The College Ministry Team at First Belton hosted a watch party for the Super Bowl from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Feb. 8 at the small sanctuary in their church.  

“We want to cultivate community through shared experiences. We want people to grow in their faith.” Stanton Corley, college ministry pastor at First Belton, said. “People grow in their faith through relationships that they trust, and one of the greatest ways to build trust is through shared experiences.”  

120 people came to the watch party. They set up round tables with chairs inside the sanctuary and a long table for food. College students were encouraged to bring their own appetizers and desserts to share with one another. Everyone started to serve food at 5:15 p.m., eating and talking with each other until the game started at 5:30 p.m.   

“I love football. My dad’s a football coach,” Allie Uzzell, freshman Christian ministry sports and recreation major, said. “I have so many amazing friends here [at First Belton], so I came to hang out with them.” 

While the game was playing, people were watching, talking amongst themselves, and even playing card games. At halftime, the event had a friending game. Half of the people rotate seats every five minutes and answer questions to each other. After this activity, people slowly started to leave.  

“Overall, I really enjoyed the event,” Bess Miranda, sophomore art education major, said. “The atmosphere was super nice, but the football game itself was pretty uneventful being that Seahawks dominated the whole time.”