Character Coach / Sports Chaplain Blog

Each spring in Southern Illinois arrives with soaking rain, blooming flowers, greening grass, and baseball. For the last seven springs the blossoms of April have brought me a new season of opportunity to serve the players, coaches, support staff, and management of the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League of professional baseball. This is a rare privilege. The Miners arrive in Marion, Illinois in late April having been signed during the winter, returning from last season’s team, or having been recruited during the recent combine for independent teams. They arrive with hearts full of promise, bodies full of talent, minds full of questions, and souls full of anxiety. We tend to get players either on their way up or on their way down in baseball. Some have completed their college baseball careers, but were not selected in the draft by a team affiliated with a major league team. They still believe they can play and hope playing in this league will give them the chance to pl...

Last Friday, during the Global Sports Chaplaincy Summit in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA we heard an encouraging devotion from Walt Wiley. Walt was a 14 year Baseball Chapel leader for the Atlanta Braves and is now a member of Baseball Chapel’s board. He also leads a ministry called, "Winning With Encouragement." Notes from Walt’s talk, which have great relevance for our service, are below. Being a steward - Jesus always spoke of it through parable, on 5 or 6 occasions. • "I am a steward of my life." It's not mine. • "I am a steward of my things," the things I have. They are not mine. • "I am a steward of my thing," the thing I do. It's not mine. Observations from Parables about Stewards: 1. A steward is appointed. Luke 12:46 2. Emphasis is made on how the steward carried out his responsibilities.  Luke 16:2 3. The owner was not looking over the steward's shoulder. Matthew 25:14-15 4. The relationship betw...

During the recent FCA Collegiate Conference in Atlanta, Georgia we heard a presentation from the Alliance Defending Freedom ( https://adflegal.org/ ) titled, Eleven Guidelines for Chaplains . It was directed toward those among us who serve on public school campuses in the USA. I hope these notes are of value to you and your ministry. Eleven Guidelines for Chaplains 1.    The US Constitution permits and sometimes requires chaplains be available to serve. 2.    The Law does not require schools to have a chaplain from every religion. 3.    A public university cannot prefer one religion over another. 4.    We should use neutral criteria to select chaplains. 5.    Any religious activities must be voluntary. No punishments, rewards, or stigmas may be used for those who do not attend. 6.    Chaplains do not serve two masters. Avoid dual employee status. 7.    No monopolies. FCA is not the sole supplier of...

I just returned from five days of training sports chaplains in Tegucigalpa, Honduras in Central America. I went in support of the FCA Texas Region International Coordinator – Eric Anderson of Houston, Texas. I have been traveling to Honduras since 1992 and the nation has a large piece of my heart. We have been serving the sporting community in Honduras since 1999 and we are now seeing the fruition of a number of trips, the development of relationships, materials, and investment of soul. A few photos are attached. Below is a simple summary of the week’s activities. We did six hours of formal training with a set of three young chaplains who are already serving very effectively. In addition, we were able to go with them to meet the teams they are serving and to model a couple of models for ministry they can employ. I hope this record of activity is inspirational to you. Sunday - I left home at 1:45 am to drive to the airport. I flew into Tegucigalpa from St. Louis, Misso...

I received this note earlier this week from a friend and colleague. It is quite insightful. I hope it is of value to you and to those you serve. Wednesday, February 28, 2018 Jack Easterby has a unique role on the New England Patriots Football team. “His official title: Character Coach/Team Development, is as surprising to see in an NFL front office as his role has become indispensable for the longest-running dynasty in NFL history,”   writes   Lorenzo Reyes in the USA Today. Yes, you read that right, Jack is a Character Coach for a professional football team. And, not just any team. One that has won more Super Bowls in the last 15 years than any other team. Thus far, New England is the only team to hire this position. Jack was   hired   in 2013, as New England was seeking to respond well t...