We’ve recently had the privilege of doing an assessment of a large sports ministry at a local church. This assessment included surveys of the congregants, staff, participants, and community as well as interviews with several key leaders. One of the most staggering findings of all of this research was the following:
69% of participants in the sports ministry chose to participate because they wanted a safe, Christian environment for their child.
Sounds like a great thing, right? Not so fast.
Yes, it is encouraging that the sports ministry has a good reputation in the community and that parents want their kids to participate. However, if a sports ministry has a mission of outreach (which this one does) then this stat poses a problem: the ministry is drawing primarily Christians.
Of course, the ministry needs Christians if they are going to effectively accomplish relational outreach. However, if the league is primarily Christians, then there aren’t many people to “reach.”
This stat also reveals that most Christians enter into sports ministry without embracing the vision of the sports ministry – reaching people. Instead, they enter with a consumer mindset; they want a safe place for their kids to play.
This ministry that we assessed is not the only sports ministry struggling with this. I would venture to say that any sports ministry that has been around for any length of time has been branded as “the Christian” place to play sports in the community. These problems are overcome-able, but, for most ministries, they aren’t even aware of this reality.
If you’re in the local church sports ministry, here are some questions to ask:
- Do you know why your participants are involved with your ministry?
- Are you doing things to counteract this lack of outreach vision and presence of consumer mentality?
- Specifically, how are you training volunteers and casting vision to parents that your ministry is a mission field for lay missionaries and not a program for consumers?
- How are you fighting to get non-believing folks into your ministry and not just Christians from other churches?
Great questions to ask not just of yourself, but of your team, your coaches and others involved in your ministry.
After all, a “Christian sports league” is a league just for Christians!
