Football in church good start, not enough to keep men coming back
The ticket to new male church members? The answer is football.
According to USA Today, at New Hope Baptist Church in East Orange, N.J., Pastor Dwight D. Gill gives one Sunday a year a football-themed service to draw more men to church. Read full article here.
This year marked the 4th year of the event, and about 2,000 people attended the non-traditional church service.
“There’s more to it than just a church service,” said Michael Carrington, who was not a regular churchgoer.
He said he was so amazed by the service that he wants to become a member.
During the service, men wearing football jerseys over their suits would stand up and do the wave between worship songs as if they were in a football stadium. The lobby was decorated in team logos and banners. After the service, the congregation had a tailgate party with hot dogs, sandwiches and chips.
“A lot of people can get bored during a service, but this brings a sense of excitement, and at the same time, a sense of hope,” Carrington said.
Gill said the idea to host a football service arose because “women outnumber men at the church by a 3-to-1 ratio.” He said he wanted to find a way to target men and get them interested in attending church.
The concept of the football church service was a great attention-getter, but it’s not enough to keep men coming back to church. They can’t expect every Sunday to be a day at the stadium; it would hinder the rest of the congregation who may be distracted by the jerseys and banners. What Gill needs is a ministry for me. He could start a group for football fans to watch games and build friendships with current male church members. Once football season is over, the men could still meet but have Bible studies instead.
Gill even invited former Giants player Lee Rouson, currently an associate pastor in Harlem, to speak during the two-hour Nov. 29 service. Rouson, who preached about “God’s promise for salvation,” applauded Gill’s football service tactic.
“It’s a familiarity. Men gravitate to sports. It’s physical, emotional and mental, and those analogies are all part of the spirit life as well,” Rouson said. “Men compete, they understand competition. But the competition here is to be a real man.”
His solution, Gill said, was a fun method to try and change that unbalanced gender ratio in the church, but recognized that it was still a “longtime challenge with no easy solution.”
However, once the football fun is over, the men go back to the way they were and miss the whole point of going to church in the first place. It’s difficult to ascertain whether they actually see beyond the fun and fanfare and understand that church is for praising God and learning about God.
About 10 men become members every year because of the event, Gill said. Even though that number was not very high, to Gill, every little bit counts.
“If we can attract one man to come to church,” he said, “heaven will be happy.”
Gill and his church have the right intentions in spreading the gospel through sports, but they have to make sure they are addressing spiritual needs, not just football.
