Churches taking sports ministry beyond basketball
By Ken Walker
State Correspondent
Paducah—Although Olivet Baptist Church has not been active in Upward basketball, this spring it has joined a growing roster of churches offering other sports through the evangelistic youth program.
While Olivet is only the second Kentucky Baptist church—and third in the state—to offer Upward soccer, within the organization the sport is growing rapidly.
It now ranks second to basketball, with more than 64,000 participants and 10,000 coaches in 436 programs for 2007-2008, according to Upward Unlimited.
Olivet Baptist Pastor Skip Parsons became interested in soccer after his son played in a basketball league sponsored by Reidland Baptist Church in Paducah.
“We’re not capable of doing basketball which is a matter of having a gym,” Parsons acknowledged. “I saw what an opportunity it was to minister to the unchurched in our community, as well as our own kids.”
Games on Olivet’s field began March 22, with 81 children in kindergarten through sixth grade competing on 14 teams. The season will conclude with an awards banquet May 19.
Chris Prescott, Olivet’s youth and activities minister, directs the league. Despite a lack of soccer experience, Prescott gained exposure to the Upward ministry by watching his niece play basketball in Eddy-ville.
“I was very impressed with their commitment to sportsmanship,” Prescott said. “My niece’s salvation was a result of it. She’s learned she’s valuable to God and a valued person to society as well.”
As with basketball, biblical instruction is an integral component of soccer activities. Devotions are held at weekly practices and during games.
Upward Unlimited, the parent organization, maintains a seven-point “Ministry Agreement” that all partnering churches must sign. It includes a belief in the deity of Christ and the Bible as God’s inspired, authoritative word.
Since starting in 1995, the South Carolina-based organization has expanded worldwide and into several other sports.
Basketball remains its mainstay, with more than 332,000 participants, 100,000 coaches and nearly 1,850 leagues this year. Summer basketball camps have also been featured since 2002.
Cheerleading was the first activity added, followed by soccer and flag football, then basketball, soccer and cheerleading camps.
After soccer, cheerleading is next in popularity with more than 47,000 participants in 1,300-plus programs. Flag football has more than 22,000 participants and 7,400 coaches in 243 programs, with 6,100 cheerleaders.
Upward’s newest sports will kick off later this year via pilot projects in cricket in South Africa and hockey in Canada.
Lindsay Neely, communications associate with Upward Unlimited, credits the influence of the Holy Spirit and a positive environment in its leagues for the ministry’s explosive growth.
“Every child is a winner,” she emphasized, echoing one of its key themes. “Every child gets to play. It’s a positive experience for the whole family.”
This philosophy has been a winner in Kentucky, which Neely said is among five states (out of 43 overall) with the largest participation. There are 44 leagues in the state; 35 are sponsored by Baptist churches, all but one of them members of the Kentucky Baptist Convention.
Even though Upward soccer is a relative newcomer to the commonwealth, the director of the program at Paducah’s Lone Oak First Baptist Church predicts it will grow as more children learn the sport.
Minister of Activities Bob Martin said participation there grew 23 percent last spring. Lone Oak’s fifth soccer season runs from April to June.
“It’s fast growing and a great thing,” Martin noted. “Soccer is approaching the popularity of basketball. We anticipate larger growth this year.
“Soccer is probably going to be, if not surpassing basketball, equal to it. Kids love it, parents love it and it’s a lot of fun,” he added.
The Upward program is enormously popular at Lone Oak, which added flag football to its lineup in 2006.
|
|
TAKING AIM A young competitor at Lone Oak First Baptist Church’s Upward soccer ministry prepares to kick the ball. The Paducah church reports 81 children have participated in the league this year. (Photo courtesy of Bob Martin)
Association tees up golf ministry
By Ken Walker
State Correspondent
Walton—Although the Upward Unlimited ministry does not offer golf, that has not delayed Rick Robbins’ plans to teach the sport this summer to children ages 8 to 11.
The director of missions for Northern Kentucky Baptist Association is organizing a golf league that will draw participants from vacation Bible school at New Banklick Baptist Church in Boone County.
The league begins June 30 and will run for about five weeks, followed by a season-ending awards banquet.
“We hope there will be about 40 children involved,” said Robbins, who is conducting the project as part of his doctorate in ministry studies at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville.
“The great thing is they walk on the church grounds, coming to learn how to hit a golf ball,” he noted. “Our churches are struggling with how to get people through the door. We think with our awards night at the end of the season, we will get all kinds of people through the door.”
The idea dates back a few years when Robbins first thought of teaching the game to children who have never been exposed to instruction. He also wanted to reach those outside the church.
Robbins cited a survey by the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board that found 152,000 people in Northern Kentucky have no church background or affiliation.
In order to test his concept, last summer Robbins worked with New Banklick to sponsor a golf night following the church’s vacation Bible school event.
About 10 children came; only a couple had any ties to the church or another congregation, according to Jerry Hurley, New Banklick’s pastor.
Although the church owns 18.5 acres of property, much of it is on a hillside, so the group played on a 500-yard-long straight stretch at the top of one hill.
The organizers spray-painted a circle about 100 yards away from the tee area. After practice, children tried to hit the circle, with points awarded for accuracy.
Hurley said the church plans to advertise this summer’s league through newspapers and possibly a direct mailing.
“We don’t know what it’s going to do this year,” Hurley acknowledged. “If we get a really good response, we would do it two nights a week so we could handle more kids.”
As with Upward leagues, each week of play will feature devotions, which Robbins is in the process of writing.
To spotlight the league, Robbins said he will offer golf as a recreational activity during New Banklick’s vacation Bible school week in June.
“Even with shy kids, once they’ve hit the ball and made a good shot and people clap them on the back, they want to come back,” Robbins pointed out. “Everyone knows who Tiger Woods is.”
Robbins’ program has even received a boost from the Kentucky Baptist Fellowship of Directors of Missions. He applied to the A.B. Colvin Association Missions Grants program and received $1,000, which he used to purchase two dozen clubs, golf balls and tees.
While there are similarities to Upward’s sports ministry, Robbins explained that his program can be implemented with fewer volunteers and for a smaller number of participants.
However, he said, pointing children toward Jesus is still at the heart of the activity.
“If you’re going to bring kids on the property, you’d like to have some exposure to the gospel, other than being nice,” Robbins emphasized.
Although it sponsored a summer soccer camp three years ago, New Banklick has not maintained an ongoing sports ministry, normally a tough endeavor for a church with an average weekly attendance of 85. Hurley said he hopes that all changes after this summer.
“If this is successful, we will continue this program,” the pastor noted. “It may not be all through the summer, but it will at least be an annual thing. Our long-term goal is to follow up with families who are unchurched and then lead them to the Lord.”
|
|
The church also sponsors a summer basketball camp in July and has sent mission teams to other cities and nations to conduct clinics. This summer it will send teams to help a church in the Shively area of Louisville and another in Mexico.
Martin called Upward an excellent community outreach, with the majority of children participating in each league coming from outside of Lone Oak.
The activities minister estimated that there are children from more than 100 churches involved in Upward sports. That parallels the national organization, which has partnerships with churches from more than 30 denominations.
“I think that’s one reason the Lord has blessed it … worldwide, because of the community outreach,” Martin noted. “Upward is the fastest growing sports ministry in the world.”
The other reason he said he thinks Upward is so successful is that it is not solely focused on sports. While excellent at teaching fundamentals, its emphasis is on positive lessons, particularly Scripture memorization and biblical principles, Martin said.
In addition, its focus on children and safety, and de-emphasizing the competitive aspect of sports, are a popular combination, he pointed out.
“Parents are looking for programs like that,” he said. “Vacation Bible school is huge here, but Upward is right up there with it. It’s one of the church’s most successful outreaches.”
Western Recorder issue date: April 22, 2008
|