“What got us here won’t take us where we want to go!”

Written By Bob Schindler, Chief Operating Officer of CEDE SPORTS“What got us here won’t take us where we want to go!”

The Context

I had coffee with a sports minister recently whose church recently went through a pastor transition after the previous pastor had been there for 40 years. The new pastor said in a recent message, “What got us here won’t take us where we want to go.”  This statement didn’t sit well with the sports minister. He loved the church and had been there for a long time. The comment seemed to him to disregard the past, the history that did get them to this point.  I may be reading too much into the comment by the pastor, and may be suffering from “growing old” syndrome, but I tend to agree with my friends assessment.  What do you hear in that statement? (Please respond in the comments below.)  

The Concern

I bring this up because I have noticed something lately. One of the privileges of my role at CEDE SPORTS is that I get a fairly wide perspective on the local church as I connect with churches in different parts of the country, from different denominations, of different sizes and worship styles, even different tenures of leadership. Amidst all that diversity, it seems there is a growing trend of what C.S. Lewis called “chronological snobbery” that values something merely because it is newer.  This conclusion on the comment by the pastor may be colored by my assessment. If so, I am asking God to show me my prejudice. If not, this tendency is a concern.  My concern stems from exactly what a person means when he or she says, “What got us here…”  If, by that statement they mean methods and styles may need to change, then I completely agree.  However, there are timeless truths and principles rooted in the Scriptures that always need to remain.  My concern stems from those who say or hear that statement and don’t discriminate between those timeless truths and time-sensitive methods. Without that discrimination, timeless truths can be set aside out of “chronological snobbery.”

The Question

What do you think?  “Will what got us here not take us to where we want to go?” 

Making Pandemic Lemonade

Written by Ken Cross, Church Mentor at CEDE Partners – an Initiative of CEDE Sports

Our Present Reality

We have all heard about making lemonade out of lemons. This phrase tells us to take an adverse situation and turn it around for your benefit and especially for the benefit of others. The Covid 19 pandemic has certainly been tough on sports ministers. Some that I personally work with, have had to take different roads in the ministry of the church such as:  media work, “Cares Act” guru helping the church get two or more months of salaries, or facing the reality of being reduced to only part time. Your situation might be similar to these. There are many unanswered questions ahead as we wonder how school is going to happen, and if we can restart our ministries without compromising safety. 

Lessons from the Past

When the Black Death of the Bubonic plague of London was devastating Europe in 1665, Cambridge University shut its doors and professor Isaac Newton was forced to stay at home. During his sequester, he invented calculus, parts of optic theory, and allegedly while sitting in his garden, he witnessed an apple fall from a tree, which inspired all of our understanding of gravity and the laws of motion. Now that is sweet lemonade!Jesus had gathered very large crowds of hungry people in Matthew 14 and 15. With no restaurants in sight, He used these moments to teach His disciples that He was enough in every situation. Is Jesus enough for your situation? What is God wanting to do? And what is He desiring for you during this time?

Considering the Future

Is now the time to re-evaluate your calling to ministry? Are you called or are you just doing a job? From my experience those who are intrinsically called and motivated by God will persevere through the hard times.  The “hirelings,” those that have entered by the wrong gate for the wrong reasons, will find what else it is that God has for them!Is now a time to re-evaluate your present ministry? To make plans for the future? Since you have been able to reflect during this time and perhaps see those proverbial apples fall from the trees! At CEDE Sports we have tools and mentors to help you do just that. One of the tools is called The Wheel (see the image below).Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” So assuming you are a believer, God has prepared plans just for you! What a great promise! That is lemonade that is always sweet! I believe since God put Adam to work before the Fall that He was showing us that there is nothing sinful about work. Even now God is preparing to do His kingdom work in the new Heavens and the new Earth. Preparation is underway. Take a positive perspective on this pandemic,  seek God, and pursue His prepared good work for you! 

A Matter of Perspective

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Written by Bob Schindler, Executive Director of CEDE Partners – an Initiative of CEDE Sports

More Congregations are Utilizing SR&F Outreach Ministry*

“Sports ministry in local churches is on the decline.”

I don’t remember when I first heard this assertion, but it has certainly been around for at least the last 10 years, since the Great Recession.  

Proponents of this perspective point to the following:

• Churches getting out of sports ministry 
• Sports ministries that serve local churches experiencing ongoing decline in the churches using their services
• Denominations reducing their efforts (or even eliminating them) to promote sports ministry
• National efforts to support the sports ministry movement closing their “doors”

While these claims have verifiable data, they represent only part of the picture. Before one can make the assertion that the number of churches doing sports ministry is on the decline there is another piece of the equation we must identify.  That is how many churches are getting into sports, rec and fitness during the same time frame considered when discussing churches getting out of it. 

Estimations

We can only be certain of this “net effect” when we know both the churches getting out and churches getting into the SRF movement.  

While I am not aware of any research to identify this plus number, there are some indicators that provide helpful insights.  According to research in 2010

• 36% of all churches have a sports and fitness initiative – either team sports, fitness activities or exercise classes 
• That number increased to 40% for evangelical churches 

If there are at least 350,000 churches in the USA with a conservative estimate of 80-100,000 of those being evangelical, this means that somewhere between 32,000 evangelical churches and 126,000  overall churches in the USA are involved in the SRF movement!!!

I recognize this is just one data point and doesn’t demonstrate any trend, but I point this out for us to get a better idea of the scale of the churches involved in the SRF movement.  When I got involved in the broader SRF movement in 2003, I heard estimates that were in the thousands. Now we have real research that tells us that number is at least in the tens of thousands and may actually get to a hundred thousand.  

The estimate – thousands to maybe ten thousand.

The actual – tens of thousands to maybe one hundred thousand.  

Encouraging Findings

I was way off in my estimation, and others were way off in theirs as well.  I am really astounded, a little humbled and also encouraged by this realization.  If this is true, this means there were lots and lots of churches in the US that are doing SRF ministry that no one really knows about.  

My own personal experience validated that reality.  I have the privilege of traveling and interacting with those in the SRF movement in a number of different regions in the US.  In those travels, I regularly run into churches who have been doing SRF ministry for some time yet have no contact with other churches, sports ministry organizations, or broader movement efforts.  

Building, Expanding

I also regularly find churches that are getting into SRF ministry, not getting out.  Churches that are building gyms/fitness facilities/fields to facilitate that ministry.  Churches that are hiring staff to develop that ministry for the first time.  

It is true that there are churches getting out of SRF ministry, but there are also churches out there that believe in the power and value of SRF ministry.  

Furthermore, if we think about 

• The growing interest in fitness and the growing involvement in fitness ministry by churches over the last 10-15 years 
• The developing work by churches among immigrants and refugees through sports, rec, and fitness
• The missional efforts of churches to send coaches, parents and players into community sports leagues

It is even possible to imagine a net positive effect on the number of churches involved in SRF ministry.  

While there is a need for more specific research on this net effect, with all that I have outlined in in mind, I would ask you to expand your perspective and consider a very different possibility for, a very different picture of, the status of SRF ministry in the USA.  I would ask you to look for signs of these encouraging trends.  They are all around us.  Look around for those churches who are starting SRF ministry or already doing it and who are not connected with other churches or any of the national SRF efforts.  Find them and help them get connected.  

Lastly, tell others what you find.  This different picture gives those of us invested in the SRF movement reasons for real encouragement and hope for the future.  

This is the perspective I have adopted and hope you will too. SRF ministry in local churches is on the rise!!!

 *I have shared these ideas on several occasions.  At Dr. Greg Linville’s request, I wrote this article for his book The Saving of Sports Ministry – The Soteriology of Sports Outreach available here.

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