Wise service in a public college or university

Serving as a sport chaplain or character coach in public colleges and universities in the United States is a tremendous privilege and is like walking a tightrope at 1,000 feet. We are in a remarkable position to affect the lives of hundreds of student-athletes each year, as well as the coaches who lead them, and the support staff members that assist them. We also have a wide range of people and organizations that hate what we do and would rather we not be there.

 

Recent events in a few high profile university sports programs are emblematic of the struggle between the forces of sports ministries and other organizations that would seek to marginalize these ministries, to banish them from their areas of service, to expose them as frauds or to otherwise diminish their effectiveness.

 

A few years ago, one of my colleagues drew national media attention and more than desired scrutiny regarding from where the money came to run his ministry, why he wasn’t required to pay for his travel expenses with the team he served, on and on and on. This caused quite a stir in the community and only made his service of the team more complex, more costly, and raised suspicions for many.

 

More recently, another prominent football program (American Football) and its head coach became the subject of a law suit by an organization seeking freedom from religion in public universities and society at large. This tempest in a tea pot of a story was covered by ESPN, various national and local news organizations, and fomented for a few days with varying consequences. I was informed that the issue had little or no effect with the program and coach in question, but just the story and the fears it raised questions all the way across the continent. Another state university, this one in the western USA, informed their volunteer sport chaplain that he could no longer hold Bible studies, team chapels, or any other activities that were religious in nature. Just the aroma of controversy was enough to intimidate this administration into excluding the team chaplain.

 

I spoke with a number of people; chaplains, character coaches, players, and others about this situation. My thoughts as to how we should approach these issues follow here:

1. Don’t overreact. These situations are normally a matter of someone reacting in fear and ignorance. If we react in kind, we lose. If we take a slower, less reactionary approach to the issue, we normally do better.
2. Focus on the relationships with those who allow us to serve. Most of us serve at the pleasure of the head coach. Focus on that relationship. Speak with him or her directly. Determine his or her values and ensure the coach that we’re here to serve those specifically; no more and no less.
3. Be sure to honor and respect the parameters outlined by the head coach. Be 100% compliant with schedules, time constraints, compliance rules, and other guidelines given you by the head coach and those he or she designates to work with you.
4. Be wise about the nature of your public profile. You should be aware of your community’s culture and the level of notoriety appropriate for your position with the team. Think critically about questions like these: Should you appear in the team’s media guide and web site? Is it appropriate to be recognized in public as a part of the coaching staff? Is it proper for you to be included in recruiting events? The danger is that when our public profile raises among faithful Christian people, we will also be more exposed to those who would find our service to be inappropriate, foolish, or even unconstitutional.
5. Build a relationship with your school’s NCAA compliance officer. Rather than hiding from these people, build a trusting relationship by asking them about what they require of you re: student-athletes, how they would like to communicate, and how you can be partners in serving the school’s student-athletes. They are used to having adversarial relationships with the coaching staff, don’t fall into that trap.

 

These are some simple, but important points of emphasis as we serve in the progressively more secularized general culture in the USA and even more radically so in public universities. Let’s join Jesus in being “wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”