On Sunday February 13, 2022, while thousands across the nation watched a historic Super Bowl between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams, members of Pastor Lonnie Posley’s New Canaanland Christian Church were celebrating Super Soul Bowl.
A 28-year- old tradition for the church, it started when Posley realized that Super Bowl weekend could be an auspicious time to share their faith with the town of Joliet.
“It has been an evangelistic tool to bring the community together from all walks of life. One thing about the Super Bowl is it’s always set in stone for the date and time of the event. So, we chose that to utilize an evangelistic tactic to bring the city together and have fun,” Posley said.
Posley explained how the event incorporates community and congregation involvement.
“Our deacons are referees. Our doorkeepers are referees. The praise team serves as cheerleaders, and we have volunteers who come and play on teams. We turn the whole church into a football field. We put artificial turf in the gym and our field goal was made from balloons. You get a ticket when you come in and we raffle off gifts. People give us gifts and we raffle them off; bikes, televisions and we even tried to buy a car to raffle off,” Posley said.
For future Soul Bowls Pastor Posley hopes to include a donated NFL signed helmet to the church raffle.
In addition to having a football game and raffle, Pastor Posley and his congregation bestow upon selected community members the Community Impact Award that honors those who’ve made outstanding contributions in support the County. Recipients are awarded during the church service or mailed their award later. According to Posley, the Community Impact Award is a smaller model of the Heisman trophy. Posley indicated that next year the award will be Super Bowl rings and called the Great Hall of Fame of Faith.
He explained that honoring awardees was something new added a few years ago.
“It came about a couple years after we started the program. We started to say why not honor the people of the community and give them Heisman trophies?” said Posley.
Posley’s wife Rhonda explained how this year’s recipients were chosen.
“The fact that they are in the community doing health care on the frontlines is why we chose them. This year because of Covid-19, so many healthcare workers are sacrificing their lives to keep our community intact. So, these are some of the recipients that we heard throughout the community via lay people who said how much they helped,” Mrs. Posley said.
While Mr. Posley revealed that each year they choose recipients of a different profession depending on the impact they made that year, Mrs. Posley stated that’s why it was timely to recognize healthcare workers.
“So, the pandemic is something we’ve been hit hard with. In our community we already suffer from lack of jobs and income. A lot of the people who go to the health department don’t have health insurance, yet Dr. Dolly still does what she’s supposed to do and what she’s called to do. So that’s why we chose healthcare and frontline workers this year,” Mrs. Posley said.
Like her fellow recipients Dr. Dolly is a veteran healthcare worker who’s a cherished member of the community. She’s worked faithful for her employer APN Will County Health Center.
Tara Collins is a member of New Canaanland Christian Church. She has been in the healthcare field for 40 plus years. She is currently employed at Corner Stone Services and Friends over Fifty, a disabled elderly group home. She’s served at both for a combined 26 years.
Sherita Lyons has been a member & nurse at New Canaanland Christian Church
for over 20 years and has worked in the healthcare field for over 23 years.
Barbara L. Mabry-Moffett worked at Saint Joseph’s Hospital as a RN for more than a decade until COVID-19. She saw the need for assistance in several other communities and became a travel nurse. New Canaanland Christian Church honored these healthcare winners at this year’s Supper Soul Bowl event.
