Watch pastor conduct 1-minute service so he could catch 49ers game

Tim Christensen is the pastor of Gold Hill Lutheran Church in Butte, Mont.

He also is a die-hard fan of the San Francisco 49ers, whose NFL playoff game against the Carolina Panthers last Sunday just happened to be slated for the same time as one of Christensen’s church services.

Obviously a guy who has his priorities straight, Christensen decided to cut Mass a wee bit short. OK, way short.

After informing the members of the congregation about the looming kickoff, forgiving their sins and telling them to help themselves to bread and wine, the 53-year-old San Francisco native said, “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.”

Nice of him to get in a shout-out to the man upstairs -- right before paying tribute to Colin Kaepernick by imitating the 49ers quarterback’s signature move of kissing his biceps.

Christensen then opened his vestment to reveal a 49ers jersey and declared, “I’m outta here,” before heading out to root for a team based more than 1,000 miles away. The entire service lasted almost exactly a minute.

The 49ers gave Christensen plenty to cheer for, defeating the Panthers, 23-10. They advance to play the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC championship late Sunday afternoon -- which will hopefully mean no scheduling conflict for the football-crazy pastor.

[Updated at 1:05 p.m.: Peterson told the New York Daily News that the stunt was just a joke and that he returned to perform his regular hour-long service. But he still got to see the entire game, including the pregame show, on DVR when he got home.]