Guest post by Amanda Montgomery
In sports outreach our energy is typically focused on building relationships with players, but what about the families of those athletes?
During our current basketball season here at Flint Groves we have wanted to place a larger focus on ministering to the parents of those children we are already showing love to. The hardest part is done; they have already made it inside of our doors, now what are we to do with them?
Our solution was to open a calm, relaxing coffee house and lounge during all basketball practices dubbed The Escape. We offer a spot for parents to go that is free of kids and basketball. ‘The Escape’ is quiet and cozy and a complete 180 from the gymnasium where they usually have spent practices watching their children.
We moved couches and chairs from the church offices, borrowed shelves and coffee tables from friends, and transformed a institutional looking dining hall into an area where people just want to kick-back we a cup of coffee or hot tea. It was a simple change not requiring much effort or financial investment.
Best of all we scattered the lounge with Bibles, Christian literature, and information about our church and its ministries. Each night our church staff as well as members of our recreation committee and others from the church came in and chatted up visitors. We allowed many opportunities for people to learn about our church and the Lord.
Despite all of the Christian influence, we weren’t shoving bibles in people’s faces or asking them if they go to church somewhere. This area is designed as a judgment free zone for people from all walks of life, including varying religious views. The logo does not display a bible verse or even the Flint Groves Baptist Church name. Instead this is a place for conversation to develop with the hopes it could led to some type for evangelism. Sometimes this happened and at other times people just had light-hearted chats about their kids and lives. But you never know what kind of seeds these conversations can plant.
I think sometimes the hardest part in ministering to people is getting past the stereotypes and moving beyond pre-conceived notions about what you should do in church. Not everything has to bare a cross logo or have a name for God in the title (coffee house name suggestions included Jesus Java Jitter and He Brews) and you don’t always have to give an invitation or have someone fill out a commitment card. Outreach, especially in sports, is so much about relationships and the time you take to develop them.
Creating The Escape has been such a great thing for all involved. Parents need to be reached too, so don’t leave them out!
Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death Psalm 68:20
