Ministry with a College Basketball Player

Late last summer our men’s basketball team received a player who transferred from a community college. He is two meters tall, Canadian, talented, and athletic. He is also already the most vocal leader among his teammates. As preseason preparations continued, he was limping on his surgically repaired knee. After a lot of treatment with the athletics trainers (physios), and consultation with a surgeon, it was determined that he should have meniscus repair surgery. It was anticipated he would miss four to six weeks, and then return to play.

After the surgery was complete, his head coach told me the damage was much worse than expected. It will be a four to six month recovery and rehab timeline. I spoke with the player as he attended practice with his leg immobilized and on crutches. He stayed fully engaged with his team from the sideline, and was still a strong encouragement to them.

As the scholastic semester was coming to an end, he told me his mother and sister were traveling to see his father in a central African nation. He was quite ill. We prayed together for his father while at practice and another time after shootaround prior to a game. I had prepared a couple of prayers on paper and gave them to him prior to that day’s game. I also sent him text messages with suggested prayers for his father. As that week progressed, his father’s condition grew worse, and one day as practice was starting an assistant coach told me his father had died and the player would be traveling to his home in Canada to be with family.

I sent him more prayers via text message to help him through the grieving process. He was quite thankful for the correspondence, and asked that I continue to send him more. I began sending him scripture and prayer every morning via text messages. That correspondence has continued for several weeks now, and as school begins tomorrow, I expect to see him back at practice to renew our relationship in person.

I could not imagine the pain, alienation, and helplessness he must have experienced as his father was an ocean away, desperately ill, and he could not be with him. Further, the pain of grief and mourning while hobbling around on crutches. While my efforts to comfort and to encourage seemed remote and weak from my end, they were eagerly and gratefully received.

This has been the shape of ministry in COVID-19 season. Awkward in timing, occasionally remote, and often counterintuitive, but oddly effective. Please don’t be deterred by its awkwardness, take action on your hunches, pursue relationships however you can. Use any and all resources at your hand to communicate with those in your charge. Love extravagantly and serve selflessly.

Ministry with a Virtual Coaches Convention

Here amidst the chaos of COVID-19 and political noise, we sought a way to love, to serve, to engage, equip, and empower coaches during the 2021 American Football Coaches Association convention – this time 100% virtual in nature. Normally we would be meeting with these 6,000 coaches in person, but not this time. This year would require creativity, tenacity, and comfort with risk.

Our ministry’s senior leadership understands the value of ministry at such events and strongly supported our continuing sponsorship of the event, our plans for virtual forms of ministry, and encouraged us along the way.

A team of my colleagues designed our ministry efforts through a series of Zoom meetings, emails, and text messages. They submitted videos from coaches in their networks as well as encouragement for coaches from their own hearts. These videos were collected and posted to a playlist on YouTube at - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBmzpllyhtqwzfGD0h291iV0Ns2ab48Og

As the event approached, we began tweeting information about our ministry efforts, inviting coaches to our Zoom Coaches Huddle, and sought to drive traffic to the video playlist for the convention. A couple of those tweets are shown below.

 

 

Our colleague from Texas Christian University, Chauncey Franks, is the team chaplain for TCU Football, and he welcomed coaches into our Zoom Huddle meeting while I admitted them, one by one. A discussion of questions re: faith, challenges, opportunities, and joys in this oddest of seasons followed. We alternated between the group being all together, and gathered in breakout rooms for discussions. The breakout rooms were excellent in that they enabled more participation in the same timeframe. A recording of that Coaches Huddle is posted at - https://youtu.be/hfabtMHpICM.

Over the years of serving at this convention, I have arrived at a strong conviction re: what coaches want from such a meeting. It is fellowship. More than anything else, they want to talk to each other, to be encouraged, and to encourage others by simply being together. Rather than think we’re serving them by delivering a talk or a presentation, we simply get them together and give them time to talk to each other.

Normally, following the late Sunday night Coaches Huddle, we would be up early on Monday for the FCA Coaches Breakfast. 400+ football coaches would be up early and would join us for breakfast, encouragement from FCA staffers, coaches, and the announcement of the annual FCA Grant Taeff Coach of the Year Award. Without a breakfast for making the announcement we had to be more creative about the award process.

As per usual, we received nominations from FCA staff around the nation, gathered them and sent them out to our convention ministry team, and then discussed the nominees via Zoom meeting. As everything else is upside-down this year, and as we had two stellar nominees, we decided to give awards to two coaches.

Coach Jamey Chadwell of Coastal Carolina University and Coach Tom Allen of Indiana University. The videos of their receiving the awards are at – https://youtu.be/OVbiRuOMI2w and - https://youtu.be/r17CLi5EuG4, respectively.

I am so very thankful for faithful colleagues, a supportive executive team, encouraging coaches, and technology that enables us to continue to serve coaches and their families in spite of challenges. Let’s all love extravagantly and serve selflessly, even if our normal avenues of ministry are shut down.

Travel or Zoom?

As the spring and summer of COVID-19 progressed, most of us were making daily adjustments to how we worked, how we communicated, how we lived in general. In May, I received a Facebook Messenger note from a long-time friend and colleague in Chennai, India. He asked me to share with his group of 25 sports ministry leaders scattered across 12 states of India some introductory elements of sports chaplaincy. I asked some clarifying questions, and we agreed to two – ninety minute sessions; one on Tuesday and the other on Friday.

As the chosen Tuesday arrived I was prepared with a PowerPoint presentation to share on the screen and discussion questions to further their understanding. Tuesday’s session went off without a hitch, and Friday’s was similar (with a few Internet hitches). I was thrilled to share with my friend’s network and to give a gentle nudge forward to sports chaplaincy in India.

A couple of weeks later, during a brisk morning walk, I was contemplating those presentations, their effectiveness, and more. I came to the following observations. If this had been just 6 months earlier, we would have scheduled a training event in Chennai. I would have bought an airline ticket for a couple thousand dollars. His network of leaders would have had to travel from all over India to Chennai, at considerable expense, a conference center would have to be rented, hotel rooms booked, etc. We would have gathered people, exhausted from travel, and fed them with a firehose of information, and then sent them home. As it was, they all joined us from their homes, at convenient times, at no cost, and we delivered the information well. Winner!

I further contemplated how this event was different and the implications of its success. I hope these thoughts are of value to your decision making process going forward.

• If the purpose of an event is to build relationships, new or established, I will make the drive, buy the airline ticket, pay the costs to travel to meet in person. The relationships are worth it, and can be best developed in person.
• If the purpose of an event is primarily to deliver information, I will use a video conferencing platform and deliver the info that way for little or no cost.
• What we had been achieving through annual visits for training in Ukraine, at considerable expense to all, is now being accomplished through monthly video conference meetings at almost no cost. It’s much more flexible and doesn’t upset the normal rhythms of life for travel. We have established our relationships across five years of annual in person meetings in Kyiv.

Bottom line – I will use this set of values to determine whether or not to travel for ministry.

• Relationship focus – make the trip, pay the costs. It’s worth it.
• Information focus – use technology. It’s wise and effective.

Belonging, Identity, and Joy in Sportspeople

During my sabbatical last fall I read about Millennial and Generation Z people and how they are very hungry for three things in particular: Belonging, Identity, and Joy. Since that reading I have been contemplating how we who serve in sport might deliver these to competitors and coaches of that generation. At about 4:00 this morning I had some clear thoughts.

1. Sportspeople already experience belonging in pretty good measure. Their teams, the uniforms they wear, the process of being recruited and brought into a team gives them a sense of belonging far beyond what most others experience.
2. Sportspeople also have a stronger sense of identity than most of their peers. They wear a name on the back of their jerseys (kit), their names are on the scoreboard, in the game programs, on the team’s website, and occasionally promoted widely through all sorts of media. They have a strong sense of identity because of who they are in sport.
3. Sportspeople also have advantages over many others related to joy, emotional buoyancy. In a chat with a women’s basketball team last week we discussed anxiety and what they do to deal with it. Several said that when they feel anxious they simply go to the gym and work out. That’s a far superior approach to many of their peers whose responses to anxiety involve alcohol, drugs, or other harmful behaviors.
4. That would seem to be very good for our friends in sport, and normally it is. The problem is this idyllic situation can be suddenly upset and our friends are adrift when something disconnects them from sport. Injury, suspension, failure, or retirement are often blunt, immediate, and painful assaults to the belonging, identity, and joy of the sportsperson. Suddenly the belonging they felt by being a part of the team is lost. Their identity as, “_______ the star footballer,” is changed to, “what’s his name, the former player.” The joy they experienced through regular, strenuous workouts is replaced by lethargy, boredom, and even depression.

What shall we do? Let’s offer our friends in sport a depth of belonging, identity, and joy that includes but is not limited to their lives in sport. Rather than deny the benefits they experience in sport by saying, “Your identity must not be in sport, it must be in Christ Jesus,” let’s say, “Your sense of belonging, identity, and joy are not limited to your life in sport, but are even more deeply rooted in relationship with Jesus Christ.” We need not communicate these as an either/or dichotomy.

Sportspeople are strongly defined by their lives in sport; that’s why they achieve so highly in it. Without a life in Christ and the belonging, identity, and joy to be found in it, they are in a very perilous state. Anything that would limit their lives in sport is a direct attack upon the foundations of their lives. We need simply offer Christ Jesus, His church, and ourselves as faithful, consistent, loyal, and faithful sources of the belonging, identity, and joy they desperately need, in sport and beyond it.

Fruit that Remains

The text message below was received from the father of a former Saluki (Southern Illinois University) Football player. The father is also a generous contributor to FCA, and his son is now coaching football at another university. We have great relationships with both men. I believe it illustrates well the value of long-term relationships in ministry. 

“The gifts are very special, and I just looked through the 2 books you sent, and we are excited to put them in front of some quite time reflection. 

It was so powerful to listen to (my son) discuss influence on the podcast. That gave me some energy to carry on and know that doing good work will lift up others and provide influence. 

I am sitting here this morning reflecting on our relationship with the Lipes and valuing the spirit-led gift that was placed in front of us in 2002 when (our son) arrived in Carbondale. It’s simply amazing to feel the impact of what God gifted us with at SIU and the people added to our life at that moment. 

18 years seems like a flash and how powerful to know that God has a plan for placing people in our lives for reasons that are revealed as time moves ahead. That is a true gift that does not rust or lose value. 

Thank you for your presence and for the spirit of serving and caring for the "kids" that God has sent to you. They grow up and reflect the relationship you modeled and continue to model. 

Being an influential mentor is SO powerful and is truly GOD inspired. I give thanks and count the joy of this blessing. 

I appreciate the new coffee mug and books- each time I sip some morning magic, I will have a warm feeling of what the mug and the reflection brought to life.” 

This message and the long-term relationships it represents are emblematic of the sort of ministry I aim to provide. I am seeking ”fruit that remains”, as in John 15. 

Learn to Surf.

One of the effects of COVID-19 and the governmental / institutional responses to it is the utter destruction of sports teams’ schedules. Normally, schedules are set in stone months, sometimes years ahead of time. In the USA, the NCAA demands that coaches give their student-athletes daily practice and meeting schedules at least 14 days in advance. Such rigidity has been cast to the wind in recent days. 

The whole world of sport has become incredibly fluid of late. Competition, training, and practice schedules shift by the hour and my phone is constantly buzzing with updates of practice times, games added, games cancelled, coaches being quarantined, and other matters of fluidity. For this 64-year-old dude, who prefers to schedule as much as a year out, this is like nailing Jell-O to the wall. 

For us who serve this community and its constantly shifting schedule, we must be as fluid as the situation demands. To do otherwise will immediately marginalize us and we’ll soon find ourselves on the outside looking in. To resist the tidal flow of this season, rather than to surf on it, will mean that we will soon be drowned by the waves, ineffective, out of touch. 

I doubt that this will be the “new normal”, but for the moment, we must learn to surf. Ride the waves of uncertainty and thereby calm everyone else’s anxiety with your calming presence of assurance. Your loving, serving presence is powerful. Apply your ministry priorities to your daily diary, show up, ride the waves, be flexible, and watch the Lord do marvelous things.

Sabbatical Reflections

Sabbatical reflections:

 

For the first time in my twenty-six years of serving with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, we as staff have been afforded the luxury of a thirty day paid sabbatical. Its intent is for rest, renewal, and reflection. I had been planning to take my sabbatical, now available once every three years, in the spring of 2021, but as the United States’ response to COVID-19 has led to wide shutdowns or postponements of sporting seasons, I decided to take it from mid-September through mid-October as these are likely the least busy weeks for the coming twelve months. Some reflections on the sabbatical, its shape, and its outcomes are below.

 

• It took me a whole week to slow down. I normally go at a rapid rate with lots of energy and activity. Dealing with COVID-19 issues had slowed things down a bit already, but it still took a solid week before I had the ability to be introspective and to think deeply about some things.
• That first introspective thought came as I was on a brisk walk through the campus on an early morning, just before dawn. As I approached the football stadium I could see the lights were on. As I drew closer I could see the north gate was open. As I neared the gate I could see and hear players at practice. I walked past, not being allowed inside the university athletics bubble since early August, and thought, “Normally, I would be in there with them, but I am out here in exile.” Exile. I began to contemplate, “What am I supposed to be learning while in exile? What did Israel learn while in exile?” I determined I would read every Bible text I could find written by, to, or for those in exile. That reading was convicting, comforting, and insightful. It was most encouraging when I read this promise in Isaiah 51:14-16. I wrote it in my journal and dwelt on it for days. This text gave me great confidence for what was to be after I returned from sabbatical with hopes to be allowed inside the athletics bubble. (I was thrilled that to see those hopes come to full fruition the day I returned.)

¹⁴ The exile will soon be set free, and will not die in the dungeon, nor will his bread be lacking. ¹⁵ For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar (the Lord of armies is His name). ¹⁶ And I have put My words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”

• It was very helpful to have a plan. Mine was to read several books (reading a couple for a second or third time), and to have long talks over lunch with a number of carefully selected, long-term friends.
• I journaled daily.
• I had a lot of time at home with my wife of forty-five years. Since late February, the COVID situation has had us occupying the same space, has limited my travel – even locally, and then adding in a thirty day sabbatical gave us both a look at what my retirement would look like. Neither of us are ready for that!
• It would have been better if I could have traveled, just to get away from things that can pop up when one is at home, but in this era it was neither wise nor helpful. I would have gone to Florida to stay in a friend’s condo on the beach or to a similarly remote place to eliminate distractions.
• It was also helpful to have desired outcomes. Mine were go gather perspective, that is a sense of where we are, where we’re going, and what is coming in the next years. I had also begun to think about this idea, “If the Lord is preparing new wine for His followers, and I believe He is, we will need new wineskins. What should they look like?”
• I chose books to read based on these desired outcomes. The books are in this photo.

• I chose and scheduled my long lunches with friends based on these desired outcomes. These friends all live in a three hour radius of my home. They included my son, my mentor, my best friend from high school, my present best friend, a couple of pastors, and a friend from the music world.
• Though the sabbatical is intended to be a total cessation from work, I did engage in a couple of unique opportunities with ministry leaders I love and respect.
• I was asked to do a presentation and to facilitate a discussion for Nations of Coaches and I was thrilled to do so.
• I was asked to do the same for the annual PowerUp Sports Ministry Conference and I also enjoyed being a part of that.

 

If you should be given the opportunity to take a sabbatical, whether three days, thirty days, three months, or a year, take it. I was well satisfied with mine as I emerged with clearer perspective, a sense of what new wineskins look like for ministry in sport, and renewed energy and vision for daily ministry. I would recommend you get away from potential distractions if possible. I would recommend you have a plan and desired outcomes for your sabbatical.