This translation is not completely accurate as it was automatically generated by a computer.
Powered by
A UMNS Feature
By Heather Hahn*
1:15 P.M. EST July 2, 2010
Many families must choose between participation in youth sports leagues
and attendance at church on Sundays. A UMNS photo illustration by
Kathleen Barry.
View in Photo Gallery
Any given weekend, you are more likely to find many American youngsters dressed in a soccer jersey than their Sunday best.
So years ago, the leaders of First United Methodist Church in
Anderson, Ind., decided if these soccer players weren’t coming to
church, they would bring the church to the soccer field.
The congregation transformed some of its land into a community
soccer venue and invited the players and their families to a
contemporary worship service each Saturday evening immediately following
the day’s practice and games.
The field proved a huge draw. Thousands of people used the park each
weekend. But only three or four ever crossed the goal line into
worship.
The church was dealing with a challenge many U.S. congregations now
face. Most “blue laws” restricting Sunday activities and commerce are a
distant memory. On Sunday mornings, stores are open, people are at
work and youth sports leagues are at play. At a time when Sunday is no
longer the national Sabbath, how do churches find a place in families’
busy schedules?
Some pastors say churches need to do more to witness to the
importance of Sunday. Others say churches need to make worship more
passionate and more appealing to children and their families. Still
others seek compromises that balance the competing interests.
The Rev. Taylor Burton-Edwards, a former associate pastor at the
Indiana church, said the church’s soccer experiment left a lasting
impression.
When it comes to weekend sports, he said, “Churches need to pick the team they are playing on.”
Seeking common ground
The Rev. Ken Carter, pastor of Providence United Methodist Church in
Charlotte, N.C., can see the debate from both sides. His daughter
played volleyball throughout her youth, and now plays volleyball at
Huntingdon College, a United Methodist-related school in Montgomery,
Ala.
He doesn’t think churches will get very far by telling those who
participate in Sunday youth sports that “they’ve gone over to the dark
side.”
He knows youth for whom their Christian faith is important, but
because of weekend games and tournaments, they miss significant amounts
of the faith experience during their teen years.
“Churches need to pick the team they are playing on.”
--The Rev. Taylor Burton-Edwards
“I think naming that is important,” he said.
But so is the church accommodating people as best it can. Some years
back, he said, his church designed special confirmation instruction
for a boy who was going to miss almost every weekend class because of
ice hockey.
Keeping the Sabbath holy
In Indiana, Burton-Edwards said church members tried every idea for
evangelism they could think of associated with the soccer field.
“We put fliers in people’s hands; we were hospitable,” he said. “We
did all the right stuff the church-growth people say is going to help
get people into your service, and it just didn’t happen.”
Only about 75 people typically attended the Saturday services in a room that could seat 300.
After about five years, the congregation discontinued the worship
service. However, the soccer field is still a vibrant church ministry.
“It’s a good gift to that community,” said Burton-Edwards, now
director of worship resources at the United Methodist Board of
Discipleship in Nashville, Tenn. “It helps that congregation fulfill
the role all congregations have of being a vital institutional player
in its community for its improvement.”
Still, he doesn’t think having worship at alternative times is likely to be fruitful.
“You can preach against Sunday morning sports … and you will lose."
--The Rev. Jorge Acevedo
“If you think you’re going to be generating disciples out of
alternative worship times, it ain’t necessarily so,” he said. “What you
may just be doing is generating a sense that Sunday doesn’t matter,
that Sabbath doesn’t matter, that Christianity is just where you can
fit it in to your schedule — not that it places any responsibility on
you to make some decisions about things.”
The Bible commands the faithful to keep the Sabbath holy. Christians
are supposed to keep the day separate from worldly
activities.
“We need to get clusters of congregations or districts to say: ‘We
are going to witness for Sunday as the Lord’s Day,’” Burton-Edwards
said. “If that means there’s a conflict with your child’s schedules,
you must decide how you’re going to handle that. But we’re going to
make a public witness for this.”
Bringing passion to worship
The Rev. Jorge Acevedo, lead pastor of the multi-campus Grace
Church, a United Methodist congregation in western Florida, has a
slightly different take.
“You can preach against Sunday morning sports … and you will lose,”
he said. “I don’t think raging against the machine is the appropriate
response. I do think creating the kind of Sunday morning culture where
kids don’t want to miss is the issue.”
The current World Cup fever offers churches one clue on how they
might reach more people, said Mary Dalton, pastor of San Pablo United
Methodist Church in Selma, Calif.
She said many of the world’s professional teams — including her
favorite Mexican team “The Sacred Flock” — have “hymns” that fans
exuberantly sing at matches.
“It’s what the idea of worship should be in many ways,” she said.
“We wonder how we can evangelize and how we can reach out to people.
Well, if we’re jumping up and down in the stands, we should have
worship that does the same thing.”
The passion fans have for the Sacred Flocks, she said, is the same passion churchgoers should have for the Lamb of God.
*Hahn is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News
Service. Amanda Bachus, director of Hispanic resources for United
Methodist Communications, contributed to this report.
News media contact: Heather Hahn, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
About UMC.org
RSS Feed
Press Center
Contact Us