Posted 1/3/01 Sports on Sundays forces choice regarding church By Don Heinzman, special to the Post Review More and more sports events conflict with church services. This conflict caused concern Dec. 24 when the Minnesota Vikings were scheduled to play the Indianapolis Colts at the same time Christmas Eve church services were being held. Some church leaders protested, but the NFL schedule prevailed. The Viking management said they had nothing to do with the scheduling of the 3:15 p.m. game, a schedule dictated by television contracts. A spokesperson for the Vikings said they had very few complaints. Besides families do have the choice. The comments by church pastors over the Viking game revealed a growing problem of parents having to choose between their family playing sports or attending church services. The concern is over traveling team tournaments on weekends, which includes Sundays. Such conflicts force parents to choose between having their athletic stars attend church or playing basketball games. Sports usually wins out over going to church. The Sunday morning scheduling has been discussed at the meetings of the St. Paul District Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran church. A spokesperson for the Minnesota Sports Federation said tournaments are scheduled weekends by sponsors who need to provide a full schedule to make the tournament worthwhile. Parents, of course, can choose church over sports, but that ends up penalizing the athlete. Pastors say the choice unfortunately places the athlete in the middle. Pastors also say scheduling sports contests by non-school groups on Wednesday nights is reducing attendance at confirmation classes. One pastor said conflicts with sports scheduling has cut confirmation class attendance by 20 percent. The Minnesota Vikings do not intend to lodge a protest about playing games on Christmas Eve. In the past, they have played games on Christmas Day. As for scheduling games for youth on Sundays, pastors wonder why the tournaments canít continue after noon on Sundays. More Saturday-only tournaments also should be scheduled. Having tournaments on Sundays wonít change until parents rise up and protest. Thatís not likely to happen, given the sports culture of this society. ©Post Review