The exciting launch of the new International Journal of Sport and Religion shows the growth of interest among practitioners and scholars in the places where sport and faith intersect. We speak with co-editor Terry Shoemaker from Arizona state university who teaches a popular course on sport and religion and studies and writes about how sport intersects with religion and culture.
Nick Watson grew up in England playing sports like football and gymnastics, but his life changed when as a young man Jesus found him. Nick eventually became a scholar of sport, and he founded the Global Congress on Sport and Christianity. Today Nick tells us about another passion, his desire to make sport accessible to the large population around the world of people mental and physical disabilities.
Wiebe Boer, the new President of Calvin University, tells his story of running among goats, growing up in Jos, setting a high school city record, rescuing his son, and falling in love with sport. Though he wanted to play football, he found success by running fast across the fields and on the track. Dr. Boer details how football, a sport brought by missionaries, was a unifying force in his home nation Nigeria, and how Christians can and should use the gift of sport to further benefit God’s kingdom.
A couple of Americans talk futbol! Chad and Brian have a conversation about the 2022 Men’s Fifa World Cup. We discuss the non-traditional location and time of year, and how build up to the World Cup is paralleling the Christian Advent season.
Dontavious Hill tried the high jump in 9th grade, jumping just 4’8”. But just a few years later, while still in high school, Dontavious cleared the magical height of 7 feet, prompting a D1 college scholarship and a path toward elite international competition. Dontavious is a three-time All-American in the high jump at Auburn University and aspires to represent the US in the Olympics. The animating source within Dontavious is his faith in God, his inspiration on and off the track.
Brooke Ewart is a clinical counselor for athletes and founder of Rocky Mountain Sports Counseling Center. The center offers support for athletes as they work through a mental health crisis, injury, retirement, and other moments of stress and pain. Brooke and her team walk through the tough stuff with athletes, listing to the Holy Spirit, and help them get back into sport in a safe and healthy way.
There’s nothing more inspiring than a great story, and Wayman Britt has one. From tobacco road North Carolina to Flint Michigan, Wayman cultivated his basketball skills through hard work, the influence of wonderful mentors, and an unwavering trust in God. Wayman landed at the University of Michigan where he helped lead his team to the Big Ten Championship in 1974 and to the NCAA national championship game in 1976. Since then, Wayman has been a leader in business and government, and he’s ready to tell his story.
The book of Revelations depicts Jesus as a conquering lion, but far more often as a slaughtered lamb. Does this imagery cause us to think differently about what it means to conquer? New testament scholar Brian Gamel thinks so, and he shares how he believes the slaughtered lamb of Revelations changes the way we view and experience victory and loss in sport.
Keynote Speaker for the 3rd Global Congress on Sport and Christianity Elizabeth Bounds has pondered the question about sport and virtue her whole life. Elizabeth was a standout two sport athlete in soccer and basketball at Hope College, then got M.DIV degree from Truett Seminary, and is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Baylor University’s Department of Psychology and Neuroscience studying virtues, character development, and spirituality in sport.
In a sports world that shouts Look at Me, Professor Hal Wilson leads with humility. With over 20 years of coaching experience all levels below the NBA, Coach Wilson does have something to brag about. But instead, he mentors coaches to be humble and to keep learning. Though he teaches at a public university, Coach Wilson draws his strength and coaching philosophies from his Christian faith, something he expresses and demonstrates with grace and inclusivity. You can learn more from www.coachingwisely.com
Bob Dyer and Bob Schindler have formed an amazing partnership. Both are men of God who love people and know how to use the universal language of sport to point people to Jesus and toward engagement with their local churches. We talk with both Bobs about CEDE Sports, a sports chaplaincy organization and network now on five continents and in more than 100 countries. Information about CEDE sports can be found at CEDEsports.org and the CEDE sports app can be found by searching for the CEDE sports on the app store.
The 3rd Global Congress on Christianity and Sport is set for August 18-21, 2022 in Cambridge, UK. SportFaithLife will interview all of the scheduled keynote speakers. Today’s episode features Dr. Steven Waller, professor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
As a boy, professor and author Matt Hoven attended an Edmonton Oilers hockey game and saw a sign that read, On the 8th day, God created Gretzky. This memory prompted Matt and his two colleagues to write a book on a Catholic theology of sport, aptly titled, On the 8th Day. The book explores unique connections between sport and faith, such as the idea of sacraments and social justice in sport.
Training the body is and essential part of both sport and of faith, seeking a harmonious balance between body, mind, and spirit. We explore this concept with David Torevell, Associate Professor in Theology and Education at Liverpool Hope University in the UK. Dr. Torevell is an editor and author for new book on sport and religion which among other things explores the rituals and physicality of religion and sport.
You may remember the film Terminator about a machine built to look like a human with superhuman capabilities. It may have been futuristic, but human enhancement technologies like biohacking and artificial intelligence are playing an increased role in life and sport, raising many ethical and spiritual questions. We explore this fascinating topic with ethicist Dr. Tracy Trothen of Queens University (Ontario, CA), a leading scholar of human enhancement technologies and sport.
It’s a regular practice to highlight and celebrate strength in sports, but could we be missing something? Perhaps, says Kristin Graff-Kallevåg, an associate professor at the Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society, where among other things, she studies intersections between vulnerability, faith, and sport, suggesting we may actually find strength in being vulnerable in sport.
After getting cut from every team early in high school, Brian Smith found his sport in track and cross-country and became a successful student athlete at Wake Forest University. Soon after, he joined the staff at Athletes in Action where has been for the past fifteen years. A few years ago Brian authored The Assist, and he has now written a second addition under a new name The Christian Athlete: Glorifying God in Sports.
Melvin ‘Sugar’ Mcaughin earned his nickname by being one best long-range shooters the game of basketball has ever seen, with a silky sweet shot, long before the invention of the three-pointer. Author Vern Wendt tells his story in a new book titled Sweet Shot: The Basketball Life and Legacy of Melvin ‘Sugar’ Mcaughin. The The book describes Sugar’s amazing talent and how his Christian faith helped him through the highs and lows of basketball glory. Sugar’s story will inspire others to pursue their dreams and realize the sweetness of discovering God’s purpose.
It’s a special day on the SportFaithLife podcast, one with a big announcement! The Third Global Congress on Sport and Christianity is set for August 18-21 this year in Cambridge England, and Professor Andy Parker joins us to announce the plans to hold the conference in person! We are so thrilled to partner with Andy and excited to invite all of you to join us in England for this exciting gathering!
Rasheed Flowers play two sports at the NCAA Division I level, so it’s no surprise that he found his identity in sport and sport performance. But early on, due to his Christian faith and connection with sport ministry organizations like AIA and FCA, Rasheed knew identity in sport was a losing proposition. Now a doctoral student at the University of Kentucky, Rasheed is building on this experience in his research studying the effects of sports ministry involvement for African-American college football players at the highest level in the South Eastern Conference.
Dr. Clement Fasan, a sport management teacher, researcher and man of deep faith is convening The Africa Conference on Christianity and Sport at Lagos State University in Nigeria, February 1-5. We talk with Dr. Fasan about this conference and invite all to join the conference online through the link on the SFL website.
Ever wonder if Jesus played sports? Well, we do too. In these episodes, Brian and Chad play with the idea of Jesus playing sports. We picked 6 sports to explore one at time, asking ourselves what about the sport speaks to humanity in unique ways? What are the goods inherent in the sport? We do bring a caution or two, but mainly we celebrate sport by imagining Jesus in uniform.
Ever wonder if Jesus played sports? Well, we do too. In these episodes, Brian and Chad play with the idea of Jesus playing sports. We picked 6 sports to explore one at time, asking ourselves what about the sport speaks to humanity in unique ways? What are the goods inherent in the sport? We do bring a caution or two, but mainly we celebrate sport by imagining Jesus in uniform.
Ever wonder if Jesus played sports? Well, we do too. In these episodes, Brian and Chad play with the idea of Jesus playing sports. We picked 6 sports to explore one at time, asking ourselves what about the sport speaks to humanity in unique ways? What are the goods inherent in the sport? We do bring a caution or two, but mainly we celebrate sport by imagining Jesus in uniform.
Ever wonder if Jesus played sports? Well, we do too. In these episodes, Brian and Chad play with the idea of Jesus playing sports. We picked 6 sports to explore one at time, asking ourselves what about the sport speaks to humanity in unique ways? What are the goods inherent in the sport? We do bring a caution or two, but mainly we celebrate sport by imagining Jesus in uniform.
Ever wonder if Jesus played sports? Well, we do too. In these episodes, Brian and Chad play with the idea of Jesus playing sports. We picked 6 sports to explore one at time, asking ourselves what about the sport speaks to humanity in unique ways? What are the goods inherent in the sport? We do bring a caution or two, but mainly we celebrate sport by imagining Jesus in uniform.
Ever wonder if Jesus played sports? Well, we do too. In these episodes, Brian and Chad play with the idea of Jesus playing sports. We picked 6 sports to explore one at time, asking ourselves what about the sport speaks to humanity in unique ways? What are the goods inherent in the sport? We do bring a caution or two, but mainly we celebrate sport by imagining Jesus in uniform.
Would you like your athletes to be more resilient, on and off the field? Grit Leadership teachers leaders to communicate in better ways, focusing on process over outcome, and delivering feedback with high expectations, yet in a warm, relationship-focused way. Grit Leadership coach and Christian school athletic director Kevin Broene shares how Grit leadership has transformed the way he leads his athletes and coaches.
How does a catholic church historian get interested in sport? Much like many of us Dries Vanysacker grew up riding his bike and playing games with a ball. This boyhood love, together with is academic training as a church historian, has formed a line of work which documents and investigates sport and the catholic church, past and present, and has made Dries an expert of the history of sport and catholic faith in Europe and beyond.
Injuries happen to all of us, sometimes in sports. Sport psychologists like Diane Wiese-Bjornstal have studied the social factors that relate to physical activity injury risk and recovery for years, but now her research is focused on something from her own Christian faith and athletic experience, something called religiosity. Diane shares her in-depth knowledge of the literature and offers wonderful advice to athletes and leaders in sports.
There’s nothing quite like living in community. With his wife and children, Will Whitmore lives chaplaincy from sun up to sundown at Mercersburg Academy, a boarding school in Southern Pennsylvania, USA. The immersive experience allows pastor Whitmore to connect with high school age students in all areas of life, including sports. While Will serves as the School Minister and teacher of history and religion, he is also completing a PhD focused on sport chaplaincy in elite sports settings.
Michael Jones felt a nudge from the Holy Spirit. In response, he finished his doctoral degree, kept coaching basketball, and wrote a book. The book explores the symbolic connection between the sport of basketball and faith. Michael is a practitioner, on the court every day, trying to better understand both his sport and faith, and to have a motivating impact through his coaching and ministry.
Chaplaincy has become part of the DNA of UK sports. Chaplains are now part of clubs at every level, for players with all abilities, in every sport. Growing this mission are pastors and chaplaincy experts Warren Evans and Matt Baker who serve as senior leaders for Sports Chaplaincy UK. Together they are expanding the reach of chaplains into new arenas, and matching those with gifts and desires to serve as chaplains to an appropriate sports club – training them to be “expressions of God’s love and compassion in every community called sport.”
A young athlete sat on a bus in England and dared to tell a younger athlete that he followed Jesus, and that made all the difference. That young listener was Graham Daniels, who since has done it all in UK football. He’s played professionally, been a coach and manager, and was a broadcaster for BBC radio. Today, Graham is the Director of Football at Cambridge United Football Club, and is also the General Director for Christians in Sport, a vibrant ministry of 40 years whose purpose is to reach the world of sport for Christ.
Though most will say that sport builds character, the evidence is far more mixed. Professor Sarah Schnitker of Baylor University studies personality and social psychology, focusing on how things like religion and even sport facilitate or hinder human character. Sarah shares the results of her research thus far, and dives deeply into the rarely studied virtue of patience, making applications to health, sport, faith, and meaning in life.
Northern Ireland’s Drew Gibson is a fan of sports. He follows Ulster Rugby and the Northern Ireland football (soccer) club, so it makes sense that’s he never really heard of American football player Tim Tebow or about his attempted comeback. But as a pastor and practical theologian, Drew engages in culture in a very intentional way, including exploring a coherent theological approach to sport. Join us for Drew’s thoughtful and theologically rich exploration of sport, and his reflections on Tim Tebow, Sabbath, and much more.
Tim Tebow is trying to resurrect his NFL career. This offseason, the now 33-year-old Tebow surprised the sports world by earning a tryout with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars in his home state for Florida. But this time, the Heisman trophy winning quarterback is trying to make the team as tight end, a position he hasn’t played since high school. Brian and Chad discuss the chances of Tebow’s success, the polarized reaction to his attempt, and how a person known as much for Christian faith as football is impacting the world in a new way.
This last year was no fun for athletic directors. It was a year of checking Covid 19 data, interpreting ever changing policies, developing protocols, testing athletes, enforcing masks and distancing, and delivering bad news. Hope College AD Tim Schoonveld is no exception. He recalls a year he’d like to forget, but along the way remembers the kingdom mission of the Gospel and the joy of sport.
The 3rd Global Congress on Sport and Christianity is set for August 18-21, 2022 at Ridley Hall in Cambridge, UK. But though over, the 2nd congress continues to add to the conversation. Building on the work of Bernard Suits in his famous book on play and games featuring the grasshopper as the main character, Brian and Chad discuss contributions by presenters and authors on play and its place in sport, faith and life. The articles previewed in this podcast will be part of a special issue of the Christian Scholars Review coming out later in 2021.
By day Ashley Null is an Anglican priest and scholar specializing in the theological notebooks of reformer Thomas Cranmer – and by night, he’s a chaplain to the most elite Olympic athletes providing as he describes, “Cranmer for jocks.” Elite athletes have to earn their worth, and this performance based identity can trickle into their spiritual lives. In his storytelling and lyrical way, Null reminds them where there’s fear, love can’t grow. Our efforts in life and sport are not to try to get something we don’t have, but to give away and express what we’ve been given.
No matter where’s he’s been in the world, the words win, build, and send have been central to the mission and work of Dean Bouzeos. Dean is currently Director of Operations for Athletes in Action, a ministry organization based in Xenia, Ohio known for using the visible platform of sport to win people for Christ, build them up in faith, and send disciples of Jesus Christ into their spheres of influence to make a difference. Dean shares the evolution of AIA and describes the organization’s growth and goals for a new generation of athletes.
A single question asked of Brad Kenney on a soccer field prompted a 20 plus year calling into sport ministry. Reverend Brad Kenney is the Chaplain for the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer USA and founder and executive director of Soccer Chaplains United, an organization created to grow sports chaplaincy in soccer communities, including for coaches and officials, in the US and beyond. Through his stories Brad describes the unique work of a sports chaplain at an elite sport level and passes on the humble wisdom he has learned from his mentors and years of faithful practice from the touchline.
Why would a self-described non-athlete and atheist write a book about Christian women and sports ministry? We put that question to Annie Blazer, an anthropologist of religion and author of Playing for God: Evangelical Women and the Unintended Consequences of Sports Ministry. Annie shares her story and the sometimes unexpected discoveries of her study. Annie raises good questions for us all to explore together as we journey forward in sport and faith.
In a quickly changing world, families and communities need something to rally around, and Brazilian pastor, author, and sport enthusiast Alexandre Borges de Magalhães believes sport has positive a role to play. Alexandre works at home in Brazil and though his broad connections across numerous countries to draw out the virtues of sport for youth and families. His rich Christian vision of the integrated human being encourages all of us to play sport to reach human fullness.
Play Like a Champion Today is a youth sport organization that sees great value in sport. The non-profit organization is leading a worldwide effort to promote a youth sports culture of opportunity, fun, and character development for all children. With deep roots in her Catholic faith, former gymnast, Notre Dame football cheerleader, and current PLCT program director Kristin Sheehan articulates the organization’s underlying theology and justice-oriented approach – helping all children to play like and be, a true champion.
Veteran FCA leader and sport team chaplain Roger Lipe recounts how he entered the world of sport ministry with little knowhow, but instead with a love of sport and a genuine desire to love and serve athletes where they are. Now a quarter century later, Roger shares his learned wisdom on a weekly blog to hundreds of sport chaplains around the world and has written 14 books to help mentor the next generation of team chaplains and life coaches. Join us for our chat with Roger, a natural relationship builder with knack for know what to say, and what not to say, when connecting with all types of coaches and athletes.
Lace up your skates and join us for pond hockey with Matt Hoven, Professor of Catholic Religious Education at St. Joseph’s College at the University of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. When teaching sport and faith, Matt probes far beyond simple connections, choosing instead to thoughtfully dissect both the turmoil and joy that sport has to offer, then reunite them as central practices for individuals and communities. In this episode Matt explains the rituals of religion and sport and how each can uniquely contribute to human flourishing. Quoting Pope Pius XXII and Father Bauer of hockey coaching fame, Matt urges us to always use technique, but let the Spirit prevail.
The famous ESPN 30 for 30 documentary The Two Escobars describes Colombia soccer by its connection to drug cartels, corruption, and violence. Christian Union Soccer Club founder Marcos Wittig tells his own Colombian soccer story, but with a much better ending. In this episode Marcos describes how a small soccer club in Colombia grew into a Gospel spreading mission reaching tens of thousands of young soccer players and their families. The amazing story continues today, and Marcos describes it with humility and gratitude, and invites all of us to Colombia to experience it for ourselves.
Tee it up! Tracy Hanson was a standout NCAA student athlete at San Jose State University and from there played 15 seasons as a professional golfer on the LPGA tour and around the world. After retirement Tracy began to explore the anxiety and unhappiness that plagued her professional life, leading her to come to terms with the harm and abuse she experienced as a child and young athlete. Tracy’s life story of sport and faith is one of redemption and hope and has led her to a new ministry helping athletes of all sports who have experienced similar trauma. Join us for this inspiring conversation with Tracy!
Don’t know much about Dr. Andrew Parker? He calls himself unremarkable, but he’s not. Dr. Parker has traveled a unique path, combining his expertise in criminal justice, research, and sport with a Christian faith driven heart to help the most vulnerable. Beyond his distinguished career studying the sport-faith connection and sport chaplaincy, he’s a wonderfully modest person with great insight. And, he’s got a secret to share!
When signing children up for sports programs, people always say that “sports build character.” However, it is obvious to those who play and study sports that that character is not always positive. In this episode, Dr. Bolt and Dr. Carlson talk to Andrew Meyer, associate professor at Baylor University, about the character of sport. Andy Meyer’s speciality revolves around the idea of Muscular Christianity and how many athletes, like Lance Armstrong, embody that ideal (or fail to). As Dr. Meyer says, “sport is what you make of it.”
