Mormons overcome in battle of churches

Hamish Heard
A Morman show of strength has pulled the church over the line in a battle to find the region’s strongest faith.
The Church of Latter Day Saints overpowered its opposition from other local Christian organisations in an inaugural Inter-Church Tug-of-War Competition at Bell Post Hill on the weekend.
A Baptist outfit from Bethel Fellowship came second and Drysdale Church of Christ staved off a challenge from Waterfront Christian Church to finish in third place.
Covenant College ran the competition as part of its annual fair, with hopes of making the tug-of-war a significant date on the region’s religious calendar.
Sponsors put up $2000 for first place, $1000 for the runners-up and $500 for third.
Covenant College business manager Algernon Johannes said a spirited contest provided exciting spectator viewing as 80 competitors from eight churches battled to win the event.
“It was fiercely contested but it was all carried out with really good spirit, so we were pleased with that,” Mr Johnanes said.
However, the school would not tell the Independent who had won the competition, leaving the paper to do a ring-around to find out the Mormons had taken first place.
“I can only tell you that the names of the top three sides were The Saints, the Bethel Barbarians and The Tribe,” Mr Johannes said.
He praised the day as an “fantastic success”, saying organisers estimated up to 1000 people turned attended the annual fair.
“Everyone was really pleased with the day and a lot indicated they would be back next year.”