Sports Ministry

David Lewis, DMin, is a sports ministry practitioner and educator, presently serving as associate professor at Huntington University in Indiana, where he oversees the sport management students. He is also an adjunct professor in the graduate program at Milligan University in Tennessee. Prior to Huntington, he created and directed the academic sports ministry minor at Houghton University in New York and developed and taught sports ministry courses. His own sports ministry practice began as an undergraduate at The King's College in New York, where he and his college roommate organized an informal weightlifting ministry, combining strength demonstrations with Christian testimony and biblical instruction. A collegiate All-American soccer player, upon graduation Lewis moved to southern California and served full time with Athletes in Action Soccer, the sports ministry arm of CRU. Lewis has actively used sport, recreation, and camping as ministry tools in the local church. He has served as a youth pastor, associate pastor, and senior pastor at churches in Massachusetts and New York. Since 1991, Lewis has coached women's soccer and is among a small group of collegiate women's coaches to achieve over 400 career wins. In 2015, he led the Houghton University women's soccer team to the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Division I national championship, becoming the first and only NCAA Division III team to win the title. He was subsequently named the NSCAA/NCCAA Division I National Coach of the Year. Believing that one learns about ministry by doing ministry, he has led his soccer teams on multiple short-term soccer-specific sports ministry trips to 11 countries on five continents in partnership with ministries such as SCORE International, Missionary Athletes International, Sports Friends, Surge International, and Global Partners. An ordained minister, Lewis has performed the weddings of more than two dozen of his former soccer players. After earning a bachelor's degree in religion and philosophy from The King's College, Lewis earned master of divinity and doctor of ministry degrees from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts. Dave Irby, MAT, is the founder of Surge International/Surge Soccer, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit sports ministry that has virtual offices in the United States and Liberia. A native of southern California, Irby played soccer on the inaugural varsity team at Azusa Pacific University, which was his first time playing organized soccer. At the age of 23, he became the head coach of the Cougars, twice being named Coach of the Year, while playing with the Athletes in Action soccer team during the same time period. A pioneer of the soccer ministry movement, Irby has crisscrossed the globe as a soccer player, coach, and speaker. He founded the Seahorse soccer team for Missionary Athletes International and was the first full-time staff member. This experience would provide the inspiration for the founding of Surge International in 1992. Irby and the soccer teams he has led have traveled to 32 countries to play in a variety of settings, including prisons, jungle villages, and national soccer stadiums. His multinational teams have helped with reconciliation in Uganda after that country's civil war, were on a peace tour to Sudan during their civil war, and traveled to Burundi to help with civil war prevention. More recently, from 2016 through 2019, Irby oversaw a soccer ministry project in Austria where he and his multinational colleagues used the platform of soccer to help refugees integrate into European society and to share Christ's love with them. Surge has extended their work to Liberia with the launching of Surge Soccer Liberia, an initiative that is training leaders, assisting in educational development, and shedding light on the great needs of the country. Surge Soccer and their mascot, Sammy Surge, have visited over 150,000 children in four states and four foreign countries. Irby has self-published two books on Amazon: Undefeated, a compilation of four soccer-specific devotionals, now in five languages; and Sammy Surge in Study Hard, Play Fair, Help Others, a children's book featuring life principles taught by Sammy Surge, the world-traveling mascot of Surge Soccer. Irby is a U.S. Soccer A-licensed coach. He has a master's degree in teaching from University of La Verne in California and has a bachelor's degree in social science and a bachelor's degree in physical education from Azusa Pacific University in California. He is a member of United Soccer Coaches and Toastmasters International. Irby resides in Salem, Oregon, with his wife, Susan, and has three grown children and three grandchildren. He has attended five World Cups and enjoys hiking, reading, and travel, which has taken him to 47 countries and counting. William Galipault, DMin, is the executive director for the Seahorse Soccer ministry, a division of Missionary Athletes International (MAI). Seahorse Soccer has youth camps and clinics, a youth league, an urban youth program in the Los Angeles area, and an under-23 team in the United Soccer League (USL2), and they do international trips each year to Japan, Cuba, and the Czech Republic. He is also active in education as an adjunct professor with The Master's University and Houghton University and as the director of the master's in sports outreach program at Barclay College. Galipault's career in sports began at Nyack College (now Alliance University) in New York, where he was the men's head coach for seven years and earned coaching honors at the district and regional levels while completing a master of professional studies degree at Alliance Theological Seminary and a master of science in education for physical educators at Lehman College. Along the way, he added experience as an assistant athletic director and a PE instructor, ran soccer camps at the school, and took his players internationally, which is where he caught the attention of MAI and was recruited to join its staff. Bringing his experience to MAI, Galipault was involved in all areas of the ministry while also helping oversee the mission's finances. He and his family spent six years in the Czech Republic, where he held ministry training conferences for Czech Christian athletes and led a small team from the United States and England in helping Czech churches learn how to use sports ministry as part of their work with their communities. Throughout his career, Galipault's focus has been ministry training coupled with theoretical and philosophical underpinnings when working with young men and women coming into various ministries. His desire to make this same training available in universities is what prompted Galipault to obtain a doctor of ministry degree; his doctoral project was titled "Spiritual Formation in the Team Sport Environment and Its Application for Churches." Wayne Rasmussen, EdD, is the program director of the new sport management major and an associate professor in the School of Business and Communication at The Master's University. He plans to blend an academically challenging curriculum with valuable practical experiences that will prepare university students to serve in all levels of professional, collegiate, and youth sports in the areas of administration and management. He also serves as the faculty athletics representative. Prior to this, Rasmussen enjoyed a successful five-year run at Columbia International University in South Carolina, where he created, launched, and directed the school's undergraduate sport management program in their School of Business in the summer of 2015. Rasmussen's career began at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where he was an assistant soccer coach before leaving for a head coaching job at Creighton University in Omaha. He later held positions on the administrative staffs of the Olympic and U.S. men's national soccer teams as well as roles with three Major League Soccer clubs. Notably, he was the LA Galaxy's director of operations and player development during the team's inaugural MLS season in 1996 in the Rose Bowl. Rasmussen had a stint with the Tampa Bay Mutiny before becoming one of the founding members of the Philadelphia Union. During his career, Rasmussen has also been an athletic director and head soccer coach at Eastern University in St. David's, Pennsylvania. He has organized sports ministry trips and has led multiple cycling tours and wilderness adventure trips.

Part I. Sports Ministry Primer Chapter 1. Introduction to Sports Ministry Introducing Sports Ministry A Vision for Sports Ministry Why Sports Ministry? The Universal Power and Popularity of Sport Youth Sports Sport Helps Define the World Defining the Term Sport Harnessing the Power of Sports for the Gospel Sports Ministry Defined Summary Review and Discussion Questions Chapter 2. A History of Sports Ministry Historic Integrations of Faith and Sport Muscular Christianity Sport: A God-Given Ability or a Deterrent to Faith? Summary Review and Discussion Questions Part II. Contemporary Approaches to Sports Ministry Chapter 3. Sports Ministry in the United States Understanding Sports Ministry in the United States The Beginnings of Organized Sports Ministry in the United States in the 20th Century The Values and Goals of These Sports Ministry Organizations and Initiatives Approaches and Methodologies Additional Significant National Sports Ministry Organizations Summary Review and Discussion Questions Chapter 4. International Sports Ministry Why Minister Internationally? Where Sports Ministries Have Gone Summary Review and Discussion Questions Chapter 5. Faith Considerations Designed for Play The Problem of Competition The Potential of Competition The Bible and Sport Assessing Sport as a Place for Ministry Summary Review and Discussion Questions Chapter 6. Gospel Communication Gospel Communication Biblical Narrative Parables Prayerful Dependence on God Summary Review and Discussion Questions Chapter 7. Ethical Considerations for Christians in Sport The Hammer Analogy A New Christ-Centered Ethos A Work in Progress The Tension Between Competitive Sport and Christian Faith The Compatibility of Competitive Sport and Christian Faith A Divide Between the Sacred and the Secular Sportianity: A Critical Review Christian Ethics Through a Biblical Lens: Linville's Three-Step Process Governing Principles for Ethical Behavior in Sport Ethical Consideration One: Pagan Associations With the Origins of Sport Ethical Consideration Two: Sport and the Sabbath Ethical Consideration Three: Considering Gamesmanship Winning and Losing The "Salt and Light" of Christian Influence Summary Review and Discussion Questions Chapter 8. Financing Sports Ministry Financial Considerations in Sports Ministry Financial Management in Sports Ministry Basic Elements of Financial Management in Sports Ministry Understanding Financial Challenges in Sports Ministry Summary Review and Discussion Questions Chapter 9. Sports Ministry Facilities The Importance of Planning for the Right Sports Ministry Facility Determining What Type of Sporting Facilities Are Available for Effective Ministry The Process of Creating a New Sports Facility: From Concept to Completion Additional Sport Facility Construction Considerations Maintaining a High-Quality Sports Facility Summary Review and Discussion Questions Chapter 10. Legal Considerations A Basic Understanding of the U.S. Legal System and Legal Terminology State Legal Systems Additional Legal Considerations for Sports Ministries Key Legal Issues Facing Sport Ministries Lack of Understanding and Knowledge of Legal Elements and Responsibilities ADA Requirements for Sports Programs and Sports Facilities The Importance of a Proactive Risk Management Program The Importance of Accountability Summary Review and Discussion Questions Part III. Developing a Viable Sports Ministry Chapter 11. International Sport Mission Trips Benefits of Short-Term Sport Missions The Importance of Partnerships Types of International Short-Term Sports Ministry Trips Short-Term Sports Ministry Precautions The Importance of Service and Relationship Building Administrative Responsibilities Pre-Trip Team Training and Post-Trip Debriefing Helpful Travel Tips Summary Review and Discussion Questions Chapter 12. Sports Ministry in the Local Church Assessing Ministry Mission and Objectives Assessing Church and Community Demographics Four Typical Church-Based Sports Ministry Locations Hosting Events Funding Church Sports Ministry Church Sports Ministry Resources Equipping Responsibilities for the Sport-Minded Developing Church Sports Ministry Leadership Examples of Local Church Sports Ministries A Precaution Summary Review and Discussion Questions Chapter 13. Sports Ministry Organizations SMO as Parachurch SMO Examples Summary Review and Discussion Questions Chapter 14. Cultural and Leadership Considerations Cultural and Cross-Cultural Considerations Jesus Adapts to Cultural Norms Sports Ministry Application Women as an Example of Cultural Norm Discernment Implications Defining Nonnegotiables Support for One Another Leader-Led Teamwork Summary Review and Discussion Questions

"Experience matters, and that is proven throughout this effort, written by men who know sports ministry and management. Absolutely should be a core resource or requirement in any sports ministry major or minor curriculum. I so appreciate the collaborative effort of these heroes of the faith." -Dan Wood, Executive Director of National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA)