Sporting chance to reach people with the gospel...

How are sports chaplains making a difference on and off the pitch? Phil Mitchell and Jon Grant explain.

Through sunshine and rain, close to 1,000 sports chaplains are providing pastoral and spiritual care for sportspeople around the UK and the Republic of Ireland – a mission field of many millions of people, estimates the charity and ministry Sports Chaplaincy UK & Ireland.

Phil Mitchell, from Sports Chaplaincy in Ireland, says: “The majority of the work is in amateur and youth sports settings, but there are also a large number of chaplains serving in professional settings, particularly in England and Scotland but increasingly in Wales and Ireland too. We serve in everything from team sports such as football, rugby, cricket and hockey to individual sports such as boxing, motorsports, horseracing and golf.”

A typical week for a chaplain varies enormously depending on their setting. It will almost certainly involve visiting the club setting midweek and attending weekend activity where more of the competition element exists. “You could be having breakfast or lunch with athletes and staff before or after training, taking time out during training or on match day with those who are injured or not selected to play, or having coffee away from the stadium to talk about anything and everything. It’s their chance to talk – our time to listen.

“You’re connecting with physios, kitmen, chairmen and volunteers – everyone is equally important! Sportspeople are not immune to life’s ever-changing events so it’s a very fluid, flexible, responsive role, soaked in prayer. It’s an incredible privilege. It’s not just responsive to needs but crucially the Holy Spirit’s prompting too! God’s Word remains refreshing in every environment, including sport.”

Partnerships with Care for the Family, Alpha, UCB, Made for More, Crown Jesus, Ambassadors Football and Good News for Everyone are helpful in resourcing chaplains, which is invaluable since the vast majority of clubs are saying “Yes” to appointing a chaplain. That’s for three reasons, says Phil.

“Clubs feel a duty of care to provide for the wellbeing of everyone in their setting. But while they are well set up with facilities, coaches, a competitive calendar and social environment, they’re not readily set up to provide that duty of care, however aspirational they are. Our trained volunteer sports chaplains can help fill that gap.

“Secondly, coaches are taking a more holistic view of the people they’re coaching, realising they’re not just athletes but physical, mental, relational, emotional and spiritual beings who sometimes need to step out of the performance bubble. Chaplains can provide a listening ear, encouragement and support which doesn’t have to fit a budget or particular outcome. They can remind people of the bigger picture: that they are God’s masterpiece, created by, valuable and precious to him. Their self-worth is not dictated by a performance or a result. For every athlete that can be a game-changer.

“The third reason sports clubs are opening their doors is the most striking of all – because God is at work! He simply wants our availability and to reach our sports communities through us.”

God is opening doors for chaplains to care for people and point them to Jesus. That means not just knowing and articulating the gospel but critically living it out in front of them to make it attractive.

“Sportspeople can still be ambitious, high achievers, but they can put aside what the world has to say about them when they know what God says about them.”

Phil is desperately encouraging more pastors and lay people to engage with their local sports communities through sports chaplaincy. He cites Keith Green’s song, “Asleep in the Light” as a call to action. Keith wrote:

Do you see? Do you see?
All the people sinking down?
Don’t you care? Don’t you care?
Are you gonna let them drown?
How can you be so numb?
Not to care if they come...
You close your eyes and pretend the job’s done.

“Sports Chaplaincy provide the training. All you need is to be a committed follower of Jesus, to have a heart for people and a heart to go. And yes, you will need some pastoral skills, and definitely some courage and perseverance!

Are we brave enough to step out and get close to people in sport? If the answer is yes then the possibilities are great. If more people get involved, the impact will be more chaplains in sports clubs, more people experiencing the love of God and more people coming under the sound of the gospel.”

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.