It was an unexpected response to the debate on Sunday shopping, especially from a clergyman, but Rev. Dr. Goodwin Smith said that shopping is a better option than going to local football games.

The head of the New Testament Church of God said he no longer opposed commerce taking place on Sundays. Historically in Bermuda the clergy have held the view that Sundays are sacred ? the Sabbath ? and a time for family to bond and all people to rest.

?My feeling is that I don?t see much difference,? Rev. Smith said. ?I would rather see businesses open than football games and the violence that is going on Sundays.?

Rev. Smith pointed not only to the increasing outbreaks of violence at local football matches but also violence in overseas games like the Detroit Pistons/Indiana Pacers basketball game in the US.

?This is the thing that really denigrates the Sunday worship day,? he said. ?Drinking and cursing (at a football game) these are the things that are taking Sundays and putting them into the dregs.?

And he said it was more important to deal with the violence than worry about ?someone selling a car or a suit?.

Maintaining the more traditional stance, head of the Anglican church in Bermuda Bishop Ewen Ratteray said Sunday shopping should only be in the afternoon and on special occasions such as Christmas.

?In principle, I do not have any objection (to Sunday shopping) as long as it is in the afternoon and not the morning, so it does not prevent people going to worship ? as most worship in the morning.

?But I would have a strong reservation if it was every Sunday,? he said. ?Family life is very important. People who work in the shops also have family. They need time off like everyone else.?

Bishop Ratteray said retail staff might have to work seven days a week if they were open every Sunday.

He said Sundays were an important time in the week as it gave people a chance to relax and recover.

?I think it?s very important to give people the chance to recreate themselves,? he said.

?Bermuda does not have to be like everywhere else.?

Staff of some of Hamilton?s main department stores agreed with the Bishop.

One A.S. Coopers & Sons staffer said most of the staff on the sales floor hated the idea.

She said she needed to spend her Sundays serenely with her family.

?We have other obligations we might have that we can?t do throughout the week,? she said. ?Plus on Sunday many people go to church.?

In Trimingham?s, a worker said she was unable to care for her sick friend in hospital because she had to work Sunday shifts this Christmas.

?I know it?s a global thing and we have to get with the programme,? she said. ?My only hesitation is that someone I know is sick in hospital and I take them out on Sundays.?

She said she worked two of the four Sunday shifts this Christmas: ?I find if it?s busy enough, we can do it, but I don?t know if we should do it when it is not a special time of the year.?

She said Trimingham?s took on part-time staff over Christmas to work on Sundays.

?The part-timers don?t mind,? she said. ?But the older staff members, they don?t readily come to change.?

A Gibbon?s Company staff member said yesterday that she would ?hate to work on Sundays? as it was the only day she got to spend with her daughter.

Finance Minister Paula Cox is expected to address the topic when Parliament reconvenes in February.