Holy Huddle

Church scores big on a screen play, and Cowboys faithful say: It's good!

08:38 PM CST on Sunday, December 19, 2004

By JEFF MOSIER / The Dallas Morning News

One church has solved the age-old Sunday conflict between late-morning services and early-afternoon football.

REX C. CURRY/Special Contributor
Valerie Scruggs (left) and Bonnie Krauss celebrated a Cowboys first down Sunday at Unity Church of Dallas. Two other members bought the satellite dish and pay the church's bill.

Unity Church of Dallas now shows the noon Cowboys kickoffs in the fellowship hall to encourage worshippers to stay for the entire service.

"The joke was that they were running out so fast we couldn't tackle them," church member Ken Sutherland said about the old pregame rush to the parking lot.

He and church member Mike Connor dreamed up the Holy Huddle program last year after noticing that many football fans were already on their way home to see the kickoff before services ended. The men agreed to purchase a satellite dish and pay the monthly bill to ensure that American's Team had a place in the church.

Now worshippers only have to walk down the hall for pizza and Dallas' most passionate pastime. The widescreen television is turned off at halftime as fans head home to watch the rest of the game.

Ken Groves, a member of the church's choir, said that for many, it's a tough call between church and football.

"It's easier for everyone to catch the game," he said while watching the Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles battle through a scoreless first quarter.

The added benefit, Mr. Sutherland said, is that some of the church's 1,300 active members have made new friends while solving an old problem.

It's win-win for the church, even when it's not for the Cowboys. They lost Sunday, 12-7.
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