‘Ten funerals and one wedding every day’
Jonny Reid
Five-time Olympic chaplain Ashley Null describes being a chaplain with athletes you support at the Olympics as being like ‘attending ten funerals and one wedding every day’.
He explains: ‘In sport, every person’s thrill of victory comes at the cost of many, many other people’s agony of defeat. That is the nature of competition.’ It is in this brutal pastoral environment that members of the Christians in Sport team have the privilege to minister, not only around major events but week in, week out. They walk alongside these athletes in their moments of indescribable joy and the more common moments of disappointment. Outside of the major events where there is usually official chaplaincy, supporting potential Olympic athletes has this year involved countless Zoom Bible studies, WhatsApps, and one member of staff even living in a house with three athletes and being their in-house chef for the British Athletics Championships! Walking with those for whom their job and funding may be on the line if they miss out on qualification is incredibly draining, and it has proven so important to keep opening the Bible with these athletes and pointing them to the secure and solid identity they have in Christ.
‘Get off your couch for the sake of Christ’
Jonny Reid
Christians
in Sport (CiS)
is encouraging
Christians to return to their sports clubs as
lockdown measures ease across the UK.
Since March 2019 the majority of amateur
sport has been under restrictions and since
November 2020 all amateur sport clubs have
been banned
from
training or competing
together. With the stay-at-home order eased
on 29 March, outdoor sports facilities have
reopened and organised sports have been able
to
resume
in England. Similar
restrictions
have been eased in other countries within the
UK. Gyms and indoor sports facilities are all
planned to open again in the next few months.
Field of Dreams
A Christian in sport
Jonny Reid
What does it mean to be a Christian in sport? It’s a question you may well be asking after reading our columns this year.
Have a look at Colossians 4.2-6. What these verses give us is a principle we call Pray Play Say. It might be a nice slogan and fairly easy to remember, but it also takes us right to the heart of our vision to reach the world of sport for Christ. You could simply say that a Christian in sport is someone who seeks to pray, play and say in the sporting context where God has placed them.
