[SuperJon]

One of the big things we've run into here in our high school ministry is students not being able to be fully involved (meaning coming to our weekly gathering every week, going on every trip, etc) because of sports. In our area every sport is year round whether it's volleyball, baseball, or cheerleading. Everyone else in our student ministry department (middle and high school) has the mindset that "it's unfortunate that coaches won't let kids miss a practice on Wednesday for church." As someone who has coached and been around athletics, there's no way that I would let an athlete on my team miss practice for there youth group every single week.

I know the balance that I would ask from students/parents between athletics and church, but I was wondering what everyone else thought before I posted my thoughts. As a parent, what's the balance? As a youth leader, what's the balance?

[Sly Fox]

It is tough to talk about "balance" when you are discussing club/select sports. Because the sheer concept of club/select is to throw everything out of balance. But I digress ...

We determine what sports our kids are going to be involved with based on how it will impact the rest of calendars. If a sport requires us to miss Sunday regularly it is off the table. Wednesdays are a tougher call but my kids are younger and not involved in student ministries yet.

This challenge is why many churches have had to re-evaluate where they place their student ministries focus. Assuming that Wednesdays are "the Show" can be tough when you have a difficulty getting kids into the house.

[SuperJon]

There are even talking about HS coaches during the season letting students miss practice for church.

[Sly Fox]

The was never a problem before schools started putting up lights. Practice was after school and before dinner. So we should blame this all on lights.



Times have obviously changed from when my high school coaches would never dream of scheduling a Wednesday night practice. Yeah, I'm a fossil.

[BJWilliams]

Dr Wheeler, my EVAN 565 professor (and YOUT 520 professor when Jon was in the same class), would often tell stories about how he and his daughter Dana would be doing travel softball and they'd have a tournament where they had to play on Sunday and they caught a lot of flack from people in church about playing on Sunday, but they were able to do a lot of good evangelism with the people that they interacted with at these tournaments.

[Schfourteenteen]

I know the balance that I would ask from students/parents between athletics and church, but I was wondering what everyone else thought before I posted my thoughts. As a parent, what's the balance? As a youth leader, what's the balance?

Sunday mornings were always a no-go for athletics for my family. My parents never really enforced anything on me for Wednesday nights simply because I went to a Christian school at first. By the time I was in high school practices were over at 5:30 so I could make it to our home church youth group. Of course we wasted most of our time playing kickball anyway.

I would think Wednesday afternoon practice solves all problems, but it must be more complicated than that. I'm not a fan of putting a kid in a position where he has to decide between disappointing his coach and missing youth group.

If the schedules don't work out, it becomes the youth leader's duty to reach out and find new ways to keep the athletes involved and growing. Wednesday and Sunday aren't the only days churches can operate. Sports shouldn't run a child's life, but no YL should use this as an excuse for why a kid isn't getting ministered to. The proactive YL who cares more about spiritual growth and less about attendance will come up with creative ways to minister.

I was a part of a second youth group that met on Friday nights - a terrible day for me as I worked at a pizza place through HS. That YL specifically went out of his way to work out a Bible study for those of us who couldn't make it. That Bible study quickly became the one I couldn't miss, because I knew he was running it for me.

[SuperJon]

I sometimes think we have too much going on in churches. We have Sunday morning service, small groups on Sunday nights, youth group on Wednesday nights, a camp each semester, a mission trip in the summer, and a few other events thrown here and there.

At the same time, practices get crazy and so does school. Even kids who get done with practice at 6-6:30 will skip out on youth group because they don't have time to shower or whatever. Or they have homework. Or something. It's not necessarily night practices that are the problem.

My thoughts are that if a sport causes you to miss youth group on Wednesday, you should make Sunday night small groups a priority. Coming to every single event in every single week is a lot to ask for if you're involved with things at school. I hate the thought of telling a kid to pick between church and other things they love. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to ask them to come to one thing each week (either small group or youth group) while they're in season. Kids can make one thing a priority. When they start thinking they have to be at everything they get overwhelmed.

[TDDance234]

We're really shooting to have one uninterrupted hour w/ a kid a week. If that means Sunday morning, great. If that's Wednesday, great. If that means me, or one of other leaders one-on-one with them a week, then great.

We do get caught up with putting all our eggs in the program basket but it just doesn't work. This is a battle that isn't going away, unfortunately. It did open doors for us though. We have a kid who plays baseball and is constantly on the go. We do whatever we can to reach out to the team through him. At the beginning of the season I supplied both the varsity and JV baseball and softball teams with sunflower seeds. All I did was paste the bag w/ our church logo, address and e-mail. I went to every home game I could make it to and established a relationship w/ the coach. Now, I'm welcome in the locker room and able to hold a bible study, on-campus, with any student interested (of course they can't force anyone).

In some aspect, sports are kicking our youth ministries butts. But two can play that game. Yes, it requires more time and effort for me but in the end it will be worth it - when at the end of the season, I've got a few more baseball kids wanting to plug in our ministry because I took some time on their turf.

[jbock13]

Dr Wheeler, my EVAN 565 professor (and YOUT 520 professor when Jon was in the same class), would often tell stories about how he and his daughter Dana would be doing travel softball and they'd have a tournament where they had to play on Sunday and they caught a lot of flack from people in church about playing on Sunday, but they were able to do a lot of good evangelism with the people that they interacted with at these tournaments.

This is a bit off-topic, but my life is an example of this. I work a morning shift at work on Sundays from 6:30 A.M to 2 P.M. Some of the more traditional folks in the church have given me absolute grief for this. Unfortunately, my church doesn't have any Wednesday night or Sunday night services (they are just equipping classes). But I've found those who come by to work on Sundays are probably mostly unsaved people. Somebody needs to be there to tell them about Jesus too. Would Jesus not care about them.

For the record, I still take a Sunday off every once a month to attend church (and during Hollidays). It's not something I like to do but the more I thought about it, the more convinced I was that perhaps I could give God glory through this.

[sporter]

As someone who has only been following Liberty sports and this forum for about a year and a half, this is one of the first forums that I have felt qualified to give an opinion on. With two high school boys who have played sports since they were little and time consuming travel baseball since they were ten, we have had plenty of discussions around the house about the correct balance. My personal opinion, and what I have seen first hand, is that kids and families that are serious about attending church functions can make it happen with some extra efforts. Examples would be going to early church if a game interferes later in the morning, going to Sunday night church when you know you can't get to Wednesday night, etc. Times when our family was not committed at the correct level resulted in weeks of not attending any functions as we had sports excuses but at the times we had the priorities in the right areas, we were always able to get to many functions. While sports may have to take priority because of the team existense, I believe they can both co-exist.

As a side note that may be better placed elsewhere, I want to take a quick second to thank all of the youth leaders that may read this (it appears there are a number of regular posters on here that are involved with the youth). I have read several posts of frustration dealing with churches, situations, etc., and I completely understand how the position could lead to this place. My message to you is that I have personally seen the difference a youth pastor/youth group leader can make in a young person's life. After relocating to a new state this year, my boys became involved with a youth group and a leader that has been an awesome influence in their lives. While always being solid Christian kids (my oldest had already committed to attend Liberty), there is no question the tireless sacrifices the leader made has taken their daily walk to a different level that will be so critically important as they face the challenges that life brings them. My apologies for the long post, but if you are a youth leader, rest assured that your work and sacrifices are not in vain and while there are times it has to be frustrating, please know that you can change lives and I am not alone in my appreciation. Thanks!

[flamehunter]

Well said, Sporter. To me it has to boil down to priorities - play sports but make sure that you are doing all you can to glorify Christ in that. That is a huge mission field. And I echo the sentiments about youth workers - most difficult position in local church ministry but can be the most rewarding. And also remember that there are a lot of kids in youth groups that don't participate in sports, don't cater your activities to meet the athletes schedules all the time or the other kids may start to feel like second class members.