The Super Bowl will be February 5. Here are some tips for how your church can serve your community and avoid copyright infringement

On Sunday evening, February 5, 2017, the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons will face off in Houston, Texas, for Super Bowl LI.  People will gather to watch the game, rate the commercials and enjoy snacks.  Some churches will even "get in the game" and host special events and viewing parties.

Souper Bowl of Caring

The Society of St. Andrew (SoSA), an advance special of the North Alabama Conference, offers ideas for how church groups can use this occasion to make a difference in their community by participating in the Souper Bowl of Caring.

According to Society of St. Andrew, “Souper Bowl of Caring is youth across the nation working to fight hunger and poverty in their own communities around the time of the Super Bowl football game.”

This effort by young people to collect dollars and food to give to local charities to help fight hunger in their communities began in 1990.  When a group participates with the Souper Bowl of Caring, 100% of donations go to local charities.

Society of St. Andrew is a national faith-based nonprofit dedicated to following Jesus' command to feed the hungry. SoSA operates the Alabama Gleaning Network, a ministry which recruits gleaners to enter fields and pick what is left behind after the harvest for distribution to nearby agencies feeding those who are hungry.

When your group registers to participate in Souper Bowl of Caring at SouperBowl.org, you can select Society of St. Andrew as your charity. Every dollar you raise for Society of St. Andrew will put 42 servings of healthy, nourishing food on the plates of children, women, and men at greatest risk for hunger in this country.

For more information on how you can support the ministry of the Society of St. Andrew through a Souper Bowl of Caring event go to endhunger.org/souper.

Some copyright issues churches should consider

When hosting an event on February 5, Christian Copyright Solutions offers guidelines for churches to follow to avoid copyright infringement.

Christian Copyright Solutions talked to a NFL representative who explained, “If a church holds their 'viewing party' in its usual place of worship and does not charge a fee for attending such viewing party. The NFL will not object when a church has a party for its congregants to watch the Super Bowl together.”

The NFL Representative added that churches should not use registered trademarks to promote the event by noting that “a church cannot use the NFL Shield, Super Bowl or Club logos.”

In this article, Christian Copyright Solutions offers three rules for churches to follow:

1. Churches must show the game live on equipment they use in the course of ministry at their premises; recordings of the show are not permitted.
    
2. Churches cannot charge admission for the party. The NFL has stated, however, that churches may take up a donation to defray the cost of the event.
    
3. It’s advisable for churches to call the event a “big game” party rather than a “Super Bowl” party, as both the “NFL” and “Super Bowl” are trademarked and protected intellectual property. For example, one church last year called their event a “Souper Bowl” party and asked for donations of canned soup for a local ministry.