I hear there’s a football game this weekend. Sounds like it’s a big one. And there’s also been talk of some fraternity gathering here on St. Simons. I don’t know which one. Just so long as folks don’t forget to come to church. What’s that you say? Football will impact weekend worship? I don’t believe it for a second. …ok, clearly I’m being sarcastic, right? We ALL know what this weekend is, and we all know it absolutely impacts church – because it impacts everything. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Bulldogs fan or a fan of the other team, (I can’t say the F-word here), this is a big weekend for St. Simons Island.

This will be the first year since 2019 that local Episcopal clergy get back on the beach to hand out water to the students who come together for the biggest pre-game ever. I find it one of the most unique outreach opportunities in all of my years of ministry. Some might still raise their eyebrows that we show up at Frat Beach to hand out water, worrying that we’re enabling some dangerous behavior. I worried about that the first year, too, but then I saw that these kids need water to prevent a dangerous situation. Some are going to do whatever they want to do, dangerous or not; others are so grateful to be able to drink water instead of whatever they carry in those juice jugs. 

Add to that the courtesy of the students, who are almost universally polite and grateful, it’s a moment for the Church to meet people where they are, no matter where they are. There are lots of needs in the world, some great, some small, and we do what we can, where we can. This one is somewhat small in the big scheme of things, but it will matter to someone; if not now, perhaps later. And yes, we wear our collars, which signals that it’s not just “people” handing out water, but Christian people – the Church – who is there for them, without judgement. I think that counts for something.

And while I joke about GA-FL affecting church, I understand the importance of football, or any sport for that matter. It is important that we have teams to root for and support. Sports rivalries can be a healthy way to create bonding opportunities for diverse groups of persons, and better than some of the other “teams” we create to separate ourselves into. Sport provides a source and outlet for ecstasy and pain, alike, as we live and die (emotionally) with our team as it wins or loses. I’ve seen a movie and watched a series recently that both showed this clearly. 

The FX series (I watched it on Hulu), "Welcome to Wrexham", is a strange little reality series about the Welsh football (soccer) team that Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought in 2021. The show documents their attempts to help the team rise in the leagues from their place in the lowest league in professional soccer. The show captures beautifully how a soccer team stands in for the feelings, if not the fortunes of the larger community that faithfully cheers on their boys despite a rather long history of decline. To watch them begin to win again, and to see how it raises the spirits of the entire city of Wrexham is just good screen time. 

I also recently watched “Invincible” for the first time, a 2006 movie about Vince Papale, a Philadelphia local who was asked to join the Philadelphia Eagles after an open tryout in 1976, the year Dick Vermeil took over the team. While the movie is clearly a Hollywood version of events, it also makes clear the way in which a community sees itself represented by a team. Papale’s father, portrayed as a blue-collar worker on the picket lines after being laid off, references an old Eagles football story he’d been telling for many long years – a single amazing touchdown from 1948: “That touchdown got me through 30 years at that factory. Got me through all those times your mother being sick.” Sometimes it doesn’t take a lot to give us what we need to keep going. If football can do that – since football can do that – I don’t mind the ups and downs of church life at the hands of the Georgia schedule.

It's nice that Georgia is strong again this year, and all the excitement it brings. God’s not “doing” that, per se, but God can use it for good. I hope we will, too. Be excited, cheer, yell, and remember the many blessings of this life that we enjoy. Share those blessings with others along the way. Even the…F…F…Florida fans. 

Go Dawgs!

Tom+

Dear Lord, In the struggle that goes on through life We ask for a field that is fair,
A chance that is equal with all the strife, The courage to strive and to dare;

And if we should win, let it be by the code, With our faith and our honor held high;
And if we should lose, let us stand by the road And cheer as the winners go by. Amen.

A prayer from God, Be in My Sport, University of Notre Dame

Photo Credits: Sanford Stadium, via Dreamstime.com subscription. Welcome to Wrexham, via hulu.com.