Wes Bryant is the Director of Sports and Recreation Ministry at Greenwood Christian Church in Greenwood, IN and Tyler Sutton is the Youth Sports Minister at Connection Pointe Christian Church in Brownsburg, IN. Both are CSO Network members and both were kind enough to do the below email Q&A with me.
How did you get involved in sports ministry?
Wes: Several years ago, I was one month away from graduating college with a degree in Sport Management, trying to decide what I would do. I talked with my former youth minister and he suggested that I look into sports ministry. I got an internship, and my boss challenged me to pray and see if God was calling me specifically to sports ministry. He did, and I couldn’t be more blessed.
Tyler: As a sophomore in high school, I made the decision to pursue full-time vocational ministry. At that point, I began to “try out” and volunteer in different areas of ministry because I had many interests and was hoping to nail down a focus on one of them. My home church had a thriving sports ministry so I began to get involved with it and I guess the rest is history! Our sports pastor at the time took me under his wing and “showed me the ropes”. I’m so grateful that he took the time to invest in my life and my future ministry. He opened my eyes to a whole new world of ministry and to how transformational it could be in people’s lives. I fell in love with how effective a way it was to expose people to the church in a non-threatening environment.
How did you get connected with CSO?
Wes: Bob wouldn’t leave me alone! Just kidding. Actually, my predecessor had a relationship with CSO, so it was an easy transition for me.
Tyler: Our church has been connected with CSO for several years. The groundwork was already laid by the time I started at Connection Pointe. I believe our previous Adult Sports Minister met Bob Schindler at a sports ministry conference and the connection took off from there!
How has CSO helped your ministry to keep the gospel at the center of everything?
Wes: The greatest benefit for me has been my one-on-one conversations with CSO. He keeps the word, “Why” at the forefront of my mind. Why does this ministry exist? To spread the gospel and make disciples of Jesus. Otherwise we’re just your average gym.
Tyler: CSO has been instrumental in helping me stay on course with the direction and purpose of my ministry. They’ve done
this by challenging my thinking and encouraging me to dig deeper. They are constantly reminding me, both indirectly and directly, to keep my eyes on the main goal and not lose sight of why sports ministry truly exists or what our purpose is. Additionally, the CSO website has been a great resource as well with the blogs, devotions, and seemingly endless material that is made available to us as a network church.
How has this changed your ministry?
Wes: Through several conversations with CSO, I’ve grown in leadership development and our ministry now has measurable goals that we are striving to reach through God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit. To Him be the glory!
Tyler: 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. We still have a long way to go, but we would not be anywhere near where we are today if it wasn’t for the ministry of CSO!
