Character Coach / Sports Chaplain Blog

Below is an excerpt from my 2012 journal with Saluki Football. It details much of my activity and interaction with the coaches and players during the weeks leading up to the opening day. I hope it is of interest to you and maybe spurs you to creative innovation of ministry strategies. 2012 Saluki Football Journal Roger Lipe – Team Chaplain Friday August 3 – This evening I was privileged to speak with the incoming freshmen and other newcomers of Saluki Football.  I met them in the locker room after I had hustled back from Kokopelli Golf Club where I had run an FCA Golf Scramble all day.  I was introduced by Coach Lennon and after he finished his remarks he left me with the players.  There seemed to be over 20 of them gathered in a large circle at the center of the room.  I asked them to tell me where they grew up and this gave me an early look at how they would communicate.  I simply shared my 18 years with the program, what my responsibilities, goals...

The last four years of developing some key volunteers to help me serve area coaches and their FCA Campus Ministries, have now allowed me to refocus my attention for the next ten years of my ministry here. Please walk along with me through the thoughts which have resulted in the redesign of how I serve coaches and athletes in my 23 county area of Illinois. 1)    By developing the FCA Campus Ministry Volunteers , I have cut the personal list of counties I serve to 2 and ½. When I started twenty years ago, I was traveling through 28 counties. This is better. Each of the volunteers serve 4 to 7 counties of schools and their FCA huddles. That is a manageable amount of travel and time for them as they are each retired coaches. 2)    I am now able to focus more strongly on the campus at Southern Illinois University . School has been in session for less than a week, but here’s what is happening already: a.    A new weekly Coaches meeting with university c...

Here in the USA schools are starting after the summer vacation and fall sports are gearing up as well. Soccer (football), American football, volleyball, golf, tennis, and even some baseball is played in the months of August through November. This time of year is always exciting because it’s full of anticipation and hope for success. For sports chaplains and character coaches, this season of the year also presents some unique opportunities for effective ministry. Below is a brief, certainly not exhaustive, list of opportunities and ideas for your ministry with teams or individuals in this new season. ·         Prior to the season’s beginning, visit practices. Obtain a roster and memorize names, uniform numbers, and other details that seem helpful. ·         At preseason practices, speak with the coaching staff, support staff, and players as you can. Build relationships, they are central to everything we do. ...

Below are some excerpts from my trip journal when I traveled to South Africa this summer. I was thrilled with the development of ministry in sport I experienced with our friends and the emergence of sports chaplaincy in that nation. I hope these notes are an encouragement to you. Trip Journal South Africa – 28 June – 6 July, 2014 28 June - 7:00 am I drove the three hours from Carbondale to BNA (Nashville, TN) airport. It was an easy and quick check in and security.  I waited at the gate and had some frozen yogurt for lunch. At 1:22 pm we flew United Airlines to IAD airport in Washington D. C. I changed concourses and boarded a South African Airways Airbus 340 jet. We left at 6:00 pm EDT. 29 June  - We arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa on time, went quickly through immigration, and then hunted down my checked bags. Upon their arrival I hurried through customs and rechecked my bag. Mt flight was to board in ten minutes so I ran up two escalators and down...

During my recent extended vacation I had some time to think and to incubate some ideas. As I was sitting in an airport I was thinking about how we encourage players and coaches to pray about sport, but how negligent we have been in providing models for prayer in sport. About what should they pray? How should they pray about it? Is sport even worthy of prayer? I repented and began to brainstorm issues, moments, and situations in the life of a sportsperson in which prayer could be helpful. I then spent some time drafting a few prayers and then tweeted, text messaged, and emailed them to some sportspeople, friends and colleagues for their commentary. I was amazed by the universal acceptance and even comments from the sportspeople (professional baseball players) who said things like, “This is really helpful.” Below is a simple example of one such prayer. Prayer for the consecration of sport: Father, Thank you for (sport). (Sport) is a beautiful and valuable part of Your ...