Brian Glynn, Communications Officer
Sharing faith over food is one of the best ways to build friendship and get stuck into the big questions of life. 50 years ago, Christians in Sport’s beginnings involved organising dinners to share the gospel, and the story is similar today across university campuses in the UK.
We caught up with students Rory and Jemima, university group leaders in Bath and Nottingham, to hear their stories of sharing Jesus over a meal this spring.
Rory
For Rory rugby is a huge part of university life. Now in his second year studying Sport and Exercise Science, he found from day one there was opportunity to represent Christ in his new team.
“I knew from Sports Plus that university sport might be a challenging environment. But I made my stand early on, speaking to the social sec early about my faith and the boys have really respected that. On a night out now, they’ll almost look out for me and step in if someone’s pressurising me to do something I don’t want to do!”
This led to more openness to faith within the squad of 25 players, and other Christian players within that context has made faith more plausible.
“My church, Grace Church Bath, is really set up to reach sportspeople in our city. We meet on Sunday afternoons as a way to engage with families who are involved in Sunday morning sport. This spring, my homegroup hosted a series of informal dinners at Church based on Alpha’s ‘Why Jesus?’ series, and three of us Christian players invited our teammates to come. I know I can find any excuse to avoid asking someone to these things - I don’t want to make people uncomfortable - but having other Christians in the team kept me accountable and made invites happen rather than just being a nice idea.
“And it wasn’t a complicated invite: we’d been doing life with these boys for two years and you build close bonds training, playing and travelling together. The idea of a meal and conversation is less intimidating than a church service for those who’ve never been before.”
Nine players turned up to the first event, quickly moving from sports chat to questions about faith as the evening went on.
“It was great. Many of the boys had never sat down and talked seriously about Christianity before, I could share with them my experience of following Jesus, and they were able to voice doubts and objections.
“But I wasn’t expecting what happened next. The following week twelve lads arrived, including some who I hadn’t even invited – we had to push two tables together. The third week was the same!
“It was exciting to see the discussion shifting from simple objections to deeper, more personal doubts. Many could see the evidence of the resurrection, accepting the logical consistency of Christianity, but didn’t know if they could take the next step of trusting it for themselves.”
These dinners took place towards the end of term, and soon Rory and others in the team are heading away from Bath on placement years.
“We’ve seen a few players come to church over the course of the year, and for many I see this as an important first step. I trust God will continue the work started around those dinner tables, but it’s a challenge to stay connected. It’s amazing how God can use the relationships you make in sport to create space for honest conversations; I’ve seen more openness to hearing about Jesus than I expected.”
Jemima
Jemima, a 2nd year Chemist and rugby player at Nottingham, wanted to lead by example when encouraging others in her Christians in Sport group to run ‘dialogue dinners.’
“My co-leader Sam and I have been bugging the group to organise meals for teammates, and I thought why not put on a bigger event run by all the girls in the group so we could invite more widely. I’d seen that the Exeter uni group had hosted a dinner in March on Instagram, so I called their group leader, Millie, and she gave us some great tips on creating name cards and setting them out, making it an occasion so guests understand that you really care about them.”
The Nottingham girls invited across the different sports they played, and 17 guests squeezed into Jemima’s kitchen and living room.
“We had girls from athletics, hockey, korfball, netball, rugby, tennis and swimming – it was amazing, seeing the girls mix and chat to their friends as well as those they hadn’t met before.
“Laura Murdoch from Christians in Sport came along and, after the dinner, read from Matthew 28, giving a short reflection. Then we had time to reflect and write questions on pieces of paper so they could be asked anonymously.
“A big theme was asking where God is when sport goes wrong. With exams approaching and seasons coming to an end, lots of girls were wrestling with questions of identity. I think when the rhythm of training every day changes, you have more time to start thinking about who you really are. For the Christians in the group, it was a chance to share how sport and faith in Jesus go hand in hand, how it gives us freedom where university grades, team selection and performance can feel like everything.”
As the evening continued, the conversation didn’t divert from faith and deeper questions on suffering surfaced.
"Laura led the discussion brilliantly, but lots of girls chipped in as well. It gave everyone the chance to contribute. It was encouraging to see that our friends really want to know answers to these questions.”
Since the dinner, Jemima reflects on the encouragements:
“For many of us the biggest challenge is opening up conversations about Jesus, and almost every girl in the group invited a friend, so it’s great that the girls have been encouraged in their desire to do this together. There are no wild headlines off the back of the dinner, but a number took gospels away with them after the evening and a couple have come to church off the back of it.
“Overall, I think it was a really good, normal, thing to do. A lot of us want to do something similar next term. Sometimes all it takes is an invitation and a willingness to start the conversation and see what God does with it.”
A rich mission field where students are boldy sharing their faith
Stories like these are wonderfully encouraging, seeing students consistently stepping out in faith, sharing the gospel and asking God to work in the lives of their friends.
Staff worker Laura reflects on the joy of supporting students:
"It's such a privilege to help facilitate a dialogue dinner; in the home of a student, meeting their teammates, getting to share Jesus and explore guests’ questions! The conversation usually feels very natural and often people are really open, with many taking away a gospel to read for themselves at the end of the evening."
It’s a joy and a privilege to continue supporting Christian students as they grow in their conviction to serve God in sport, develop a heart to see their teammates come to know Christ and become those who lead others to do the same. Our prayer is that God continues to work through students, boldly sharing faith over food, as He has done over the 50 years of our ministry.
Looking to share Jesus with sportspeople during the summer of sport? The Sports Mission Pack has everything you need to do that well, click here to find out more.