This post is about a classic "wrong answer" by an Episcopal Church in Michigan -- the story is here and it's worth reading:
It's absolutely painful to read; I'll warn you of that much.
Here's a summary of the story:
--Young people discover a way to use church property for sports (in this case, building a BMX bicycle track in some church-owned woods and developing it for nearly a decade)
--Church people discover that young people are having FUN on church property
--Church reflexively drives the young people away, replacing the young people with a "prayer walk"
As someone who tries pretty hard to find successful sports and recreation ministries at churches, finding something like this is discouraging.
Why? Citing insurmountable obstacles, the church in question doesn't appear to have even tried to figure out a way to provide some form of ministry to the kids it is displacing.
Okay, insurance companies and zoning boards are not traditionally fond of home-cooked extreme bicycle racing. I'll grant you that much (although we haven't been provided with any evidence that the church really did check to see if an activity like this would be insurable and be permitted as a church activity by their local zoning board). Let's assume the initial answer was "no" and "no" and that no one in the congregation had the gumption to pursue the issue aggressively.
Do we have any evidence that the church made an effort to see what kinds of activity might be of interest to the youth in question (other than perambulating on a "prayer walk")? From my reading of the piece, the church doesn't even appear to have bothered to investigate alternatives sufficiently to see if there was a way that the kids and the church could work together on some kind of more formal BMX bike activity -- or some other recreational activity the church might have found more acceptable.
Ideally there's a solution out that that would have constituted a way where the church was able to add value from the point of view of the kids (and their families).
(Spare me this comment, please: "Oh, but the church needed the 10 acres for a prayer walk." Gimme a break! What selfishness on the part of the church! You don't need 10 acres for a prayer walk. You don't need ONE acre for a prayer walk! You can stick a labyrinth inside most parish halls and still have room to walk around the outside of it. And yes, by the way, I can definitely sympathize with parishes that cannot minister to young people because of lack of space and facilities.)
But why should the church do anything at all for these kids, these trespassers? It appears, after all, that the kids using the BMX track were not parishioners.
The answer should be obvious, and the very question implies that no one in the congregation has been paying attention during the New Testament readings lately. Why has it not occurred to this congregation that they are being called to a ministry to these kids and their families?
This situation is as clear a call to a specific ministry as a church is ever apt to get -- that is no doubt the real reason that the incident merited press coverage. The situation is crying out for a sports or recreation ministry. To be any more obvious we would need to see a Paul on the road to Damascus event, it seems to me.
It is tragic to see this church refusing to listen.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Original article re girls/sports/college graduation
For those who want to go through the statistics and proofs, the article upon which the New York Times based its article concluding that girls who play interscholastic sports in high school are 41% more apt to graduate from college than their peers, can be found here.
Causing further grief to many associated with churches who would prefer less vigorous physical exertion, both fine arts and other extra-curricular activities were specifically examined by the authors and found to be less effective (in the case of fine arts) or actually counter-productive (in the case of other extra-curriculars).
DEFINITELY something to think about!
Causing further grief to many associated with churches who would prefer less vigorous physical exertion, both fine arts and other extra-curricular activities were specifically examined by the authors and found to be less effective (in the case of fine arts) or actually counter-productive (in the case of other extra-curriculars).
DEFINITELY something to think about!
Helping girls get ahead in life
The New York Times today had an interesting article -- a portion of which is quoted here:
QUOTE
Girls who play interscholastic high school sports are 41 percent more likely to graduate from college than their counterparts, according to a study in the June issue of the journal Youth & Society — in time for the 25th anniversary of Title IX. For her master’s thesis at Brigham Young, Kelly P. Troutman looked at 5,000 girls in the National Education Longitudinal Study, high school class of ’92. The athletes had the advantage of “social capital,” she says — a network invested in their success, mentor coaches and all those parents in the stands sharing college info.
END QUOTE
That said, it certainly looks as though, if one is interested in helping young females in a church, one of the more important things we can do is to help them develop sports skills that will enable them to make the team in high school.
Furthermore, since 41% is such a big number as statistical studies go, there is little doubt that parents will take note of it -- big time -- as this news is propagated, especially beyond the grey confines of the Times.
What will parents do when they see it? The answer is pretty obvious, given what we already know about today's parents in America. They will try to improve their daughters' chances of making the team in high school.
How will they do this? They will ensure that they are taught sports -- sports for which there are teams in their daughters' prospective high schools. Their daughters will be encouraged to play on club teams, elementary school teams, recreational teams -- and church teams.
Where will the time for all this additional sport come from, given the extent to which kids are already over-programmed? This answer is simple: it will come from wherever there is no discernible payback. Too frequently, church and Sunday School will be perceived to fall in the "no discernible payback" category by these parents. (Free play time, to the extent to which kids have any of this scarce commodity left, will be an additional casualty.)
Few churches will be able to suck in and respond by filling the demand. Most will whine, complain, and generally badmouth sports, as so many already do. Others will respond -- or continue to respond -- by going on the offensive, attempting to punish sports that infringe on what they perceive as their turf with regard to young people. Almost without exception, of course, churches view Sunday morning as "their turf".
Churches that have an interest in survival will incorporate sports in their programs for young people, and will learn to make use of Sunday mornings as the ideal time to combine sports with worship and learning -- on THEIR turf.
41% is indeed a big number.
QUOTE
Girls who play interscholastic high school sports are 41 percent more likely to graduate from college than their counterparts, according to a study in the June issue of the journal Youth & Society — in time for the 25th anniversary of Title IX. For her master’s thesis at Brigham Young, Kelly P. Troutman looked at 5,000 girls in the National Education Longitudinal Study, high school class of ’92. The athletes had the advantage of “social capital,” she says — a network invested in their success, mentor coaches and all those parents in the stands sharing college info.
END QUOTE
That said, it certainly looks as though, if one is interested in helping young females in a church, one of the more important things we can do is to help them develop sports skills that will enable them to make the team in high school.
Furthermore, since 41% is such a big number as statistical studies go, there is little doubt that parents will take note of it -- big time -- as this news is propagated, especially beyond the grey confines of the Times.
What will parents do when they see it? The answer is pretty obvious, given what we already know about today's parents in America. They will try to improve their daughters' chances of making the team in high school.
How will they do this? They will ensure that they are taught sports -- sports for which there are teams in their daughters' prospective high schools. Their daughters will be encouraged to play on club teams, elementary school teams, recreational teams -- and church teams.
Where will the time for all this additional sport come from, given the extent to which kids are already over-programmed? This answer is simple: it will come from wherever there is no discernible payback. Too frequently, church and Sunday School will be perceived to fall in the "no discernible payback" category by these parents. (Free play time, to the extent to which kids have any of this scarce commodity left, will be an additional casualty.)
Few churches will be able to suck in and respond by filling the demand. Most will whine, complain, and generally badmouth sports, as so many already do. Others will respond -- or continue to respond -- by going on the offensive, attempting to punish sports that infringe on what they perceive as their turf with regard to young people. Almost without exception, of course, churches view Sunday morning as "their turf".
Churches that have an interest in survival will incorporate sports in their programs for young people, and will learn to make use of Sunday mornings as the ideal time to combine sports with worship and learning -- on THEIR turf.
41% is indeed a big number.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Using FaceBook
About a month ago I had mentioned that I was contemplating putting our weekly Summer Soccer sessions on FaceBook. At that point I was a complete neophyte at this web 2.0 networking stuff, having just been introduced to it by my grad student daughter.
Well, since then I have acted. You can now find a group called "Trinity Lime Rock" on FaceBook, and each week I am creating an activity for Summer Soccer for that group. This week I added it to the local network (Hartford, CT is the closest to us) and we will see if there is any discernible result.
I'm also working on the profile for Trinity Lime Rock on FaceBook, and am glad to have any suggestions at all. Swing by and take a look!
Well, since then I have acted. You can now find a group called "Trinity Lime Rock" on FaceBook, and each week I am creating an activity for Summer Soccer for that group. This week I added it to the local network (Hartford, CT is the closest to us) and we will see if there is any discernible result.
I'm also working on the profile for Trinity Lime Rock on FaceBook, and am glad to have any suggestions at all. Swing by and take a look!
96 shirts!
Just as an addendum to the previous item, earlier this week the second order of shirts for Trinity Lime Rock Summer Soccer 2007 participants arrived, three dozen of them, supplementing the 5 1/2 dozen we received earlier.
Tomorrow we'll start handing them out -- these are for the people (kids and adult volunteers) who have appeared since the Summer season began and since we placed the first shirt order this year.
Interestingly, two of the shirts will be going to participants in Norway who appeared (and played well) for two sessions while visiting the US -- their dad had been an exchange student at Housatonic Valley Regional HS back in the 1980s and he brought his family over to show what things were like in the US. They returned home last week, but their shirts will be following them shortly.
Tomorrow we'll start handing them out -- these are for the people (kids and adult volunteers) who have appeared since the Summer season began and since we placed the first shirt order this year.
Interestingly, two of the shirts will be going to participants in Norway who appeared (and played well) for two sessions while visiting the US -- their dad had been an exchange student at Housatonic Valley Regional HS back in the 1980s and he brought his family over to show what things were like in the US. They returned home last week, but their shirts will be following them shortly.
Team Picture
We're about half way through Summer Soccer 2007, so here is a "team picture" from last Sunday's session.
When I look at this group, I'm amazed at how this program at a very small, rural Episcopal parish in New England has grown in 2 1/2 years. That first year, there was one session when I was the only participant. There was also one session when only I and the kid who had suggested the program to begin with attended.
Around this time that first summer I had the feeling on more than one occasion that it really wasn't going to work at all. Eventually, no one would show up; the few people in the congregation who had raised their eyebrows when I had suggested the program to them would be shown to have been right after all.
Then a remarkable thing happened. One Sunday, as I was standing at the far end of the corridor leading toward the field, I saw a very old woman whom I knew from the congregation making her way purposefully down the hall toward me. Her name, I knew, was Marge, and I also knew that she was 99 years old.
She manouvered her walker up to me, pointed her finger at me, looked me in the eye, and said "Are you the soccer man?"
I was afraid that I was about to be told that I was doing something Godless or worse and that I ought to be ashamed of myself for having ed this program. With that in my mind, I swallowed hard and said "Yes, I guess I am."
Marge said "Well, keep it up!" and turned and manouvered her walker back down the hall toward the church.
If I ever had seriously contemplated dropping the soccer program, Marge's admonition to keep it up pretty much put those thoughts to rest. She's now 100, and I'm not sure she's been at church this summer to see the kids in their new purple shirts -- at her age she's certainly entitled to take a few weeks or even months off -- but she has been there in my mind every Sunday.
Thanks, Marge!
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Salvation Army and Lime Rock Park?
There was an interesting article yesterday in the Waterbury Republican, noting that the local Salvation Army was sending their youth group to the American LeMans race at Lime Rock Park, in Lakeville, on July 6.
Now, knowing the Salvation Army, you may suspect that the youth group will be armed with their traditional red kettles and be charged with collecting money from the reasonable well-heeled track patrons (after all, admission to the track that day costs $65, so they might just have some spare change for the Salvation Army). Conversely, you might expect that they will whip out band instruments and render a short concert (after all, Judy Collins is doing a concert later in July at the same venue).
No, according to that article, neither is the case. The objective of the visit is so the youth group members can see the race, enjoy a day in the most beautiful race venue anywhere, and perhaps see a religious connection.
Well, this is sports ministry. I find it provocative because my parish church, Trinity Lime Rock, is directly across the street from the Outfield entrance of Lime Rock Park, and during the fifty years we have shared our common location, our two organizations have succeeded in cooperating only in our providing parking for their overflow visitors in our field, and in our clergy delivering occasional invocations at the track.
I'm a little deflated that I have not been able to come up with a sports ministry for our own young people involving Lime Rock Park, while the Salvation Army, forty miles away in Waterbury, has been able to do so.
Now, knowing the Salvation Army, you may suspect that the youth group will be armed with their traditional red kettles and be charged with collecting money from the reasonable well-heeled track patrons (after all, admission to the track that day costs $65, so they might just have some spare change for the Salvation Army). Conversely, you might expect that they will whip out band instruments and render a short concert (after all, Judy Collins is doing a concert later in July at the same venue).
No, according to that article, neither is the case. The objective of the visit is so the youth group members can see the race, enjoy a day in the most beautiful race venue anywhere, and perhaps see a religious connection.
Well, this is sports ministry. I find it provocative because my parish church, Trinity Lime Rock, is directly across the street from the Outfield entrance of Lime Rock Park, and during the fifty years we have shared our common location, our two organizations have succeeded in cooperating only in our providing parking for their overflow visitors in our field, and in our clergy delivering occasional invocations at the track.
I'm a little deflated that I have not been able to come up with a sports ministry for our own young people involving Lime Rock Park, while the Salvation Army, forty miles away in Waterbury, has been able to do so.
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