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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
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 \u2013 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.<\/p>\n