Over the years of my service with people of
sport there have been a number of changes in technology, many of them to great
benefit. One such is the ease of conference calls to gather people from remote
distances to share information and to learn from each other. Twenty years ago
this was rather cumbersome and costly. Now with services like
Freeconferencecall.com and Internet services like Skype, such calls are
virtually free of charge, but of tremendous value.
Just two days ago I was on a Skype call with
people from five continents at once. It was in the evening for my friends in
Australia, but 5:00 am at my home. We were all served well.
One of the initiatives I will soon begin in
leading sports chaplains and character coaches in my region of the USA
(Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri) is a series of monthly
conference calls to train, to network, and to mentor. Below is an email I sent
to many of my colleagues around the USA in preparation for these calls. You would
be welcome to join us on the calls if you like. Thanks.
I sent an email to many of you yesterday about
the possibility of doing a series of monthly conference calls for Sports
Chaplains and Character Coaches. I have heard from a number of you indicating
your interest in participating. As this is a part of my role in serving the
FCA Midwest Region, I will prioritize my teammates from the region. I will
also strategically invite in others from around the USA to contribute their
expertise.
The information below contains the format for
the proposed calls and a schedule of dates and proposed guests for each
particular call. I would be pleased to facilitate the calls via email and
social media promotion as well as interviewing the guests during the calls.
Please let me know if the timing
for the date assigned to you works, if not I’ll try to reschedule you on
another date.
Once our schedule is set and the details are in order, I’ll send out a broader
email and invite everyone in. Thanks.
Midwest Region FCA
Sport Chaplain / Character Coach Monthly Conference Calls
Day – First Sunday of each month
Time – 8:00 pm Central
Duration – 1 hour
Call in phone number
and code – Please call 712.432.1500 and
after prompted, enter code 991788* and then when prompted enter 1.
Email your questions
ahead of or during the call to RLipe@fca.org.
Proposed
schedule of guests:
Nov.
1 – Troy Collier – University of Illinois
Dec.
6 – Scott Tickner – Mt. Vernon High School (Illinois)
Jan.
3 – Russ Talley – Northern Illinois University Football
Feb.
7 – Doug Pollock – Bradley University
March
6 – Sara Hurst – University of Illinois
April
3 – Bob Pankey – Benton High School (Illinois)
May
1 – Justin Neally – University of Illinois
June
5 – Eric Drake – Sesser-Valier High School
July
3 – Jason Lipe – Southeast Missouri State University Football
Proposed
interview questions for each session:
1.
Tell
us about yourself, your family, and your background.
2.
Tell
us about the place where you serve as a sports chaplain or character coach.
3.
In
what sports do you serve?
4.
When
did you first begin to serve as a sports chaplain or character coach and how
did that happen?
5.
What
are some of your most effective strategies?
6.
One
thing a sports chaplain or character coach should ALWAYS do is…
7.
One
thing a sports chaplain or character coach should NEVER do is….
8.
Questions
we received via email ahead or during the call.
Template
for each call: (60 minutes in duration)
·
I
will start the call with a welcome.
·
I’ll
have someone ready to pray to begin.
·
I’ll
promote any upcoming events related to training, networking, or mentoring for
sports chaplains and character coaches.
·
I’ll
introduce and interview the guest.
·
I’ll
wrap things up and will have someone close in prayer.