07/03/2016
The Archbishop of Canterbury has backed work being done to share the Gospel with sportspeople in the United Kingdom, particularly through a new Anglican initiative, Christians in Sport.
Opening a consultation day for all dioceses in the Church of England’s southern province on 22 February at Lambeth Palace, Archbishop Justin Welby said: “Reaching into an area of life where huge numbers of people across the country are involved, particularly on Sundays, is something that is critical to expressing what it is to be a Christian.”
The Archbishop, who has made evangelism and witness a priority for his ministry, said that evangelism is “not a survival strategy for the church, it is integral to being a Christian.”
Following the address, Graham Daniels, Director of Christians in Sport, shared the history of sports mission in this country before a series of interviews were held to help share best-practice when it comes to sports ministry.
As the representatives of all 29 dioceses reflected and planned for future engagement with sport, a new resource created to aid the growth of sports ministry was introduced. ReadySetGo.ec is a website full of resources for practitioners who minister in sport.
Closing his remarks, the Archbishop said there are two things that every single Christian should do “out of an overflow of God’s love. One is to worship and the other is to witness. You could say apart from those two everything else is decoration."