Year-end Greetings

Here at the end of the year, I’d like to express my thanks for taking time to read the emails which I send to you on Fridays. I also want to communicate the things I hope and pray for you.

 

As the Apostle Paul was closing his second letter to his friends in Thessalonica, he wrote in chapter 3 and verse 5, “May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.” He prays for God’s direction toward two ends:

• He prays that the Lord will direct them toward God’s love, that is daily assurance of His protection, presence and provision.

• He also prays that the Lord will lead them toward Christ’s perseverance, the ability to finish life well.

 

That would be my prayer for you as well. I pray that you’ll have a day to day sense of the Lord’s presence in your life. That comes through relationship with Christ Jesus. I also pray that you’ll press through the difficult times of your life with the assurance that our Lord will never leave nor forsake you.

"Sportsights" podcast

As I am on vacation this week through the Christmas holiday next week, I am sending along a brief note about a podcast to which I subscribe and would like to recommend to you and those whom you serve. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

 

Neil Urquhart has recorded a number of brief thoughts entitled, “Sportsights.” They are each three minutes in length, are wisely crafted in terms of content and they feature his delightful Scottish accent. I have listened to all 28 episodes that are presently on-line and highly recommend them to you. They are available for free download on itunes at this address - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/sportsights-podcast/id548043907?mt=2  

Game Day Devotional Letters

One of the tools for ministry which I have used most consistently over my 19 seasons with college and high school football teams, college basketball and volleyball teams is writing devotional thoughts in letter form to either be read aloud to the team or to be copied and distributed to the team on paper, or even both.

 

There are a few reasons why I persist in this method and why I believe it to be remarkably effective. 1) This information is delivered on game day when the players and coaches are at a heightened state of intensity and focus. 2) Its form, that of a letter, is more personal than a simple devotional photocopied from a book. It is addressed to them and crafted for this day, this game, this opponent and today’s situation. If feels immensely more personal to the reader or hearer. 3) By using it consistently, across the years of a player’s career, it becomes a normal part of game day. 4) It gives the readers something to hold onto, to re-read, to keep in his or her locker and it contains my contact information for later conversations.

 

I have been stunned at the remarkable way that coaches and players, both male and female, have responded to these letters. One team kept each letter across their 35 game basketball schedule and then copied them and put them in a binder for each player at season’s end. One football player told me that he had kept the game day letters from every game of his four seasons in a binder. The personal nature, the timeliness and consistency of this method seems to connect deeply with competitors’ hearts. Below is a sample of the text which I print onto my letterhead and sign at the bottom, just like a personal letter to a friend. Please consider this method for its strong effect.

Saluki Football – The Team

October 13, 2012

Gentlemen,

How would you describe the sense of team unity experienced by this team? What are the benefits that accompany a team with great unity versus a team that is full of strife, contention and selfish attitudes?

Today’s scripture describes such unity in Psalm 133 and verse 1. There we read, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!” Seems simple, huh? The psalmist says that unity produces an atmosphere that is good and pleasant. It’s simple to describe, but harder to produce.

Team unity is good, leading to the best possible performance from everyone related to the team. Unity brings out the best in each player, coach, trainer, equipment manager, etc…

Team unity is pleasant, smoothing out every potential conflict and contention. Every team is made up of vastly different people. It’s supposed to be that way. Team unity allows us to maintain a focus on our common goals, aspirations and values. That makes the living together pleasant.

In today’s competition, let great team unity produce an atmosphere of goodness and pleasance. Strive together to see each teammate compete to his highest capacity. Keep your focus on unifying words and actions that make the whole process pleasant for everyone concerned. Compete in unified way and you’ll be unstoppable.

God bless,

Roger Lipe

Psalm 90:12-17



Long-term Service Advantages

One of the advantages of being fifty-six years old and having served in one place for almost nineteen years is that I now have a history with a large number of people. Literally hundreds of student-athletes and coaches have come through our university’s athletics program in several different sports from all over the USA and across the world. That history has afforded me the opportunity to have some measure of impact upon the lives of many. Some of the impact is immediately apparent and other times it is five or six years down the line before we hear about how the Word of God, sown into the hearts of young men and women, comes to full fruition.

 

A couple of days ago I received an SMS text message from one of those people with whom I have a rich history. She was a heptathlete with our Track and Field team from 1993 – 1997. She had grown up on a farm in a small town about 45 miles from the university and arrived on campus with a strong commitment to Christ. She was a dynamic personality and a leader of our Fellowship of Christian Athletes ministry on campus, at camps in the summer and by sharing her faith with others in our community. Later she married an SIU Football player from San Diego, California and they moved there for his career as a police officer. They now have four children and are making an impact upon that community. Though separated by thousands of miles, we still correspond regularly and occasionally get to see each other when they come here to visit family or when I get to travel to the west coast. Messages like this one and transformed lives like those of Ryan and Vena (Clendenin) Hallahan make every day of my life worthwhile and richly rewarding.

“Just had to write and let you know just how thankful I am for all your spiritual guidance over the years. I am currently going through a Beth Moore study and we are reflecting back on those that played a part in our walk with Christ. I just came to the years in college and was writing down all God had done in my life at that time and I have you to thank and I will be eternally grateful for your encouragement and support in my ever growing relationships with Jesus Christ- and also helping me find the love of my life. (We both know Ryan needed some help with that) :) You’re the BEST!!!

Lots of love,

Vena”

I pray that each of us persist in our roles long enough to receive many such text messages, emails, phone calls, letters or other expressions of thanks and reminders that we are simply carried along by the Lord’s grace and mercy as He shapes the lives of His own. Let’s be his partners in life transformation and thereby have our hearts filled, again and again.



Behind the Scenes vs. High Profile

Many of our colleagues serve in rather obscure settings, with almost invisible teams or clubs and with coaches and competitors who are much less than household names. Others of us serve with clubs which are on television every day, with high profile people who are seen daily in advertising of all sorts and whose sporting gear is worn by fans of all ages. Many of us are somewhere in the middle with our service being among “local celebrities,” sporting people who have some profile in their communities, but not so much celebrity across the nation or the globe. While serving in any of these stations, it is wise for us to consider how to manage our own approach to obscurity vs. celebrity.

 

Some of our colleagues trade on their position and use their favor with the club as a central part of their fund-raising, to obtain outside speaking engagements and occasionally to prop up their own sense of celebrity.

 

Some of our colleagues serve faithfully in more remote situations where the spotlights and television cameras never even appear. They’re not tempted by the allure of celebrity or reflected glory of fame, simply because they never even encounter it.

 

I’d like to have us consider the tension between serving entirely “behind the scenes” and holding a “higher profile” position as a sport chaplain, a character coach or a sport mentor. These are in no particular order, but I do hope they’re each insightful and spur you to contemplation and wise decision making.

 

• A higher profile in a community makes it somewhat easier to do fund-raising because people will associate you with their favorite team, institution, community, etc…

• A higher profile can help one build a platform for ministry in a community from which one can gather volunteers and other ministry partners to further your ministry goals.

• A higher profile in a state school (USA) can raise scrutiny from prying media members seeking a controversial story, university officials with conflicting agendas, lawyers with an axe to grind, and others who could jeopardize one’s freedom of service.

• A higher profile can cause those one is serving, the coaches and competitors in the club or team, to question his or her motives. “Is he here to serve us or to build his “brand?”

• A higher profile is perceived by some as indicative of self-promotion, betraying a self-centered attitude.

• A couple of simple scriptures which can help us check our attitudes and inform our hearts are these:

o Proverbs 27:2 “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips.” Self-promotion is less than wise.

o Proverbs 27:21 “The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold, And each is tested by the praise accorded him.” Praise, celebrity, fame and public honors will certainly test our hearts to their core. Some of us will pass and others will fail this test.

Let’s live wisely in this tension. Understand that the alluring nature of fame and celebrity can afford us some things which will enhance our ministries, but they can also serve as traps which can seriously hinder as well.

Sport Chaplain Networking

During last week’s meetings of the Serving the People of Sport Council (http://servingthepeopleofsport.net) in Orlando, Florida (USA) we discussed the building of a network of sport chaplains and character coaches who serve teams and clubs around the world. I have been given the charge of gathering a listing of these various networks and making contact with someone in each. Our aim will be to engage each such network with periodic communication and to share information broadly among all such networks. We believe that each network has insight, experience and understanding with the others and that we all are enhanced by each one in our broader network.

 

Below is a list which we compiled while sitting in the room last Thursday. We paged through our minds and smart phones to compile a list of networks of sport chaplains and character coaches who serve teams or clubs anywhere in the sports world. This list is surely not comprehensive and we would like to hear from you regarding networks not on our list and the names and contact information for anyone you know in such networks. Thanks for your invaluable contributions. This is only a starting point, but it is most important. (I apologize in advance for any name spelling errors.)

 

Sport Chaplaincy Australia – Cameron Butler

Sport Chaplaincy New Zealand – Ross Georgiou

Sport Chaplaincy Caribbean – Gerard Deonarine

Sport Chaplaincy Canada – Jesse W. (I need contact information for this person.)

Sport Chaplaincy U. K. – Richard Gamble (I need contact information for this person.)

C. S. F. – India – Sebastian (I need contact information for this person.)

Atletas de Cristo – Brazil – Sergio (I need contact information for this person.)

S.C.A.S. – South Africa – Hein Reyneke

M.D.I. – Portugal – Armenio Anjos

Women’s Tennis Chaplains – Ashley Null

Christian Surfers International – Brett Davis

Surf Life Saving – Terry (I need a complete name and contact information for this person.)

Indy Racing League – Bob Hills

Sport Chaplains in Latin America – Julio Bautista

College Football Chaplains – USA – Wes Yeary

Motor Racing Outreach – USA - ____________ (I need a name and contact information for this person.)

WNBA Chaplains – USA – Kathy Malone-Sparks

Chaplains Roundtable – USA – Bill Houston

Baseball Chapel – USA and Latin America - Rob Crose

U.P.I. – Baseball - Tom Roy (I need contact information for this person.)

P.A.O. – USA – Steve Stenstrom (I need contact information for this person.)

A.A.C.C. - ___________ - (I need a name and contact information for this person.)

Fellowship of Christian Athletes – USA and global – Roger Lipe

Athletes in Action – USA and global - ______________ (I need a name and contact information for this person.)

Nations of Coaches – USA – Tommy Kyle

SRS – Germany and Europe – Hannes Schmidts

Sports Chaplains Network – USA – Ken Cross

K.R.I.K. – Norway – Kjell M. (I need contact information for this person.)

Hockey Ministries International – North America – Don Lesar

Cowboy Church – USA - ______________ (I need a name and contact information for this person.)

Motorcycle Racing Ministries – SRS – Germany - ______ (I need a name and contact information for this person.)

Wrestling Chaplains – Global – Carl Dambman

 

Once again, if you notice a network that is not represented in this list and you can provide some point of contact for us, please reply to this email, lipe@earthlink.net, with that information. We aim to serve and to connect faithful sport chaplains with each other and with the best avenues of service to the people of sport. Thank you.

Global Sports Chaplain Ministry

I’m writing today from Orlando, Florida in the USA where I’m meeting with a large number of other sports ministry leaders from around the world. Among those in attendance are men and women who comprise the Serving the People of Sport Council. Our web site is – http://servingthepeopleofsport.net  and we’d love to have you stop by.

Among the numerous ways this council works to facilitate ministry with the people of sport (coaches and competitors of all ages, both genders and all levels of development) is sports chaplaincy. This week we met together and have put into motion a plan to develop sports chaplaincy around the globe in four important ways:

1. Major Events Sports Chaplaincy - (Olympic Games, World Cups of various sports, Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, Commonwealth Games, Pan American Games, Caribbean Games, etc…) These may be global in scope, regional or even within one country. We will build a team to give this avenue of ministry leadership and to develop it widely and deeply.

2. Club and Team Sport Chaplaincy – This will be an effort to network with circles of sports chaplains serving around the world who serve teams or clubs at every level of sport, from young amateurs to the highest professional levels in every sport possible. We intend to gather and to disseminate the best practices and wisdom from these various networks of faithful servants as well as to connect people within various networks for exchange of ideas, mentoring and more.

3. Sport Mentoring – rather than working with teams, sport mentors work with individuals in sport. They may be in the teams served by club or team chaplains or they may be rather alone in their teams or in individual sport. This has been developed well by some of our friends in Europe and we will seek to grow this method of ministry elsewhere.

4. Sport Chaplain training – we will seek to provide training at the introductory level which could include on-line training, more intensive training that will be done on site over multiple days and even more academic and longer term training opportunities. This is an ambitious and difficult task, but one we’re committed to seeing through to completion.

Please join us in praying for the success of these four avenues of sport chaplain ministry development. If you’d like more information or details, please email me at lipe@earthlink.net  and I’ll be pleased to deliver.