The Value of Church Sports: A Great Historical Example

Written By Paul Emory Putz, Ph.D. Assistant Director, Sports Ministry Program at Baylor University's Truett Theological Seminary

Looking Back

One of my favorite examples of the influence that a local church-based sports and rec & fitness ministry (SR&F) can have comes from the life of Bob Pettit. If you’re a basketball fan and history buff like me, you know Pettit is one of the NBA’s all-time greats. Over his eleven seasons with the Hawks (1954-1965), the 6’9” forward from LSU averaged over 26 points per game and won two MVP awards.  And none of that would have been possible without a church basketball league. As a sophomore, Pettit was cut from his high school team. But with the encouragement of his pastor, he and a group of other young men formed a basketball league at Pettit’s church, St. James Episcopal. In his autobiography, The Drive Within Me, Pettit said the church league provided him with his first opportunity to play organized basketball. And as he played in the church league, his confidence and ability grew. By his junior season, he was ready to compete and star for the high school team. "I never forgot that the church saved my basketball career when it might have gone under without a ripple,” Pettit wrote in 1962. "And through the years I've come to learn that the church offers much, much more. I can't understand how a true believer in Christ can ignore the fellowship Christ instituted to continue His work on earth."

Looking Ahead

Of course, most church sports leagues aren’t going to produce a future hall-of-famer. But they can serve as a space to cultivate meaning, belonging, and community. They can provide an environment in which others are invited into deeper Christian commitment and growth.If we want church ministries to serve that purpose, we need to be intentional about our vision and plan. One helpful starting point for this is to learn from the past. For the last 150 years church leaders have been exploring how to integrate and include sports and recreation within the work of the church. By considering the theologies and strategies that have undergirded those efforts—as well as the major successes and failures—we can better understand our present moment and make wise choices about the future.    In short, we don’t need to try to develop NBA All-Stars. But we should be thinking about how sports and recreation can help us reach and shepherd people well. Especially in our fast-changing cultural landscape.  If you’re interested in exploring more of the history of local church SR&F ministry and discussing how it can inform the work of church and ministry leaders in the present, join me and Bob Schindler in February for a CEDE Sports webinar entitled: The History of Local Church SR&F Ministry - Looking to the Past to Navigate an Uncertain Future. You can either join CEDE Sports Webinar Mailing List for more info on this upcoming event or email rcurrie@cedesports.org for information on how to register for that webinar.And if you’d like to connect with me to learn more about my work as a historian with Baylor’s Faith & Sports Institute, you can follow me on Twitter (@p_emory) or check out my website (http://www.paulemoryputz.com).  

On The Field Series: Russell Dulin

Out of a desire for you to understand more of what we do we decided to invite the people on the field to tell you themselves. In these blogs you will hear from the hands and feet of our ministry as they tell you how their story intersects with CEDE Sports. 

Meet Russell Dulin..

Russell serves as the Minister of Recreation at Hopewell Baptist Church in Monroe, NC. Q: How did you get connected with CEDE?

A: I was contacted by a CEDE Sports mentor many years ago while I was still a full-time public school teacher and part-time recreation ministry director about the possibility of meeting to discuss the recreation ministry. It wasn’t until I left teaching to lead the recreation ministry full-time that my schedule would allow us to meet. Since 2015 I have met with this mentor from CEDE Sports on a monthly basis discussing various topics of recreation ministry.

Q: What has been the impact of your involvement with CEDE?

A: CEDE Sports has provided a mentorship that serves both me and the ministry. My education and training was in education, not ministry. They took me from a mentality of athletic director to recreation minister. Helping to focus my priority on ministry first, sports second. Using the CEDE Sports online materials, book studies and monthly conversations has helped me stay focused on the opportunities we have to bridge the gap between the church and community using sports. Sharing the Gospel through sports is an effective way of ministering to people that may not necessarily hear to Gospel in a traditional church setting. CEDE has also helped me set yearly goals and cast vision for the ministry moving forward. Having goals and vision keep me from become complacent or stagnant in the ministry.

Q: Why would someone in sports, Rec and fitness get involved with CEDE?

A: I have had times in the ministry where I get bogged down in the logistics of recreation ministry; uniforms, schedules, coaches and referees. CEDE Sports provide online materials and resources to help with coach’s training. I didn’t have to move from education to ministry and “re-create the wheel”. Those online resources were quick and easy to adapt to my specific recreation ministry, which freed me up to focus on the ministry part of recreation. Meeting monthly with CEDE has kept me accountable. Their focus, is for me to focus on ministry first, sport second. Beyond the connection I have with my mentor, CEDE Sports has also given me the opportunity to connect with other recreation ministries, locally and nationally, through their website and the annual REACH Gathering conference.

On The Field Series: Bill Wise

Out of a desire for you to understand more of what we do we decided to invite the people on the field to tell you themselves. In these blogs you will hear from the hands and feet of our ministry as they tell you how their story intersects with CEDE Sports. 

Meet Bill Wise..

Bill serves as the Family Activities and Singles Minister at Central in College Station, TX. Q: How did you get connected with CEDE?

A: At the REACH Conference in Rockwall, Texas in 2017.  I struck up a conversation with one of the mentors from CEDE Sports and started to find out about what they do and I took a business card. At the conference we attended a few sessions taught by the staff of CEDE Sports and I realized this is something we need to take advantage of and have been rocking with them since.

Q: What has been the impact of your involvement with CEDE?

A: Our reach to coaches discipleship and accountability has vastly improved since. We have changed how we do our devotional times due to this relationship and seen kids and families grow because of it. Our meeting times with CEDE folks have been helpful in our development as ministers by seeing things from a different perspective.

Q: Why would someone in sports, Rec and fitness get involved with CEDE?

A: It is another tool in the toolbox for growth, guidance, ideas and support. Their knowledge and resources are something we couldn’t get somewhere else. They are able to assist us in seeing things from different perspectives, what has worked somewhere else and walking through the process of making things work here. I highly recommend them working with any sports ministry that wants to improve.

On The Field Series: Taylor Price

Out of a desire for you to understand more of what we do we decided to invite the people on the field to tell you themselves. In these blogs you will hear from the hands and feet of our ministry as they tell you how their story intersects with CEDE Sports. 

Meet Taylor Price..

Q: How did you get connected with CEDE?

A: I came to Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, FL in 2018 from a career in banking. I was passionate, but truthfully I was just trying to keep my head above water. I got connected with CEDE through the Reach Gathering in 2019. The wisdom and support offered by the guys at CEDE came highly recommended from other sports ministers in attendance. At that point I got connected and the rest is history.

Q: What has been the impact of your involvement with CEDE?

A: CEDE has provided a fresh breath of air during the day in and day out grind that sports ministry can sometimes be. I believe sports ministers are to think like astronauts, how can we get to the moon? However, the administrative work can make us feel more like potato farmers, does this dirt look good enough to plant my next potato in? CEDE has allowed me to take my eyes off of the gritty details for a moment, and to shoot for the moon. For example, good coaches have always been hard to come by, and in my time before CEDE I would find myself struggling through the process of finding enough coaches. Ken helped me to lay out a better Mission, Vision, and Philosophy so not only can I find coaches, but I can invest in them so they buy in, and come back season after season.

Q: Why would someone in sports, Rec and fitness get involved with CEDE?

A: CEDE can help you fix your eyes on the big picture, most importantly on Christ, so that every aspect of what you do in sport ministry, and in life (these things overflow), can come from a Gospel-saturated worldview. Some of the best conversations I've had with Ken have not been ministry related as much as life related. At the heart of it, these guys will genuinely care for not only your ministry but for you as an individual, and having another person in your corner as we run this race for Jesus can make all the difference in the world.

On The Field Series: Jenny Young

Out of a desire for you to understand more of what we do we decided to invite the people on the field to tell you themselves. In these blogs you will hear from the hands and feet of our ministry as they tell you how their story intersects with CEDE Sports. 

Meet Jenny Young..

Q: How did you get involved with CEDE Sports?A: I discovered CEDE Sports early on when it was CSO Sports which propelled me in learning about sports outreach ministry. I did this by taking leadership classes and being involved in internships within the church. Being able to both learn within the church context and the classroom, helped prepare me for my future in sports ministry. CEDE was exactly what I was looking for!  I am so grateful for their unwavering leadership, mentorship and discipleship. My involvement started back in 2005 in Charlotte, NC where it then led me currently to Brownsburg, Indiana at Connection Pointe Christian Church with the sports and fitness ministry. I graduated through the leadership center of CEDE Sports in 2007 with two other ladies who are some of my best friends to this day.Q: What has been the impact of your involvement with CEDE Sports?A: Cede Sports = Family. It is about relationships within the church and with you. Their desire to see you mentored, equipped and challenged as a person outweighs any program. CEDE helped form my understanding of relational outreach along with being a Gospel-Centered ministry. The relationships with other sports outreach ministry leaders and understanding of how to connect with each other is invaluable.Q: Why would you recommend someone in sports, rec & fitness ministry get involved with CEDE?A: Without the leadership, mentorship, and friendship of CEDE Sports, I would not be the person I am today. They have taught me about sports, life and Truth. Keeping the Gospel at the center of my life and ministry. Those go hand in hand. CEDE Sports is a family and families take care of each other. You are not on your own with CEDE Sports and the experience I have gained both personally and professionally is beyond measure. 

The Biggest Loser & Spiritual Development

Written by Bob Schindler 

What I like about the show, The Biggest Loser, is watching people achieve what they have never achieved before but have longed for some time to accomplish.  It just stirs my heart as I watch their struggle and joy.

I think there is something to learn from the show about developing people.  To unpack those insights, let me ask “What makes these people able to do on the show what they couldn’t do on their own?”

Remember, there is nothing magical about the equation for losing weight:

Decrease caloric intake + increase caloric output = weight loss

I would guess that each person on the show understood this equation for the most part.  They may not have understood the caloric content of what they were eating but they at least understood the principle.

If that is so, “Why did they achieve during the show what they couldn’t do on their own?”  Or another way of asking the question – “What did the show provide for them that they couldn’t get themselves?”

Basic Premise

While there may be many more than the list below, I point to following concepts as keys to the participants successful weight loss:

 –      Clear formula for weight loss: outlined above and discussed/reinforced often/meals

– Community of development: they were on teams working together on that formula.  

– Qualified Coaches : participants were given individual as well as group attention that extended beyond but impacted their approach to weight loss.

–  Accountability to the team: individual progress impacted the whole team.

–  Focused atmosphere: they were removed from the everyday distractions and together for a specific purpose.

Having listed them, it is the combination of these elements that is the key not just the individual components.  In fact, some of the participants may have even experimented with some of these ideas individually without the corresponding success they found on The Biggest Loser.

Relevance To You

With those thoughts in mind, think about your own efforts or your efforts to help others grow spiritually.  Like many who want to lose weight, I often find people who -

–  want to grow spiritually but who have never really experienced what they long for.

–  are trying to help them grow spiritually, like sports ministers and their coaches and players, but who have little or frustrating impact from their efforts.

 One solution to this frustration may be to take a lesson from The Biggest Loser and try to build this same kind of development atmosphere

1)    the community of development

2)    accountability to the team for progress

3)    focused environment

4)    qualified coaches

working within God’s formula for development.

Our Commitment

At Cede Sports, we work to help local churches construct such an environment.  We create tools to support that environment, including the following video. Join our church directory at no cost where you will have access to many free resources to help equip and train you in furthering your Sports Ministry for the Gospel. Preview these by watching this video explaining our devotional resources and then use this link to join our directory to access all our free resources!

The results – God is using such environments to help sports ministers, coaches, and players achieve what they have always longed to achieve but have never quite got there.  Here is one sports minister’s recent experience:

“We have a renewed excitement and energy. We have a renewed passion for pursuing something that’s so much bigger than just sports. We’ve re-designed our programs with the idea of integrating sports and ministry in mind rather than trying to inject ministry into sport which is what we were guilty of doing before. As a result, participants are enjoying a better experience, families are being served better, and volunteers are serving with a higher calling in mind which gives them a lot of significance.”

If we can help you and your church, please contact us.  We exist to serve the local church.