Christ's Church of the Valley (CCV) likes to run short, 250-word stories in each weekend's bulletin to tie in with the sermon or events happening within the church. Here is the short story I wrote about the effectiveness of utilizing the Sports Ministry to attract men to church. The approximate bulletin count is 6,000 every weekend.
Playing to Win
What’s better than beating the opposing team in a good old-fashion game of flag football? Getting the player off the field and into church where the real game of life takes place. The CCV Sports Ministry is all about reaching out to men, women and children. But more importantly, it’s all about winning souls.
CCV member Kirk Borg, a volunteer flag football coordinator, continually sees the fruit of un-churched men playing their hearts out on the field and realizing there is more to life than the beloved game. Kirk said that almost 75% of the men on the flag football teams are players who feel comfortable on the field, but not necessarily on the pews. On Kirk’s last team, 6 of the men were Christians, and 6 were not.
One player in particular tugged at Kirk’s heart. The player was Ryan, a man who was in the middle of a messy divorce and hitting rock bottom. Ryan had come to church several times when he was in high school since Kevin, Kirk’s little brother, and Ryan were best friends. Yet through the years, Ryan had fallen away from the church.
“The seed Kevin planted years ago started to grow, and I was there to water it. The football ministry definitely helped groom his life,” Kirk said. Now Ryan brings his young children with him to church almost every weekend. The ripple effect that started years ago is a great reminder that we all have a significant part to play in the game of life.
1 comment:
This article is so well written. You took a topic that could have been dry and infused it with life. Great work!
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