Tim Tebow's plans for Easter 'mass'

That Tim Tebow guy is something else. You would think with all of the New York City media following him around these days, that it would be hard for him to sneak off and make some kind of radical change in his religious life. I am referring, of course, to his decision to become a Roman Catholic.

Wait, you didn't hear about that?

That is certainly one easy interpretation of this rather jarring headline on the CBS Sports website.

Tebow to speak at Easter mass in Texas

Yes, that says what you thought it said -- although the lower-case "m" in Mass is a bit strange. Here's the short news clip under that headline:

New Jets QB Tim Tebow is going to be a guest speaker at Easter mass at a church in Texas, according to KVUE-TV in Austin. The church is expecting 30,000 people to attend the event, which normally draws closer to 7,500. Tebow is known as much for his strong Christian beliefs as he is for his football talent.

However, when one visits the KVUE website, there is no sign of the word "mass" or "Mass" at all.

I assume that, at some point, the story simply said that Tebow would be speaking at a "massive" Easter service and some print-challenged producer cut the story down to size a bit too much. Surely there are people at CBS Sports who have heard of the Reformation and know a little bit about Catholics and Protestants and the differences between these approaches to Christian faith?

But back to KVUE-TV. At the moment, the station has the following online:

GEORGETOWN -- One of the biggest names in sports who also happens to be a devout Christian is heading to Georgetown for Easter Sunday.

On Wednesday, the first signs of Tim Tebow fever hitting Georgetown could be seen on 60 acres at the Celebration Church. Scaffolding and trellises were erected Wednesday on the church’s property for the Tebow visit. The New York Jets quarterback will speak for 20 minutes during an outdoor worship service that could draw as many as 30,000 people for the Easter Service beginning at 10 a.m.

“Obviously it's our Super Bowl," said Joe Champion, pastor at the Celebration Church. "Easter is the resurrection of Christ, which we celebrate in our faith. We feel like it's going to be a testimony to the community. We want it to be a family event." ...

Pastor Champion still doesn’t know exactly why his congregation was chosen by the Tebow camp as a place for him to speak. The pastor did say that Easter was not the original date chosen by Tebow's representatives.

Etc., etc. I'll admit that this sounds like a rather massive service. It also sounds absolutely megachurch Protestant, from A to Z.

This is not rocket science folks. A click or two with a mouse yields browser results that would straighten anything out in somewhere between 20 and 30 seconds.

Rather embarrassing, methinks.


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