By Sarah Thames
Tuesday morning staff meetings have been a joy lately (yes, I did write that) as the staff of this church has experienced some synergy and excitement over the mission of the church in regards to the congregation’s role in building the Kingdom of God. It really is just a natural flow of spiritual life and what’s intended in the life of every believer; we are saved not to sit back and get comfortable but to engage in building the kingdom. Believers need knowledge and fellowship, but the fulfilling life is when we are transformed by it and trained and given opportunity to minister as we mature in the Lord. Yet it seems a huge majority of our church time and programming is taken up with being inward focused, the scale has tipped in the “filling” direction. Our church staff is latching on to the need for that outflow piece in the life of the church.
The youth ministry here offers several missions opportunities during the summer. They have a system, though; tiers, if you will. They start with a week of in-town ministry. Next tier, an outreach here in the US (NYC). Then finally the overseas trip. The youth are well-prepared at each level by the prior experiences and maturity, so they go as leaders. I like this as a model for ministry in sports outreach and the church at large…
What a great opportunity churches have to grow leaders through sports ministry, right on location! Two thoughts to mill-
1. If the sports program we’re operating feels disconnected from the church, the church body is missing out and perhaps the mission needs a revamp.
2. Not everyone is a coach. What opportunities to give and grow outside of coaching have been created in the program for church members?
