The Tampa Tribune became the latest newspaper to deliver copies of the New Testament to subscribers as a part of national effort by the International Bible Society, distributing 56,500 copies in its Saturday edition before the Super Bowl.

The effort was spearheaded by a pair of local residents who raised about $127,000 from 15 area chruches and 19 local businesses, including McNichols Co., AnazaoHealth Corp., Ferman Automotive Group, Idlewild Baptist Church, Florida Dental Centers and Bayshore Baptist Church.

The front cover of the 200-plus-page, paperback-sized edition features retired Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy and the Tampa skyline; the Colorado Springs-based IBS has also released "Path to Victory," a football-themed New Testament featuring testimonies from Dungy and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner.

Paul Tolleson, director of the CityReachers Bible distribution program in Tampa for the IBS, said two local organizers raised the $2.25 per copy fee to produce and distribute the Bibles in four months -- a fraction of the 12 to 18 months they often spend fundraising for similar projects.

In the past year, the IBS has collected about $1.2-million to distribute 700,000 Bibles using a similar model, Tolleson said. Originally sparked by giveways tied to showing of Mel Gibson's 2004 film The Passion of the Christ, the IBS' Bible giveaways have been implemented in newspapers in Philadelphia, Houston, Ft. Worth and Spokane, Wash, he said. A 2007 story on the effort can be found here.

And while Tolleson said many objections to past distributions have come from "anti-religious" people who don't want to see any religious material included in their newspaper, he acknowledged some complaints have also come from Christians fearing Bibles might be tossed in the trash if circulated in bulk.

Tampa resident Debbie Lamphier said she and her sister got the idea in June from a friend who is an evangelist and knew about the IBS program, picking the Saturday before Super Bowl as a date when the most readers might pick up the newspaper. "Someone who has got strong beliefs in another religion might not be thrilled with this...but the hope is to reach lost souls who need God," she said. "There was no intent to offend anyone."