A resource you might not have thought of

We found this resource just the other day, and it's not the kind of resource you might expect to see here.

To give you a flavor of what kind of things you'll find here, check this blog posting and our response.

The name of the website is something that might slightly disorient you (although I hope that if you're reading this blog I have already accomplished that much.

It's churchmarketingsucks.com. Yup, that's it!

Check it out!

Looking for clues

It's been my experience that when looking for "the" thing that caused a social movement, or a sea change in the way institutions view things, people are so eager to find a single causative factor that they miss the point: most things change because they are ready to change, and rarely does the change come from a single event or action.

A recent press release from the Episcopal Church News Service, in the "Ecumenical News International" section, gives us a hint.

The article is headed: "England: Church seeks ambassador for sport".

It's worth reading. I'm not sure the Bishop of Sherwood has got the answer completely right yet, but when he says "A church building for most people is like going to Mars ... We have to go where the people are." he is spot on.

No, you don't even need a ballfield!

Back when I was getting cranked up to start Trinity Lime Rock Summer Soccer, I came across the website for Cross of Life Lutheran Church -- and, very specifically, their summer soccer camps.

The link goes directly to their soccer camp page, but I recommend that you take a good look at the entire website of this church. (And, the last time I looked, Lutherans were considered very much a mainstream protestant denomination, thank you!)

One thing that should dawn on you very quickly is that this congregation does not have its own soccer field -- or, in fact, any real estate of its own! They "hold church" mainly in rented public buildings.

Yet, Glory Hallelujah, they STILL manage to do sports, and to do a lot of sports.

How can that be? Well, look at Cross of Life's website and find out!

(The sound you now hear is that of air escaping from mainstream protestant clergy who have been arguing against involving their parish or congregation in sports on the grounds that they have no place to do sports.)

Stewardship + Church + Sports

How often are we reminded that it is our duty to be good stewards of the bounty God has given us?

If your church is anything like my church, you hear this pretty frequently.

Now, I'm NOT about to ask you for money!

But I AM going to ask you whether our young people are not part of our God-given bounty? My guess is that virtually any of us with young people would rank our kids as our most important thing in life.

Now, with an epidemic of childhood obesity across America -- this being a disease for which one of the standard preventative measures is physical activity -- and with childhood obesity as a primary causative factor for Type 2 Diabetes -- and with our schools eliminating recess so kids can sit still and be drilled in preparation for standardized tests -- and with kids lacking the freedom to run and play vigorously outdoors when not in school, as most of us did as kids....

HOW ON EARTH can you call it good stewardship of our God-given bounty to have our kids who come to church just sit on their hind ends?

Would it not be better stewardship for us to provide these kids with something that is increasingly missing from their lives: vigorous physical activity?

Connection between sports and religion?

"...but you can do sports ANYWHERE!" whined one cleric who felt that children playing sports in connection with church was somehow improper.

I guess the worthy cleric's statment, if taken to its logical conclusion, implies that you can worship and pray only in church, but let's be gentle for the moment instead of tackling that head on right now.

Beside running the summer soccer program at Trinity Lime Rock, I also, for the past few years, have directed the Christmas Pageant.

And, as part of the summer soccer program, I have always felt it appropriate to pray for a minute before undertaking the sports aspect of the program. The most useful prayer I have found yet for this is the Lord's Prayer, the Our Father.

Well, doubter that I can be, during soccer these past two summers I often wondered if it made any impression at all on the kids that before we played soccer we ALWAYS recited the Lord's Prayer. After all, while we were standing in a circle reciting the prayer, I often had the feeling it was mostly me who was doing the reciting.

Well, today, on December 2, in the first Christmas Pageant rehearsal of the year, I got clarification on that.

At the point that the shepherds enter the story, the pageant script has Angel Gabriel herding the small angels up the aisle to meet them, and together proclaiming the small angels' one big line of the whole pageant: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace....etc."

Angel Gabriel dutifully herded the small angels up the aisle, and I directed, "Okay, angels -- do your thing!"

They, in unison, in strong voices, immediately recited the entire Lord's Prayer.



It was really quite impressive. I was actually a little bit choked up. I almost hated to de-program them!

Here are Angel Gabriel and the little angels, taken at the subsequent dress rehearsal. By this time they had their line down pat. And, presumably, they had not forgotten the Lord's Prayer, either.