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.

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.

Tim Tebow will deliver the Easter sermon on Sunday at the Celebration Church in Georgetown, Texas, and the expected turnout is one more indication of Tebow’s enormous popularity.

The church told local TV station KVUE that it’s erecting bleachers on its 60-acre outdoor space for what it expects to be a crowd of as many as 30,000 people. Scaffolding and trellises were erected Wednesday on the church’s property for the visit. There will be no parking at the Celebration Church site at 1202 Rabbit Hill Drive. Instead, the church is renting 110 buses to pick up the masses from six different locations in Round Rock and Georgetown

“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.

Champion is a former LSU football play whose father played in the NFL. Joe was a walk-on with the Tigers who earned a scholarship for his senior year as an offensive Lineman (C/OT).

Celebration is a member congregation in the Association of Related Churches which is headed up by Greg Surratt. Surratt is pastor of the Seacoast Church which has a dozen campuses spread throughout SC, NC, and GA. Champion serves on the ARC Board.

Event organizers say all are welcome, and the church doesn’t plan on turning people away.

“Tebow recently got a mani-pedi (first time I’ve ever typed that phrase” said NBC Sport Commentary Michael David Smith (short for manicure and pedicure).

Sources at the MB Nails salon in West Hollywood report that Tebow was “very nice” during the $23 service, and left a generous tip.

Pastor Champion wants to make clear that it’s not all about glorifying Tebow.

“There will be the sacredness of Easter,” Champion said. “It’s not a Tim Tebow show. It’s not about a celebrity. There’s really only one celebrity that we are going to honor and highlight.”

Michael Smith said: “I don’t think he’s referring to Mark Sanchez.”

Sources:
KVUE TV
NBC SPORTS
NY DAILY NEWS

[Editor’s note: Some of the original URLs (links) referenced in this article are no longer valid, so the links have been removed.]