Super Bowl brings cheers to the church
By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hope Chapel Kane'ohe church member Richard Williams II had a somber face when he came up to his minister, Ralph Moore, yesterday.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
"Pastor Moore, I know that one of the values of Christian fellowship is to be there for another person at a time of loss," Williams told the reverend.
Lee Hopkinson cheered when Tampa Bay scored its first touchdown in the Super Bowl yesterday. Hope Chapel Kane'ohe members had a gathering for the game.
"So I want you to know," Williams continued soberly, "that I am going to be there for you today when your Raiders lose."
It was Super Bowl Sunday at Hope Chapel yesterday. It was soon clear even to the most faithful that Oakland, which lost to Tampa Bay 48-21, didn't have a prayer.
More than 100 church members and guests unfolded reclining beach chairs, mats and picnic tables for a giant tailgate party in the 100-foot-by-75-foot tent sanctuary.
"But at this party, I know I can bring my whole family into a safe atmosphere," said Williams, camped out on the floor with wife Jody, children Sarah, 11, Brittany, 9, Trey, 4, and foster baby Jared, 3 months.
The strongest beverage pulled out of the cooler chests was Classic Coke, and any police DUI checkpoints set up down the road from the hillside sanctuary on Po'okela Street would have come up empty.
The guys on the motorcycles had T-shirts reading "Faith Riding" and "Faith/Believe" in the form of a cross.
There were college shirts on sale at the back of the room, from UH — the University of Heaven.
Side tables for the annual get-together sagged with food ranging from 'ahi to Zippy's, just like any other Super Bowl party.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
But Hope Chapel football fans were feeding more than their own faces: Church members collected about 2,500 cans of soup for donation to the needy in what they called their Souper Bowl Sunday.
Richard and Jody Williams and their four children joined other Hope Chapel members for a day of fellowship on Super Bowl Sunday. Members also collected 2,500 cans of soup to donate to the needy.
Raiders fan Moore, who began following the team in California before coming to Hawai'i in 1983, said he liked the fact that coach Al Davis "bet on guys that everyone else thought was washed up. We have some of that in our teachings, which talk about giving hope to people who may have had some trouble in their lives."
Was it a little strange to have a gladiatorial contest reminiscent of the Roman arena presented on a 10-foot television screen inside a Christian church?
"I don't get too worked up about that," said Moore, the founder of the growing Hope Chapel movement within the Foursquare Church denomination. "To me it's just a game."
It was less than a game, and more, for many of the spectators.
"I'm cheering for the Logarithms," said Williams' wife, Jody, wearing an MIT sweatshirt. "Are they playing? No, actually, I'm here for the commercials."
"I'm not here for the football, I'm here for the people," said Kailua writer Barbara Pace, who kept up a lively conversation with some other women while the menfolk cheered interceptions and blocked kicks.
"I'm here because I go to this church, and I like the fellowship," said Eric Hunt, coming back for his second serving of dessert. "And I don't mind eating the food, either."
Rene Morgan, Kailua mother of two, said it must have been God's plan for her to stay after church with her two toddlers, Conrad, 2, and Sophia, 4. "There is something about this community, and now my son is sitting in someone's lap and my daughter is playing with the other children, and I am relaxing and watching the Super Bowl," she said.
"I'm rooting for the Buccaneers because nobody else is," she said. "Jesus loved the underdogs."
Lee Hopkinson, a singer in the church's Worship Band who raised his hands in praise to God at 10 a.m., raised them high again at 2 p.m. for a Tampa touchdown.
"I'm here because I worship here, because this is my family, these are my friends," he said.
"Even the Raiders fans."
Reach Walter Wright at wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8054.
