A senior pastor once told me that he is not interested in doing sports ministry at his church because it is bad sports and bad ministry.
Another senior pastor told me that sports is the best bridge for building relationships.
So, which one is true? Is sports ministry a legitimate and effective ministry tool for a local church? And this next question hits closer to home: Should your church employ sports for ministry?
You can probably guess my position on church sports. Similar to the second pastor quoted above, I believe church sports can be used to accomplish every aspect of a church’s calling. Whether outreach, fellowship, teaching, disciple making, or leadership training — all of these can benefit from incorporating sports. However, let me add quickly and emphatically that whether or not your church should employ sports as a tool for ministry depends on the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, prayerfully seek God’s wisdom and direction before you roll out the first ball or yoga mat.
Church Sports for Outreach
Included in my book, Intentional Outreach, on church sports is this quote from a seminary professor, “In many cases, sports activities accelerate the building of relationships.” He tells a funny story of playing in a highly competitive flag football league where he was assigned to a team. His own teammates were very distant and cold toward him, until he caught the game-winning touchdown in his first game. Immediately his teammates starting hugging and high-fiving him. In a few minutes he went from unknown and unliked, to receiving public displays of affection from grown men in a Chicago city park — all achieved through the bridge and power of sports.
If your church would benefit from building relationships with people in your community whom you do not yet know, then consider utilizing the bridge of sports. I’m convinced that in our racially-tense environment, it is critical to build relationships with diverse people, which sports uniquely facilitates.
Church Sports for Leadership Training
In addition to the power of quickly build relationships across all barriers, sports will allow your church to teach and train your own. Another senior pastor and I were talking while observing his church’s car and boat show. They hosted it to meet people from their immediate neighborhood. The pastor pointed to a man standing next to a cool race boat and told me that this man’s wife had been very involved in the church for years, but until the church decided to host the car and boat show, the man had been MIA at church. However, leading up to the show the man had been at church every day interacting with other men and pastors at the church. The car and boat show gave this man a reason to get involved in the church.
Sports ministry activities offer every level of involvement — so even those who just want to dip their toes in the water, so to speak, can find a place to serve. The regular contact you can have with volunteers provides strategic teaching and training opportunities as well.
So, is sports ministry bad sports and bad ministry? It can be. On the flip side, when prayerfully and strategically implemented, sports can provide the power to accelerate the building of relationships across diverse cultures as well as significant leadership training opportunities.
Interestingly, a few years after the pastor told me that sports ministry is bad sports and bad ministry, he called me to ask if we could pray together about how to use sports to reach families near his church. Now, I’d call that a “win” for sports ministry, how about you?
