After Asimakoupoulos shared about the Evangelical
Covenant Church's involvement with the Congo and its connection to Paul
Carlson through the Paul Carlson Partnership, the church showed a video
that ABC aired during the pre-game show about the trip.
Showing the video meant the congregation missed most of the Rolling
Stones' first song. Church member John Hendricks told the Seattle
Times reporter who was at the church, "This is probably the first
and last time we'll see the Stones in the sanctuary."
Earlier, during the regular Sunday service, Asimakoupoulos announced,
"I'm overdressed" and pulled off his black robe to reveal a Shaun
Alexander jersey. When the game was over and the Seahawks had fallen to
the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-10, Asimakoupoulos led the church in prayer
for Kathy and Calla, and that Mike would be able to comfort his dejected
players.
The Holmgrens' connection with the church continues to make news in
unusual ways. Asimakoupoulos recalled that while he was waiting at
Chicago's O'Hare International Airport following the Midwinter Pastors
Conference for his flight to Seattle, he ran into the morning anchors
for his favorite radio station. As a result, they interviewed the pastor
prior to church on Sunday.
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