Hang time

March Madness — the time when the college basketball season is coming to a close and frenzy about the sport is at its highest — is here. Baptist churches across Alabama are experiencing a similar “madness” as they reach out to church members and others in the community with their basketball leagues.
   
According to Jerry Harris, recreation minister for Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Vestavia Hills, the excitement of a church basketball league can spill over into tangible ministry results. 
   
And Harris should know what he’s talking about — he’s organized leagues at his church for 26 years.
   
“All of our men’s leagues are run through the Birmingham Baptist Association, and it also offers children’s and youth leagues,” Harris said. “Many churches run their own children’s leagues and play through Upward Basketball, which is a basketball program that encourages outreach.”
   
Harris said the way Shades Mountain has organized its basketball leagues has changed over the years. 
   
“When we first started 26 years ago, we ran an inner-church program and invited our Sunday School teams to have at least two prospects on each team, then we started entering our teams into the Birmingham Baptist Association leagues,” he said. “We usually have six to nine men’s teams each year. All are formed through the Sunday School classes, and they can have prospects on their team.”
   
He also said the junior high and senior high boys and girls teams play in a league sponsored by one of the other Baptist churches in the area. “This year, I had nine teams playing in that league,” Harris said.
   
In addition, the Upward basketball program offered through Shades Mountain welcomed hundreds of children into its facility. “This year we had 38 basketball teams and four cheerleading squads in our Upward program,” Harris said. 
   
According to Steve Stephens, Royal Ambassadors consultant for the Alabama State Board of Missions, there is a wide variety of ways churches can organize their basketball ministries. Two of the most popular, he said, are through Upward Basketball or the Royal Ambassadors (RA) program of the Southern Baptist Convention.
   
“We had 32 teams from our 12 different associations play in our state RA basketball tournament this past year,” Stephens said. “The RA team leagues really try to tie basketball and missions work together.”
   
According to Stephens, both ministries work effectively to reach young people through basketball. “Upward’s objectives are outreach, spiritual enrichment and participation in sports,” he said. “RA basketball is outreach, spiritual enrichment, participation in sports and participation in mission action.”
   
The challenge for many churches in hosting church basketball leagues is all the details that have to be organized — it takes hard work by dedicated volunteers and recreation ministers. Plans for such things as locations for games, officiating and organizing league schedules must be made well in advance.
   
“Make sure that the purpose of the league is fully discussed before the season ever starts,” Harris said. “This is a basketball league, so use regular licensed paid officials and let them call the games as they would a high school game.”
   
Fred Salter, assistant director for the family life center at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church in Hueytown, agreed that organization is the key to success with a basketball league. “We must have a scorekeeper and clock keeper for each game,” he said. “We use two officials per night and must have an assistant director in charge of the gym on game nights.”
   
Mt. Hope Baptist Church, Crane Hill, in West Cullman Association hosts an all-denominational church basketball league 12 to 13 weeks a year. Following the regular season of games, there are playoffs and a final championship game. 
   
Robin Key, former pastor of Har­mony Baptist Church in Logan, organizes the league, explained Pat Williamson of Mt. Hope Baptist, where Patrick Cleghorn is pastor.
   
“Robin and others really work hard getting this together each year,” Williamson said. “The men work hard at playing, and there is a ladies’ game during the finals,” she noted.
   
At Shades Mountain, Harris said one of the challenges is organizing practice times. “All of our children’s teams play here. They practice once a week and play once a week here in our facility. Our youth practice here once a week, but all games are played in the league organizer’s facility,” Harris said. “Our men play 90 percent of their games here in our facility after our Upward practices are over, with games scheduled at 8:15 p.m. and 9:15 p.m.”
   
This season, Pleasant Ridge’s adult league consisted of four teams from around the area. It included two Baptist churches, a Catholic church and a Methodist church. “You do have to be a member of the participating church to be on the team,” Salter said.
   
Other churches encourage nonmembers to participate. “Out of the 300 children that played in our Upward program, 100 of them were not members of our church,” Harris said. “Throughout Alabama many churches with gyms may run their own leagues and invite other churches to join them in these leagues.”
   
Church leaders say Christians reach out to prospects or to players on other teams, that’s where basketball can become a true ministry. 
   
According to Victor Lee, national coordinator of sports evangelism for the North American Mission Board, there are great opportunities in reaching out through sports. “In sports evangelism, the game itself is the bridge,” he said. “This could be the church recreation softball, basketball or volleyball league.”
   
He recommends that leagues be designed in a way that forces church players to reach out to the unchurched. 
   
“Structure your leagues so that a certain number of people must be on each team, then teach your church members to use the league as a way to share Christ with their neighbors or colleagues,” Lee said. “Better yet, have your church-league team join the local industrial league and take the gospel to the lost.”
   
Harris echoed this sentiment, saying that players must make league play more than just a game if it is to be an effective ministry. “If you’re just putting together a group of guys to play basketball, that’s all it will be and no ministry will happen,” he said.