From 24 through 28 August, I
participated in the Inaugural Global
Congress on Sport and Christianity at York St. John University of York,
England. It was an outstanding four days of presentations, discussions, and
fellowship among academic professionals, sports ministry practitioners, and
others. http://www2.yorksj.ac.uk/health--life-sciences/faculty-of-hls/faculty-events/igcsc.aspx
Sports Chaplaincy was one of
twelve thematic strands in the congress. The sports chaplaincy strand was
comprised of four sessions that included: Sports Chaplaincy Trends, Issues, and
Debates led by Dr. Andrew Parker. I then made a presentation titled, Global
Sports Chaplaincy: A review of the online training program created for basic,
yet comprehensive chaplaincy training. Dr. Steven Waller of the
University of Tennessee made a presentation titled, Globalization and the
credentialing of sports chaplains: Divergent perspectives. Lastly,
Anthony Maranise of Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee
presented, 6 Degrees of Commonality Uniting Sports Chaplains of all Christian
Traditions. Each of the presentations were well delivered and received
by the large group of men and women in attendance.
There were sports chaplains
from the worlds of horse racing, motor racing, rugby, football (soccer),
American football, baseball, athletics, basketball, Paralympic sports, and
probably a number of others with which I am unfamiliar.
Our sports chaplaincy
colleagues were Protestant, Roman Catholic, Mormon, liberal, and conservative, with
backgrounds in sport, coaching, psychology, sociology, recreation, theology,
and probably other ologies I cannot even spell.
We were among sports ministry
colleagues from Athletes in Action, Fellowship of Christian Athletes,
Christians in Sport, the Vatican, Sports Chaplaincy UK, Sports Ambassadors, and
others.
Friday evening’s highlight
was a sport themed service in York Minster, a medieval cathedral built across
the years of 1220 to 1472. It is a remarkably beautiful structure and the
service was very inspirational for all attendees.
My primary interest in this
congress was to further the connections between academics who research and
write about matters of faith and sport, and practitioners of sports chaplaincy,
like us. I believe that we each stand to enhance the others’ work if we simply,
regularly, and respectfully work together. I hope to contribute to the work of
many of my new colleagues in the world of academia, and I hope to continue to
learn from their insightful work, analysis, and contemplative writing. I expect
that the implications from this congress will ripple across the years, and its
impact with be felt around the globe.
Save the date for the next
Global Congress, to be held at Calvin
College in Grand Rapids, Michigan October
23-27, 2019.
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