Sport Ministry
Why Sport?
"Sport has the power to change the world, the power to inspire, the power to unite people in a way that little else can do. It speaks to people in a language they understand." Nelson Mandela
- Sport is huge, with 45% of adults and 87% of young people playing sport regularly; 106,000 sport clubs in England (900 in Notts) with over 8 million members.
- Sport is strategic, naturally bringing people together from all various backgrounds, promoting strong social ties.
- Sport has massive growth potential, as the government pumps 100’s of 1000’s of £££’s into sport, with a goal that by 2020, 70% of adults will be playing sport every week.
So hasn't the church been missing something here?! The church’s biggest problem is that under 35’s are leaving in masses. Where are they? Playing sports!
Serving people in sport...
Primarily, by helping sports people to overcome the barriers of boring, irrelevant, and untrue as they consider Christianity. To do this we are:
- Enabling People to represent Christ in Sport
- Inspiring Churches to engage with the Culture of Sport
Involved in sport?
Look out for events to come to – bring a mate or two; push your local church to get active in sport ministry; get in touch with our Sport Ambassador and find out about our groups that meet together; and Pray, Play, Say...
- Pray for your sporting friends
- Play in a way honouring to God
- Say something of the God we believe in
Involved in church?
Support and encourage sporty members of your church; pray for those ministering in sport; and encourage your church to put on stadium events: The Sports Stadium is a picture of how you might introduce a friend to the Christian faith, as it is played out on the track:
- Hospitality Tent: an ocassion that allows your friends or colleagues to mix with other Christians, helping to break down the 'weird' or 'boring' barrier.
- Back of the Stands: an event that helps to break down the 'irrelevant' barrier. E.g. sports quiz, curry and short talk by a sports person about sport and faith.
- Front of the Stands: an option for those who wish to take a closer look and deal with the 'untrue' barrier. This might be a course outlining the basics of Christianity.
- In the Race: living out the Christian faith; trying to Pray, Play, Say; taking others around the stadium with the hope of having some join you in the race.
For further information of Sport Ministry in Nottinghamshire,
contact Tim Friend tim@southwell.anglican.org | 
