Comments on: No Sunday Service, Sports Instead

By: Gordman

Gordman — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 09:48:25 +0000

This is amazing and really open minded. Inviting sports celebrities to speak in church really is a unique approach. I am not surprised to see the positive result, good for them, we should learn something here.

By: Russell Embling

Russell Embling — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 00:31:50 +0000

I appreciate some of the cautiously optimistic comments relating to our outreach. Lsst Sunday we had 160 people come to see the Test and to hear the faith story of one of our leading coaches. Tickets are for catering purposes with no one being turned away if they come without one.
The church is the people and not the building and our people are committed to reaching the unchurched.
One young lady prayer walked around the church for an hour praying for God to impact the lives of people who came.
Romans 14:5-8 tells us that some consider one day as special and others don’t. For us it isn’t motivated by the desire to fill the church per se but to reach people with the Good News. Many churches use a variety of activities from crafts to children’s music programs to get the Good News out there. That is all we have done, using Rugby, and it happens to be on Sunday morning because the games are being played in the UK, 12 hours behind us.

By: Jono

Jono — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 11:56:56 +0000

Wahoo! I live in Tauranga (Greerton is a suburb of Tauranga), New Zealand. We really are trying to get over Lord of the Rings. It would help if tourists stopped coming here to see the film locations! Actually no it wouldn’t help, we’d lose a lot of tourist attraction.
I thought exactly the same thing about the sports campaign, I’m naturally suspicious when sports starts to take such an important place in people’s lives that it shifts the Sunday morning service!
I agree though, it could be pulled off effectively, or it could be walking the fine line.

By: kevin

kevin — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 08:44:00 +0000

Here's the link Michael was referring to: People Matter... So We Count

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 08:09:53 +0000

You bring up a good point. We have to be careful that we don’t become so focused on numbers that we forget why we want them to be there (and that should be to share Christ with them).
Check out Mark Waltz’s, a pastor at Granger, comment on markwaltz typepad
(sorry, looks like I can’t link to it)
Sure, my task is to educate and communicate to people in and out of the church to bring them in, but that’s only the start…we must be just as strong at delivering the truth those people are searching for.

By: Ron Gehrke II

Ron Gehrke II — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 07:25:07 +0000

I think this is a great idea. In my opinion the best discipleship happens outside of the church walls or traditional church activity. It is the times working together on a outreach project, dinners with friends, and late nights at coffee that have most affected me in recent years.
This church has an opportunity to come in contact with people that they may have never met any other way. They are expanding their sphere of influence.
The only real negative I see here is that they are ticketing the event. I’m sure that if someone shows up without a ticket they’ll let them in – as they said it was for catering purposes; however, some people who didn’t want to hassle with the extra step of getting a free ticket, may not come.