Brian Glynn, Communications Officer
It’s been another fantastic summer, where across our 10 sports camps, over 1,000 young people attended and heard the gospel. This year also saw the launch of a brand new venue in England: Denstone Sports Plus.
Sports Plus is serious sporting action, for the serious young sportsperson; where they can connect their passion for sport to the good news of Jesus. It creates opportunities for volunteer leaders and coaches to serve, grow in gospel conviction, and fulfil their passion for sharing the gospel.
Each week offers specialist coaching across a range of sports, alongside focused Bible teaching.
Our lunchtime Bible studies and evening meetings focused on Matthew’s gospel, on the theme of ‘Messiah’. We explored the pressures and temptations of idolatry present in today's world of sport, and invited the young people to investigate Jesus' identity as the true Messiah, and what He came to do.
‘New Life, Same Sport’ was our morning meeting theme, as we looked at 2 Corinthians 5:17-21. The aim of these application-focused meetings, was to help the young people understand what a new life of worship and witness, found in Christ, looks like in their ‘old world’ of competitive sport.
Check out one of our short films from each of the morning meetings:
As we celebrate 50 years of Christians in Sport this year, it is encouraging to reflect on the growth we’ve seen in Sports Plus, which has been at the heart of this work for over 30 years. This has been made possible by a growing team of volunteers; around 650 people have served as Team Leaders, Coaches, Trainee Leaders, Development Squad and Support Staff this summer.
There’s every reason to keep pushing to grow Sports Plus, as participation in competitive sport has continued to increase in the UK. Crucially, the investment in young adults enables more opportunities for them to grow in their understanding of the gospel, and develop confidence and leadership skills.
It was brilliant to have over 100 young adults on our Development Squad programme for 18-20 year-olds this summer, with a further 58 serving as Trainee Leaders or Coaches. From Development Squad, right through to Head Coach, all volunteers have their own Bible training programmes. This is part of our leadership development pathway, which includes specific application to their context of living, and how they can speak for Jesus within their sport throughout the year.
We’d love you to join us in praising God for Sports Plus this summer, and praying that He would continue to grow this work in the years to come.