The “5-B’s Rubric of Evangelistic-Disciplemaking” of The Sports Outreach Movement
This series of blogs describes and explains the “5-B’s” of Evangelistic-Disciplemaking of The Sports Outreach Movement.  It will explain the first “B” - Belonging

Overcoming the two “Dysconnects”
So far this series of blogs has identified two dysconnects for connecting people to the church.  This blog will explain how to overcome these dysconnects.
 
Overcoming for sports-related, para-ministries
For sports-related, para-ministries, the key to overcoming both dysconnects, but especially the second, is an honest assessment of how difficult it is for a ministry to reorder itself in such a way as to be fully incorporated, and in full partnership with, local churches.  Rather than seeing the para-ministry’s current efforts as the ultimate end, such para-ministries will best serve the kingdom by re-envisioning their goal to be about empowering and enabling local church efforts with the ultimate goal of making dedicated disciples of Christ who are active members of a local church.  This is no small shift, nor is it done without extreme resolve.  (I have written in detail about a new model for para-ministries and sports chaplaincies in two different venues.  The first was a series of blogs [the series was featured in April of 2015 and can be found in the blog archives of CSRM at http://www.csrm.org/blog  and a specific blog in that series addressing the new proposed model can be found at: http://www.csrm.org/blog/is-sports-outreach-effective-7 ].  The second venue was in a chapter of the book entitled: Sports Chaplaincy: Trends, Issues and Debates, published by Farnham of Ashgate, England and edited by Drs. Andrew Parker, Nick Watson and John White).

Overcoming for the local church
For a local church, the difficulty lies in re-envisioning its Sports Outreach activities to be: a) excellent in all things athletic and, perhaps even more radical; b) to be aligned with the leisure pursuits of the church’s members rather than by “what’s always been done,” or by “what has worked elsewhere.”
Regardless, both the para-ministry world and the local church world need to reorder their way of thinking (theological / philosophical) so as to create the most strategically-relevant and efficiently-effective model (methodological) possible.

Intentional Reordering of the Sports Outreach Community’s Methodology
The intentional reordering of a methodology is not only vital to the success of a ministry and/or a congregation’s evangelistic-disciplemaking efforts but also to the expansion and enhancement of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ!

Summary of overcoming the two Dysconnects
Belonging, the first “B,” is vital to the overall evangelistic-disciplemaking success of sports ministries because it is the “vehicle” which can transport an unchurched person along the entire spiritual journey needed to become a dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ.   However, two adjustments must be adopted for most churches.  The first adjustment assumes a local congregation is committed to provide a vibrant and excellent sporting environment in which the unchurched person encounters a warm and welcoming community of current church members.  The second has to do with building the Sports Outreach around the leisure pursuits of the current members of the congregation.  These will be the topic of the next blog.
 
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This blog is an excerpt from chapter #3 of Dr. Linville's yet to be released book – Sports Ministry Fundamentals.  All rights reserved.  For any reproduction right, including copying, computer reproduction, etc. contact:

Dr. Greg Linville at CSRM International C/O The World Outreach Center 5350 Broadmoor Circle N. w. Canton, Ohio – USA 44709 or glinville@csrm.org
 
Other blogs and articles on Local Church Sports, sports theology and ethics written by Dr. Greg Linville and other local church Sports, Rec & Fitness Ministers are archived at: http://www.csrm.org/blog/

Decision for a Day, or Dedicated Disciple

While local church Sports Outreach Ministries and sports-oriented, para-ministries believe they strongly agree on the vital importance of evangelism, they may not realize the other group often applies a different meaning to the term evangelism.  To many within the para-ministry world, it is defined as a “decision for the day.”  Conversely, the way most of The Church world perceives the end goal of evangelism can best be described by the term: “dedicated disciple.”  Thus, it follows, if the end goal of “a decision for a day” evangelism is to have someone raise a hand, fill out a form, say a prayer, or go forward at a meeting, then a ministry’s philosophy and all subsequent methodologies will be conceived and implemented to have these “decisions for a day” occur.  However, if the end goal is to “go and make disciples,” both the philosophies and methodologies will be significantly different.  The efforts to establish life-long, dedicated disciples entail a longer view and different approach.

For example, if a particular congregation and/or denomination believe the end of their efforts are to have participants in their sports and rec activities pray a prayer to receive Christ then the thrust of their endeavors go into creating opportunities for that.  By contrast, if churches and denominations believe the end goal is baptism, church membership, attendance at church services, financial contributions to the church and/or participation in a bible study or disciple group, then they will organize their ministries towards those ends.  The reality is, most churches tend to tip towards either evangelism (the initial efforts to reach those far from Christ) or towards discipleship (developing disciples to full spiritual maturity).  Churches stress only one end of the continuum to the overall detriment of all involved.  It is to this concern and for this reason; CSRM chooses to use the term evangelistic-disciplemaking.  The reason it does so will be explored over the next number of blogs….

The next blog will continue the discussion on evangelistic-disciplemaking and its relevance to Local Church Sport, Rec & Fitness Ministry
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This blog is an excerpt from chapter #2 of Dr. Linville's yet to be released book – Sports Ministry Fundamentals.  All rights reserved.  For any reproduction right, including copying, computer reproduction, etc. contact:

Dr. Greg Linville at CSRM International C/O The World Outreach Center 5350 Broadmoor Circle N. w. Canton, Ohio – USA 44709 or glinville@csrm.org
 
Other blogs and articles on Local Church Sports, sports theology and ethics written by Dr. Greg Linville and other local church Sports, Rec & Fitness Ministers are archived at: http://www.csrm.org/blog/archives/05-2016

Local Church Sports, Recreation & Fitness Ministry
 

A most insidious disconnect exists on a core Level #1 Theological Truth.  This disconnect is in reference to evangelism and is closely connected to the theological area officially designated Soteriology – the theology of salvation.  When properly understood, this disconnect will explain to both local church and Para-ministry leaders why they are often at logger-heads with each other, and why their evangelistic efforts are often not successful.
This subtle, insidious disconnect lies in the fact that Church and ministry leaders compartmentalize evangelism and discipleship into separate endeavors, rather than viewing the two in conjunction with each other and perceiving them as a unified, whole continuum.  There is a huge difference between viewing The Church’s primary task to be the dual efforts of Evangelism and Discipleship, as opposed to a single-focused and unified effort.  I describe this single-focused effort by the term: “Evangelistic-disciplemaking.”  I believe this is a distinction with a profound difference, and becomes clearly seen as it is manifested in the divergence of the two approaches as practiced by sports-related para-ministries and local churches.
 
The next blog will describe the difference between seeking “decisions for a day” and “going to make life-long disciples” and its relevance to Local Church Sport, Rec & Fitness Ministry
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This blog is an excerpt from chapter #2 of Dr. Linville's yet to be released book – Sports Ministry Fundamentals.  All rights reserved.  For any reproduction right, including copying, computer reproduction, etc. contact:

Dr. Greg Linville at CSRM International C/O The World Outreach Center 5350 Broadmoor Circle N. w. Canton, Ohio – USA 44709 or glinville@csrm.org
 
Other blogs and articles on Local Church Sports, sports theology and ethics written by Dr. Greg Linville and other local church Sports, Rec & Fitness Ministers are archived at: http://www.csrm.org/blog/archives/05-2016

Is Sports Outreach Effective?
This is a reprint of a blog from February 2015....

This series of blogs addressing the question: Is Sports Outreach Effective continues the conversation on the third Sports Outreach Ministry Continuum. What follows is intended to begin a conversation based upon the hard questions asked within.  It is not written so as to be intentionally offensive or hurtful.  All truth seekers are invited to continue. 

Sports Outreach Continuum of Tension #3:

Local Church Sports Outreach – Para-Sports Ministry
Earlier in this series (see February 2015) I stated there was an insidious dilemma facing the Sport Outreach Movement in regards to a Level #1 Theological Truth concerning evangelism that often pits local church Sports Outreach Ministries at odds with sports-based Para-ministries.  Previous blogs in this series provided a brief history of local church sports outreach and an overview of its theological, philosophical and subsequent methodological approach to “evangelistic-disiplemaking.  This blog shares a brief historical perspective of sports-related Para-ministries and also looks at their philosophical and methodological foundations… 

A Brief Historical Overview of Sports Based Para-Ministries
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) was founded in 1954 by professional athletes such as Bob Feller and Otto Graham.  Campus Crusade followed suit about ten years later with its Athletes in Action Sports Ministry.  Since then, hundreds of sports related Para-Ministries have been instituted; most were established since 1980.  Of course some might suggest the YMCA was the first Sports Ministry.  Indeed, it began in 1844 and was an excellent Para-ministry but, the Y did not begin as a sports-based ministry.  It did eventually add a “physical” department but sadly, while it wisely added sports and fitness methodologies, for the most part it Capitulated its Christian distinctive and the YMCA no longer has Evangelism or Discipleship as its purpose for existence. (See my other writings for a much broader history of the Y and all things Sports Ministry). 

Sports-Related Para-Ministry Philosophy and Methodology
Philosophically, the vast majority of sports related Para-Ministries focus on athletes and coaches.  Two main Methodologies are: a) Chaplaincy work which includes team Bible Studies and outreaches with some being campus based and others team or club based; and b) Mega-event and/or multi-media outreaches which focus on providing a “platform” for athletes to “proclaim” their faith via a speaking opportunity or through various media outlets.

All such Para-ministries claim to have great success when it comes to the twin Evangelical endeavors of Evangelism and Discipleship.  But do they?  If all the numbers of “decisions for Christ” reported by these ministries were combined, the entire world would be Christian today!  The statistic that most accurately communicates success however, is not how many "decisions for Christ" were made, but rather is, how many of the athletes and coaches associated with the Para-ministries become life-long disciples of Christ including regular and significant involvement with a local congregation. 

What’s the Problem?
You might be asking “what’s the big deal as long as everyone is focused on Evangelism?”  That question can be answered by asking a different question.  If Para-Ministries are so successful, then why hasn’t this success resulted in the growth of the Church?  If the philosophy of Para-ministries is so significant and the methodologies of Sports Chaplaincies, Mega-Sports-Outreach-Events, Platform Evangelism and Mass Media communication of the gospel are so fruitful, then why has church attendance continued to dwindle in the very countries in which sports related Para-ministries have flourished and claimed such great success?  It could be argued church attendance would have fallen even lower had it not been for the efforts of Para-ministries, yet this is refuted by the fact that other than a few notable exceptions, elite athletes and coaches are not intimately involved with local churches.  Of course, the local church must also “look in the mirror” to see if their philosophies and methodologies are working but the bottom line is, the numbers simply haven’t matched the expectations claimed by Para-ministries fundraising appeals.

The relevant question for both local congregations and the sports related Para-ministries is: “how many Disciples of Christ have been added to the ranks, rather than how many decisions were recorded.”  Evangelistic-disciplemaking should be judged by how many new Disciples of Christ are produced, not by how many prayed a prayer with a counselor, filled out a card at an event, raised their hand at a meeting or “went forward” at service. 

Relevance of the 3rd Sports Outreach Continuum
Future blogs will address the relevance of the Local Church – Para-ministry continuum  and work towards a proposal for a synthesized Philosophical Principle to produce a truly effective and efficient Methodological Model.

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Other blogs and articles on Local Church Sports written by Dr. Greg Linville are archived at: www.csrm.org and http://www.csrm.org/blog201112-2.html This blog is an excerpt from Dr. Linville's yet to be released book.  All rights reserved.  For any reproduction right, including copying, computer reproduction, etc. contact:

Dr. Greg Linville at CSRM International C/O The World Outreach Center 5350 Broadmoor Circle N. w. Canton, Ohio – USA 44709 or glinville@csrm.org

Is Sports Outreach Effective?
What follows is a reprint of a blog from February of 2015.  is not intended to be intentionally offensive or hurtful.  It is however, intended to begin a conversation based upon the hard questions asked within.  All truth seekers are invited to continue. This is the tenth in a series of blogs addressing the question: Is Sports Outreach Effective, and continues the conversation on the third Sports Outreach Ministry Continuum:

Sports Outreach Continuum of Tension #3:

Local Church Sports Outreach – Para-Sports Ministry
Previous blogs (see February 2015) stated there was an insidious dilemma facing the Sport Outreach Movement in regards to a Level #1 Theological Truth concerning evangelism that often pits local church sports outreach ministries at odds with sports-based para-ministries.  This blog will continue that discussion by providing a brief history of local church sports outreach and an overview of its theological, philosophical and subsequent methodological approach to “evangelistic-disiplemaking… 

Historical Overview of Local Church Sports Outreach Ministry
With the exponential growth of Local Church Sports Outreach Ministry since 1990, church sports might be assumed to be a recent phenomenon.  Indeed a dramatic increase has occurred in Local Church based Sports Ministry over the last 30 years but examples of Local Church Sports Outreach Ministry date back to the early 1800’s.  Early on, the primary vehicle of Local Church Sports Outreach Ministry was the creation of sports teams sponsored by a local parish church that competed in local amateur leagues.  This tradition continues but it has grown to unprecedented heights in both total numbers of participants and the scope of sports and activities offered by churches. (A much more in depth study of this topic can be found in my book Christmanship: A Theology of Competition and Sport.

Local Church Sports Outreach Ministry Theology, Philosophy & Methodology
The technical theological term that addresses “salvation” is soteriology. Its relevance to this topic is profound.  If a ministry theologically believes their evangelistic job is done when someone fills out a card, prays a prayer or even gets baptized, their philosophy of ministry focuses only on that particular step in the overall process of evangelistic-disciplemaking and the resultant methodologies will typically be events and/or mass media blitzes.

However, the churches that are most successful start with a theological foundation that believes evangelistic-disciplemaking is a process, not an event.  Thus, they have found the most successful philosophy for sports outreach is to mobilize, equip and empower church members to engage in long term relationships with friends, family members and associates who are far from Christ.  These relationships are established and enhanced in and through regular and repeated sports leagues and recreational activities.  The end result is a sustained, long-term ministry that winsomely attracts people into the church community, creates environments conducive to evangelistic conversations and provides easy conduits into the deeper walk with Christ and His Church.

One caution is needed.  Churches cannot fall into the trap of all growth being the same. While some churches report huge successes, those reports of growth are largely due to what is called “transfer growth” (transferring from one to church to another) rather than “conversion growth” (from converts to the faith).  True growth from intentional “evangelistic-disciplemaking” is rare.

Next week’s blog will review sports related para-ministries history, theology, philosophy and methodology.

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Other blogs and articles on Local Church Sports written by Dr. Greg Linville are archived at: www.csrm.org and http://www.csrm.org/blog201112-2.html This blog is an excerpt from Dr. Linville's yet to be released book.  All rights reserved.  For any reproduction right, including copying, computer reproduction, etc. contact:

Dr. Greg Linville at CSRM International C/O The World Outreach Center 5350 Broadmoor Circle N. w. Canton, Ohio – USA 44709 or glinville@csrm.org