Resources
Book Cheraser’s Journey- Football to Faith
The journey to faith through a Christian based football club.
Cheraser’s Journey is a fictional book, written by Paul Dakin, about a spiritual searcher who becomes a Christian through contact with a church based football club. It follows his journey to faith as he is challenged by the example he sees from his Christian team mates. But his own addictions and the difficulty he finds relating to Church culture means it is not an easy path. The book can be found at www.lulu.com or a direct link to the three available formats can be found at http://www.lulu.com/browse/search.php?fListingClass=0&fSearch=cheraser%27s+journey
Facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Cherasers-Journey/163716623725421
Posted in Resources
CCPAS (The Churches’ Child Protection Advisory Service)
Ensuring effective safeguarding during Sports Activities
Note from Sports Ministries UK: There are few, if any, issues that should be of more concern to sports clubs than the protection and welfare of the children in their care. To do a good job in this area is essential for all sports clubs – especially for those which have a distinctively Christian character. We are fortunate that CCPAS has developed expertise in helping sports clubs make sure that they are doing a good job and that they are meeting all the relevant requirements. CCPAS is a Christian organisation, with much experience of advising churches and organisations including sports groups and clubs. It is fully aware of all the latest child protection legislation and regulations.
The attachment below has been written by Simon Bass, Chief Executive Officer at CCPAS. If you require any further information about child protection, or would like help developing policies and procedures for your sports ministry, then please contact CCPAS on 0845 120 4550 or info@ccpas.co.uk. For more information about CCPAS, see www.ccpas.co.uk.
Posted in Resources
Celebrity Speakers
The Lighthouse House Agency represent a number of high profile Christian people who are great at sharing their Christian testimonies.
Posted in Resources
Enigma Sports Photography
Contact Martin Bateman for quality Sports Photos
Office: 01524 590410
Mobile: 07889 949612
Email: martinb@enigma-sports.com
Football Ministry Resource
Football Ministry Book: Mark Blythe of Sportsforce has written a book about how to run a Church Football team, the pitfalls to avoid!
The book aims to help churches that run football teams for outreach. It is based on the experiences Mark Blythe has had heading up the Molesey Community Church football outreach for over 10 years. Every mistake has been made from forgetting water bottles in the summer, to leaving the kit behind, to not confirming a game and the opposition not being there having travelled to their pitch! To learn from these mistakes and more, pick up a copy from www.veriteshop.co.uk (or call 01903 241975) for just £10.
Sections on evangelism ideas and Football Association requirements are a must for all Christian team managers whether just starting out or an experienced football warrior for Christ.
Title “FOOTBALL 2 FOOTBALL MINISTRY 3″ ie Football is good but footy ministry is even better!
Contact Mark on mark@mccfc.org.uk
Posted in Resources
Football Ministry Training in London
Ambassadors in Sport are staging 5 training days for folks interested in learning more about Football Ministry. All days have a similar format and are spread around London to make travelling easier. We would also love experienced football ministry practitioners to come and share their secrets and mistakes with others so we can all learn from each other!
The pdf attached below is the booking form and provides all the information required.
For more info contact Steve Read on sr@ais-uk.org
Dates & Locations 2012
Saturdays, 9am – 5pm
14th April – South West London (Morden)
21st April – West London (Ealing)
5th May – East London (Stratford)
12th May – South East London (Bromley)
19th May – London Soccerdome near the London O2 (including watching the Champions League Final.)
God & Sport Conference
God and Sport Conference
St Mellitus College is running a day conference on the theology of sport on Saturday, 28th April 2012. With the Olympics in mind, we want to enable people to think through the meaning of sport in light of the Christian faith. An online bookings page has been set up and it will be really good if you can tell people about the day and also distribute the link below though your networks and blogs.
http://www.htb.org.uk/whats-on/events/god-and-sport-conference
More Than Gold Medals & Trophies
More Than Gold Medals & Trophies – Brilliant to make your events that extra bit special and remain in the memory every time the winners see their medals and trophies. For tournaments, festivals and fun events.
Medals
Special Gold, Silver & Bronze Medals with the More Than Gold logo in the centre and matching Gold, Silver & Bronze lanyards with the medals.
Cost £1.75 each
Trophies
Gold 5” with More Than Gold logo centre £7.50
Gold 6” with More Than Gold logo centre £8.00
Gold 7” with More Than Gold logo centre £8.50
Engraved plates on the front if required £3.25 each
Delivery Costs
Up to 10KG by Courier £8.50 (Approx 10 Trophies & 200 medals or 300 Medals max)
Up to 25KG by Courier £11.50 (approx 25 Trophies & 500 medals or 800 medals max)
Over 25KG on application
Delivery target 10 working days
Orders by email to:
Mark Blythe mark@mccfc.org.uk
By post to: Mark Blythe, 1 Merton Way, West Molesey, Surrey KT8 1PG
Cheques payable to “Sportsforce International Ltd” in full please.
Any questions do contact by email preferably or call Mark on 07885 778501
Sportsforce international – serving Churches through sport
Run The Race Daily Readings
Run The Race is a collection of daily readings compiled especially for the 2012 Games. The collection has been approved as a More than Gold resource for the Games.
The daily readings are now available as a book and are suitable for personal reading or for ideas for youth and church groups. In addition to the book, the readings are being posted online over the forthcoming weeks in the lead up to the Olympics and then again daily during the actual Games.
Run the Race embraces the excitement of the Games whilst encouraging Christians in their “race of faith”. All readings have an athletics theme and regularly uncover the links between the many NT verses and Greek athletic culture of the day. It leads us to look unto Jesus Christ who has already completed the race and wants to lead us to fulfil every potential for our lives.
If you would like more information about Run the Race, please visit www.runtheracedaily.com
Email: info@runtheracedaily.com
Website: www.runtheracedaily.com
Follow: www.facebook.com/runtherace2012
Sport, Spirituality and Social Identity: Day Conference
Sport, Spirituality and Social Identity: Day Conference
Sports Ministries UK, in association with the Centre for Sport, Spirituality
and Religion (CSSR) at the University of Gloucestershire, is pleased to
announce the second annual gathering of the Sports Ministries Think Tank
(SMiTT) which will take place on Wednesday 2nd May 2012.
The event will be hosted by the CSSR at the University’s Oxstalls Campus in
Gloucester and will take the form of a day conference entitled: ‘Sport,
Spirituality and Social Identity’. Guest speakers will be Dominic Erdozain
(Kings College London) and Nick Watson (York St John University).
If you wish to attend the conference then please complete and return the
attached booking form or register by contacting Andrew Parker:
Professor Andrew Parker, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Gloucestershire
Tel: +44 (0) 1242 715387 E-mail: aparker@glos.ac.uk
Booking Form below
Sport, Spirituality and Social Identity [Booking Form May 2012]
Sports Books
See reviews of 200 sports and sports ministry books at
http://www.veritesport.org/?page=bookreviews
New books at http://www.veritesport.org/?page=Newreview
Click link for reviews
The three new sports books Stuart Weir would recommend most highly are
<http://www.veritesport.org/?page=bookreviews&brcat=rugger&brid=198>Jonny
My Autobiography, Jonny Wilkinson, London, Headline, 2011
<http://www.veritesport.org/?page=bookreviews&brcat=othersport&brid=190>Who was Hurricane Higgins?
Tony Francis, London, Hodder and Stoughton, 2011
<http://www.veritesport.org/?page=bookreviewbytitle&byt=a&brid=185>A life too short
(The tragedy of Robert Enke, Ronald Reng, London, Yellow Jersey, 2011
My Olympic book recommendation is
<http://www.veritesport.org/?page=bookreviews&brcat=OG&brid=183>The 100 greatest Olympians and Paralympians
Nick Callow, London, Carlton, 2011. ISBN 978-1-84732-701-7
If you are looking for books with a Christian angle
<http://www.veritesport.org/?page=bookreviewbytitle&byt=s&brid=187>Sports Theology
(Playing Inside Out), Greg S. Smith, Indianapolis, Dog Ear Publishing, 2010
<http://www.veritesport.org/?page=bookreviewbytitle&byt=b&brid=188>Beyond the Gold
Bryan Mason, Milton Keynes, Authentic, 2011.
<http://www.veritesport.org/?page=bookreviewbytitle&byt=k&brid=194>Keeping faith in the team
The chaplain’s story, Stuart Wood, London, Darton. Longman and Todd, 2011
<http://www.veritesport.org/?page=bookreviews&brcat=hist&brid=192>The Inspirational William McGregor
Peter Lupson and John Lerwill, Birmingham, A & J L Solutions, 2011
Stocking fillers – Books I Like!
<http://www.veritesport.org/?page=bookreviews&brcat=spother&brid=193>Sport in “quotes”
Lewes, Ammonite Press, 2011
<http://www.veritesport.org/?page=bookreviews&brcat=othersport&brid=196>Usain Bolt
The story of the World’s fastest man, Steven Downes, Sports Books, Cheltenham 2011
You must know someone who would like..
<http://www.veritesport.org/?page=bookreviews&brcat=cricx&brid=173> Duckworth Lewis: The Method and the men behind it
Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis, Cheltenham, SportsBooks, 2011. ISBN
9781907534004
ALL BOOKS REVIEWED BY SPORTS MINISTRY SPECIALIST AND JOURNALIST STUART WEIR
Posted in Resources
Sports Chaplaincy Conference
Sports Chaplaincy Conference run by Sports Chaplaincy UK (funny that!)
Thursday 24th May, 2012
At the Oxstall Campus, University of Gloucester.
See the attachment or call 0800 181 4051 for more details
Sports Chaplaincy UK
SCORE RELAUNCHES AS “SPORTS CHAPLAINCY UK” IN OLYMPIC YEAR
Contact details: admin@sportschaplaincy.co.uk 0800 181 4051
With the Olympic year 2012 now upon us SCORE, the Christian sports chaplaincy charity, have announced some significant changes within the organisation. From January 1st SCORE has changed its name to SPORTS CHAPLAINCY UK, and have on the 18th Jan. appointed Richard Gamble as their Chief Executive Officer.
SCORE began back in 1990 under the leadership of John Boyers when he sensed God’s call to develop chaplaincy in sport. Since then, the network has grown significantly with over 200 sports chaplains across the UK. “With that growth domestically and an expanding influence internationally, we felt the need to rebrand with a name that really states who we are and what we do,” said Matt Baker, Pastoral Support Director in English Football.
The Sports Chaplaincy UK trustees unanimously agreed that Richard Gamble be appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the charity. Richard, Matt & Graham Locking, (Director of Chaplaincy to Horse Racing) presented an exciting “Plan for the future” which will modernise and professionalise the charity as it looks towards the next 20+ years of sports chaplaincy. “We are convinced with the increasing demands and challenges in professional sport, we need to ensure that the chaplaincy provided by Sports Chaplaincy UK is consistent and excellent”, said Richard Gamble. Richard is a successful entrepreneur and a club chaplain at Leicester City FC.
The staff and trustees wish to thank and honour John Boyers, the founder of the charity, for all he has done over the last 22 years. John will play a significant role in the next few months as he puts his considerable experience to use in heading up chaplaincy to the Athletes Village at the London Olympics & Paralympics. However, he also acknowledges that now is the time for change,
“I sensed last year that it was time for others to pick up the baton. Now is a time for new momentum and I believe that 2012 will be a springboard for new impetus for Sports Chaplaincy UK with Richard’s appointment. I support Richard and the other members of staff wholeheartedly, and ask you – individuals, churches, fellowships and other sporting organisations – to stand with them so that this significant ministry can become the movement God intends it to be for the next several years”.
Please do pray for us and for all the sports chaplains involved in this work as we move into a very exciting stage in the life of sports chaplaincy in the UK and Ireland.
Sports Ministry Book
Beyond the Gold
What every Church needs to know about Sports Ministry.
Beyond the Gold contains a wealth of practical suggestions for ways in which the local church can effectively use sports ministry to share the good news of Jesus. Written by Bryan Mason.
Available online at www.morethangoldresources.org.uk
Heaps of really useful tips and experience and a snip at £7.99!
Posted in Resources
Sports Ministry Book – Sports Theology (Playing Inside Out)
Sports Theology (Playing Inside Out), Greg S. Smith, Indianapolis, Dog Ear Publishing, 2010. ISBN: 978-160844-3-338
Review by Stuart Weir (Verite Sport Email:stuart@veritesport.org)
This is an outstanding book – one of the best I have read for years. It makes a serious contribution to understanding sport from a Christian perspective. It has 176 pages in ten chapters.
An early quote sets the scene: “Christian athletes have personal value, not from their own accomplishments, but because God loves them so much that he sacrificed his only Son”. The result is that “The Christian athlete is free from the need of temporal approval or the accolades from individual performance. Spiritually, these athletes are satisfied by God’s love and have plenty to give to the team”.
The author states: “The premise of this book is that Christianity can help athletic performance”. Don’t react negatively to that statement. It is as far as it can be from any sense of “God made me win”. What he is saying is rather that a Christian athlete who understands that his significance is not based on their performance in the game is free to compete without stress.
A good example of how he argues against any kind of performance driven identity is: “Athletes who allow their performance to ‘mean everything’ are setting themselves up to perform out of fear. Christian athletes, on the other hand, know that their value does not come from performance. They know that God loves them unconditionally and that their value is demonstrated by the sacrifice of Christ on their behalf. They perform to glorify their value, not earn it”. And again “Christian athletes are motivated to glorify God through performance; they are not forced (driven) to perform”.
In the UK there has been a concern among sports coaches that a player who becomes a Christian will lose his motivation. Smith nails that one too: “It would be a mistake to think that Christian athletes perform with less determination because they are pursuing spiritual fulfilment”.
He uses the example of a golfer standing over a three-foot put, arguing that a three-foot putt is mechanically no more difficult if it is to win a tournament than in a practice round. It is rather that the pressure of what it means makes it seem harder. This is where the Christian has an extra dimension: “The Christian athlete plays with a sense of peace and contentment that does not rely on the outcome of a putt or any other play or shot. They are complete and fulfilled through God’s love no matter the outcome”.
We may be familiar with the concept of playing for an audience of one. Smith takes this a stage further as we are invited to understand that “Christian athletes do not just perform knowing that God is watching them; they perform with the Holy Spirit in them”.
To sum up the thesis of the book is that for the Christian athlete:
Winning is not about coming in first but rather is about competing as a representative of Christ:
Playing with the right sports theology allows athletes to see performance for what it really is and therefore allows them to play the game;
Sports theology enables athletes to understand that they are created in God’s image, which changes their view of themselves, performance and life.
This review does not do justice to the book. Get it and read it!
Posted in Resources
Sports Ministry Resources
Christian Venues: Looking for a venue to take a small or large group for a fun team building day or a residential experience? Carroty Wood (Kent), Frontier Centre (Northants), Halls Green (Kent), Whithaugh Park (Scottish Borders) are run by Christian outdoor activity charity RockUK and they offer many activities or just a facility for you to do your own stuff. Contact www.rockuk.org
Resources for Church Football Leagues: Mark Blythe has held every position whilst serving the longest running church football league in the country (the Southern Area Christian Football League – www.sacfl.co.uk): Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Fixtures Secretary, Information Secretary, Disciplinary Committee member, Results Secretary, Prayer Co-ordinator, Awards Night Organiser, Cup Final Organiser, Procedures writer…. If you need help starting or running a Church League do make contact. Email: mark@mccfc.org.uk
Christians in Sport offer a wide range of resources, books, tapes etc. Check out the website www.christiansinsport.org.uk
Posted in Resources
The Inspirational William McGregor
The Inspirational William McGregor, by Peter Lupson and John Lerwill, Birmingham, A & J L Solutions, 2011
The book whose subtitle is Father of The Football League and all football leagues, tells the story of the contribution to the development of Association Football of William McGregor (1846-1911).
Review by Stuart Weir (Verite Sport):
McGregor was a Scot who came to Birmingham where he opened a drapery business. Amazingly he had no background in football but was soon arranging the opening hours of his shop to fit kick-off times!
He became a committee member at Aston Villa and eventually the chairman. As Villa chairman he wrote a letter to other top clubs, noting: “Every year it is becoming more and more difficult for football clubs of any standing to meet their friendly engagements and even arrange friendly matches. The consequence is that at the last moment, through Cup-tie interference, clubs are compelled to take on teams who will not attract the public”.
He then proposed that “ten or twelve of the most prominent clubs in England combine to arrange home and away fixtures each season…This combination might be known as the Association Football Union”.
The first games in the new Football League took place on 8 Sepember 1888. He became the first chairman of the Football League.
McGregor was a committed Christian, involved in the Congregational Church in Wheeler Street for over 40 years. At his funeral service the Reverend W. G. Percival, said that he had always found McGregor to be “a man of absolutely unblemished personal character, and one who had always been a kind and generous supporter of the work of the church.” The best thing about him “was not so much the genial, kindly, honest sportsman, but it was the Christian behind it all.”
One example of his integrity was his stand against sham-amateurism which led to the introduction of professional football in a legal and above-board way.
We owe a great debt to the authors for researching and publishing the story of this fine Christian pioneer of the Football League.
Note: Peter Lupson has also written Thank God for Football and
Posted in Resources