CCP153: On Sports and the Church

8 snips

Jun 6, 2025

The hosts explore the meteoric rise of pickleball, captivating a diverse audience while churches tap into its popularity for community engagement. They dive into the historical ties between sports and the church, examining how this relationship has evolved. With a focus on strategy, they discuss the need for churches to align their involvement in sports with their core mission. The conversation highlights the growing influence of sports culture on family life, urging a reevaluation of priorities to nurture faith alongside athletic pursuits.

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INSIGHT

Why Churches Embrace Pickleball

Pickleball is popular for being easy to play, fun, and social for all ages and abilities.
Churches see it as a low-cost way to build community and potentially reach new people for faith.

INSIGHT

Church's Historical Sports Roots

Many popular sports like basketball have Christian origins linked to faith-based organizations.
The church's involvement with sports grew notably post-World War II with gyms and sports ministries.

ADVICE

Be Strategic About Sports Ministry

Churches must evaluate sports ministries strategically, ensuring activities align with the core mission.
Avoid pursuing sports programs just because they are popular or enjoyable; mission effectiveness is key.

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In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the rising popularity of “pickleball.” Invented in 1965, this sport combines tennis, table tennis and badminton and is attracting people of all ages and backgrounds. Capitalizing on its popularity are plenty of businesses, athletic associations and even churches. This discussion delves into the uniqueness of pickleball but then goes further to discuss the broader relationship between churches and sports. Dr. White riffs on sports ministries and how churches can and must navigate the increasingly demanding world of youth sports. He also dives into the individual Christian's relationship to sports and the priority we give them in our lives.

Episode Links

Today's conversation was sparked by an article by Religion News titled, “Churches hope to tap the power of pickleball”, but as mentioned in the podcast, the church's relationship with sports dates back much further. You can read more about the history of sports ministry, provided by GameDay Sports Ministries HERE, or by The Christian Athlete HERE.

Alexis mentioned a handful of past podcast discussions she and Dr. White had on a few aspects of modern culture that provide some helpful cultural context, such as the current pandemic of loneliness (CCP76: On the Never Marrieds), the desire for religious experiences (CCP145: On Whether Churches Should be Churchy), and why men are looking for “manly” churches (CCP135: On Women Leaving the Church).

Pertinent to today's conversation is an exploration of the role of athletics in the lives of families. For more on that topic, here are some links you might be interested in checking out:

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra, “Youth Sports, Healthy Families, and the Future of the Church,” The Gospel Coalition.

Melissa Steffan, “The Main Reason for Declining Church Attendance: Children's Sports?,” Christianity Today.

More broadly, Dr. White discussed the way in which sports have become somewhat of a modern religion, with many attributing religious-like experiences to sports highlights or god-like statuses to athletes. To read more about that, here are some suggested resources:

Kurt Streeter, “In Troubled Times, the Sports World Offers a Necessary Salve,” The New York Times.

David Briggs, “The Final Four, travel teams and empty pews: Research on sports and religion,” The Association of Religion Data Archives.

Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Dorrance Kelly, All Things Shining.

David Brooks, “The Arena Culture,” The New York Times.

While sports may seem to provide echoes of something truly transcendent, the real source can be found in the God of the Christian faith. Dr. White shares about C.S. Lewis' journey to God as captured in his autobiography, Surprised by Joy.

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