HOW TO START AN

Action Sports Ministry

Introduction to Action Sports............................................3
Why Action Sports Ministry?.............................................8
How Do We Reach the Action Sports Community?.......11
Steps to Starting a Ministry..............................................14
Preparing for Ministry.......................................................18
GO into Action...................................................................20
Appendix...........................................................................25

Action Sports | 2
Introduction to Action Sports
There are many uses and applications for the words Action Sports.
Depending on the country and context, the words Action Sports may have
different meanings. For the purposes of this resource, ‘Action Sports’ is
the most commonly used, and the current industry accepted term, to
describe a variety of sports. What qualifies as an Action Sport has more to
do with the shared characteristics and culture rather than the form of the
sport itself.

Characteristics & Alternative Name for Action Sports

Action Sports can be called by many different names that emphasise

different aspects of the sports such as:
 Extreme Sports alludes to the dangerous/high risk element in such
sports as big wave surfing, base jumping, etc.
 Alternative Sports have a counter cultural element typical of the
skate and surf culture from the 1960s and 1970s.
 Freestyle is a term that focuses on the artistic and creative self-
expression of the culture.
 Funsports is common in Germany emphasising the playful side of
Action Sports in the absence of rules, coaches, clocks and
opponents.
 Adventure Sports often refers to Action Sports practiced in nature.

Action Sports | 3
Action Sports | 4
Activity

In pairs, list as many different Action Sports as you can. Sort these sports
into four categories: Urban, Water, Mountain/Snow, Air

URBAN

WATER

MOUNTAIN/
SNOW

AIR

Action Sports | 5
Examples of Action Sports

If Action Sports can be considered an art form, their canvasses are waves,
mountains, sky, and city streets. Here are some broad categories of
Action Sports by environment:

Water: Surfing, wakeboarding,

Urban: Skateboarding, BMXing, kite surfing, windsurfing, skim
parkour, inline skating, scootering. boarding.

Mountain/snow: Mountain biking,

rock climbing, snowboarding, Air: Paragliding, hang gliding,
skiing. BASE jumping, wing suit flying.

Action Sports | 6
Activity

Create the Sports Ministry Axis on the floor and label it. The vertical axis
represents the freedom engagement from freestyle to competitive. The
horizontal axis represents the intensity engagement from fun to extreme.
Have each stand where they play. Next have them move to the area in
which they do the most ministry. Have them place a name of an individual
or event in each major quadrant of the map.

COMPETITIVE
ACTION SPORTS CREATIVITY

AS A PARTICIPANT,
WHERE DO YOU STAND ON
THE MAP REGARDING YOUR
CREATIVITY AND INTENSITY?

FUN EXTREME
ACTION SPORTS INTENSITY
FREESTYLE

Action Sports | 7
Why Action Sports Ministry?
The Action Sports culture is growing very fast in every region of the
world. For example: more youth skateboard in the USA than play football;
surfing, skateboarding and climbing will be introduced in the 2020
Olympics; surfing is in Brazil’s top 5 sports; the X Games are watched by
huge audiences all over the world.
Action sports bridge different socio-economic boundaries, religion,
sex, and age. Action sports are based on a shared experience and values.
It is possible, for example, to enter some of the most closed nations on
earth with a surfboard, mountain bike, or paraglide and have easy access
to local people who share a passion for the sport.
Action Sports are a lifestyle and a subculture that is largely unreached by
traditional churches and sports ministries. Often, they are inherently
counter cultural and will be most easily reached by those of their same
“tribe”. Action Sports believers often feel alienated from their church
community because of their passion for their Action Sport. They can also
feel alienated from their Action Sports community because of their faith.
Action Sports ministry both supports and validates the believing participant
as well as reaching out in mission to the non-believer. The vision of Action
Sports ministries is to fulfill the Great Commission - to make disciples of
Jesus in and through all Action Sports cultures.
Action Sports ministries are vital! They are the incarnational expression
of the church entering the unreached subculture of the Action Sports tribe
in order to:
 Share the love of Jesus,
 See them come to faith
 Disciple them into a relevant faith community
 So that they do the same for others in their Action Sports
community and beyond.

Action Sports | 8
Activity

In teams of three, make a list of the differences between mainstream and

Action Sports culture in two columns. Do the same for church and Action
Sports culture.

Mainstream Traditional Action Sports

Action Sports
Sports Church Culture

Action Sports | 9
Activity

Draw a picture like the example below that represents your Action Sport. If
you represent multiple Action Sports, consider drawing multiple images.
Identify the range of people engaged with that community including the
related services (businesses, judges, coaches, associations, etc.). Can
you place one real name of a participant in your community to represent
each group? Next to each group, place an arrow to indicate the trend of
that segment of people (i.e. If the number of participants is growing draw
an up arrow. If it is declining, draw a down arrow).

LONGBOARDERS SHORTBOARDERS

LOCAL
SURFING COMMUNITY

BODYBOARDERS YOUTH

WOMEN

Action Sports | 10
How Do We Reach the Action Sports
Community?
Here are some critical cultural traits to consider when reaching out in your
local Action Sports community:

Teach Biblical principles by experience

Experiential. Action
rather than theory. Kinetic learning
Sports people are action
experiences are better than lectures or
orientated!
written notes.

Successful integration into the culture

Individualistic and Tribal.
It is necessary to invest
time in the sport to allow
personal relationships and
trust to grow. This is
foundational for ministry.
gives opportunity to form a missional
community to effectively evangelise and
disciple others. It takes courage to do
this within the culture instead of outside
the culture. Enabling people to belong
before they believe also makes for
messy communities.

Action Sports have traditionally been

Youthful but Aging.
popular among young people. As a
Young leaders and the
result, some of the best ministers to the
young at heart connect the
Action Sports culture are young people
best.
reaching out, peer to peer.*

*However, as Action Sports grows older and becomes

multigenerational this is not so important. The extreme nature and lack
of order in Action Sports means that it often lacks father figures. Solid
male examples are needed. One can have a peer model, a parent
model, or a servant model and find a welcome space in this mission.

Action Sports | 11
Essential Elements to a Strong Action Sports Ministry
All Action Sports ministries need a few essential elements to be
successful:
Incarnational Ministry
Model. Be an ‘insider’. Jesus
is our model of incarnation.
Look for a person of peace
who will give you favor in the
culture.
In Partnership with Local
Churches. Action Sports
ministries will need to build
bridges between Action
Sports and traditional
churches.
Service Oriented. Meet
their physical needs first.
Finding ways of being integrated within
the subculture will include regular
participation, forming strong
relationships of trust, serving well and
creating missional communities that
are open to inquirers to join.
Action Sports cultures are so far
removed from traditional church
cultures that a new believer from the
culture will identify more closely with
the ministry that reached them as an
expression of “church” rather than a
traditional church.
Action Sports participants tend to be
self-centered. Therefore, serving and a
servant heart have an outstanding
impact. It is not hard to ‘look good’ in
service when the culture is so self-
serving. Acts of service can be done at
the local skatepark by providing free
drinks and food, or at major events. A
key principle is that God does not
move depending on your performance
in the sport but on how well you show
your love by serving those in your
sport.
Action Sports | 12
 Participants in the ministry need to be
Participatory. Be willing to participants of the lifestyle or at least
be part of the culture. willing to identify with the people and
the values. *

* Action Sports ministers can also be those who identify with the culture
rather than the actual practice. For example, a passionate fan of
wakeboarding who readily connects with wake events can become
connected with the wake culture. A concerned mother who embraces
the skate community can regularly serve at a park or event. We also
recognize that the Action Sports mission field is broader than those
who actually participate. Shopkeepers in a snowboard town can
identify themselves with the sport without actually snowboarding.

Action Sports | 13
Steps to Starting a Ministry

Activity

Divide into pairs. If you are actively participating in an action sport, discuss
the stages you go through to engage well in your sport. What processes
did you have to go through to get to your level of competency? If you are
not a participant, think of a community you are engaged in and what you
had to do to gain trust and acceptance in that community.

Ready, Set, Go!

When engaging in Action Sports we go through the same phases whether

it’s surf, snow, air or mountain. First, we will scope out and assess
(Ready) the conditions; it’s dangerous to do otherwise. Second, we
prepare (Set) our equipment and friends. Third, we launch out into action
(Go), recognizing that we can engage in a variety of modes depending on
the conditions or the level of personal expertise.
We engage in these same phases in ministry in this culture.
READY! First, we scope and assess the conditions.

Action Sports | 14
a. Pray

Prayer is always the first step in starting a ministry but

must also cover the entire process. Pray for
understanding, God’s clear calling, your motivation,
your team, church support, a person of peace, your
authenticity and integrity, who to invest in and begin
discipling, and more.

b. Check Your Heart

We all love our sport and while this is important, it’s

even more important to have our sport surrendered
to Christ, rather than Christ surrendered to our sport.
An Action Sports ministry is not a way to spiritually
justify your adrenalin habit! Do you have a mission in
mind far bigger than yourself and your love of the
sport?

c. Know Your Culture

It is vital that you have a good understanding of who

is out there, what the needs are, where the trends
are, and what God might already be doing in your
culture. Do you have a sense of God’s heart for your
culture and is it yours? Do you have a holy discontent
for your Action Sports culture?

d. Band of Brothers (and Sisters)

Share the vision and seek a team of like-minded

people. There’s a classic old African proverb that says
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far,
go together.” Remember that it’s not about how good
you are at your sport (though it can help open some
doors) but rather how well you are willing to serve.
Who are the people who might join your team? Where
could they be or who might lead you to them?

Action Sports | 15
e. Got Your Back Covered?

It can be hard to infiltrate this scene. You need back up! Be part of a local
church that supports your vision. If this is a struggle, secure a small group
of mature Christians for support and accountability. Depending on your
situation, you may need to be a ‘frontline’ expression of church for those
who will find it difficult to come into a traditional church. Communicate this
to your supporters.

Action Sports | 16
Activity

Consider the sports ministry map below. How can it help you identify the
various segments of your Action Sports community? Can you identify
potential team members in each of those segments? Make a list of
potential like-minded people with whom you could share vision. What do
you need to do to ensure suitable backing from your local church?

BELIEVER BELIEVER
GROWING MATURE

AS A PARTICIPANT
CHRISTIAN FAITH

ANDBELIEVER, WHERE
DOYOU STAND ON THE
TIMELINE

MAP?
BELIEVER
NEW

DAILY COMPETITOR
SPECTATOR NOVICE FUN PRO
PARTICIPANT
READY

FUN ACTION SPORTS

SEEKING

WHERE DO THOSE YOU

GENERALLY MINISTER TO
STAND ON THE MAP?
INTEREST
NO

Action Sports | 17
Preparing for Ministry

Activity

Search the internet for relevant ministries to your culture. Are there other
sports or church ministries that could be helpful? Do you know of any
individuals who have pioneered anything into these cultures?
SET! Once you have assessed the conditions, it’s time to prepare.

a. Consider Getting Some Advice and Training

There are many organizations that can help. Some

offer specific Action Sports courses and internships
that provide training to reach the Action Sports
culture. See below or visit
www.actionsportsministry.org for more information.

b. Consider Your Strategy

The following are some time proven and successful ways to prepare:

Person of peace

If God is leading you into these cultures, he is already preparing the way.
You will be looking for a key person who will give you favor in the culture.
Spend time with lots of people as you look for that person. They may be
an elite performer, someone in administration of the sport, someone within
the industry, etc.

In the culture

Our sports have a high value on authenticity, so be sure you are an

‘insider’, active in the sport and culture. Jesus is our model of incarnation.
Join a club, participate with others, endure harsh days, earn credibility.

Action Sports | 18
Discipleship starts now

Being integrated in the Action Sports culture means

disciple making is a whole life process including
before belief. What are the real life issues to engage?
e.g. fear, injury, relationships, addictions. Consider
how you can help your culture discover the Bible
using contextual illustrations from your sport.

Daily Devotions for Skateboarders http://instagram.com/ChristianSkaters

On the Rocks – Surfers Discipleship Series
https://www.christiansurfers.net/on-the-rocks
Rock Climbing Discipleship - https://www.srcfc.org/Good-News/
Wakeboarding Discipleship - https://www.wakewell.org/grabbing/

c. Build a Team

Once you have identified that person of peace, and cast

some prayerful vision, you will need to grow your team.
Rather than a committee that runs events, you are
looking to build a community that will model the change
you would like to see.

Things take more time than you think

We often overestimate what might take one year and underestimate what
takes 10 years. They say it takes some 10 years to significantly change a
culture! You will need to consider at least a three-year commitment from
yourself and a team.

Action Sports | 19
GO into Action
GO! You have assessed the conditions; you have prepared a strategy and
a team, now it’s time to go into ACTION.

a. Key Strategies

Community Based Gospel Ministry. Rather than the traditional church

model of attractional events to get people to a ‘church space’, Action
Sports will require more of an attractional community. Typically, it’s helpful
to spend time building relationships in 'their space' (a skate spot/park, on
the mountainside, the beach etc) before regrouping (possibly receiving
leadership input) in 'our space' (e.g. a church building, or believer’s home).
There is also great value in living as a small missional community within
'their space'. This becomes an accessible, neutral, third space.
Attractional events can be used, but they are based on the credibility of
first being an attractional community.
Service. Serve at events, help with camps, coach, attend club meetings
and competitions, etc. Service brings you credibility and earns trust. There
is no denying the power of loving service in this culture.
Create Intentional Pathways. Consider the journey of faith from
someone who has no contact with Christianity to a mature believer living
out their faith in mission. What might be the pathway from the first point of
connection to establishment in the church? The journey will include
cultivating relationships, then sowing seeds of the Gospel, then
opportunities to come to faith, followed by discipleship activities. Then
consider the pathway enabling mature Action Sports believers to engage
in mission in their unreached community.

Activity

Reflect on where people most want to belong in your culture and why.
Write down your answers and pray for God to prepare you. Draw a
pictorial flow chart of the faith pathways your mission is enabling. Identify
potential gaps and blockages and how will you overcome them.
 What would a God honoring community look like in your culture?

Action Sports | 20
  Where is the ‘third space’ that your community might land in their
community? How might you position yourself in service at these
crossroads?
 What would it cost you to engage in this (positives and
negatives)?
 What are the felt needs of the average participant as they play?
How can you meet those needs?

b. Hub vs. Club

There is such diversity within Action Sports cultures that it’s challenging to
find a one-size model to fit all. In mountain biking there is downhill, cross-
country and Enduro. In snowboarding there is alpine slalom, back country,
and various freestylers in the half pipe, park or air. It is worth considering
a hub structure. The ‘hub' is a broad cross section of mission minded
Christians where the spokes represent the various strategic connections
and the rim is the Action Sports community. By consolidating a leadership
‘hub’ of a broad range of Action Sports participants there is room for
multiple expressions of ministry ‘spokes’ that will connect with the broad
community ‘rim’. Hosting a regular ‘hub’ meeting is vital to keep the team
on track and connected in their diversity.

Action Sports | 21
 Activity

Draw up a bike wheel diagram like the example below, and fill in what
might be your ideal ‘hub’ model of ministry with all the necessary ‘spokes’.
Try and add names to the hub. Utilise the sports ministry map to help your
hub identify the spokes you have and what might be missing.

CO
PHOTO

AC
VIDEO

H
MOUNTAIN BIKE

Y
UN S
TR
CO ROS
COMMUNITY

C
LOCAL

MTB
SHOP MISSON ASSOCIATIONS
EMPLOYEE TEAM
EN
DU
RO
AF T
ST VEN

DOWNHILL
F
E

Action Sports | 22
c. But… I Hate Structure!

Many in Action Sport do hate structure and prefer freedom from rules. But
consider structure as a way to be intentional. Having some programs,
guidelines, and policies can help free you up. Some of it is a legal
requirement. If you have a public program or profile you must have your
insurance, child protection, finances, and governance in order. There are
no excuses!

d. Think Global, Act Local

Action sports tend not to be limited locally but have a

global awareness. You will travel to others and they
will travel to you. Some will be called to have a local
ministry that will be multiplied on a national scale.
Everyone has a global network of contacts that can
open doors all over the world. Have your whole
community in mind.

e. Ministry in a Creative Access Country

In the context of a creative access country, we cannot enter into the Action
Sports community and immediately begin to build a church. But thankfully
the church is not a building!
What can we do? Begin by building trust and trusting relationships through
the world of Action Sport. Sport is a unique tool that doesn’t require
knowledge of specific cultural elements. But we still need to be wise as to
HOW we go about sharing our faith in different cultures.
We must have a legitimate presence in a country for long term impact.
Action Sports ministries can enter creative access countries as coaches,
trainers or instructors, adventure tour operators, equipment importers, or
with small businesses such as shops (eg skateboard or snowboard shop),
climbing centers, or repairs (paraglider/ mountain biking repair shop).
Short term mission is easily done via tourism. A ‘holiday with purpose’
using your action sport can easily connect you with the local Action Sports

Action Sports | 23
tribe. You can also use Action Sports to engage the wider community.
Whenever you connect with local believers or missionaries, don’t
endanger them with social media postings or insensitive behavior. The
‘holiday with purpose’ could be visiting a mountain bike club in another
country, taking a surf trip during peak season or a major surf event, going
snowboarding in a foreign resort to meet locals and workers there.
In many creative access countries fatherlessness is a big problem. We
can become a mentor to these young guys and teach Biblical principles of
life through Action Sports. While not teaching directly from the Bible we
can give them an example of compassion, loving our neighbor, and the
dignity of each child and their potential. After building a trusting
relationship on a personal level, and modeling Jesus to them, we earn the
right to present Jesus.

Last word about who can play

“But I’m not good enough at my sport, in my church, in my faith.” God is

interested in using available people who love Him, love others and love
their culture. So be encouraged! We have identified the following:
 Anyone – there is a role for anyone with a servant heart
 Young people – peer to peer
 Parental role model
 Related business and service people
 Anyone with a passion for the sport or culture

Action Sports | 24
Appendix

Some practical training examples:

“Landing Bolts” is a 12-week lesson plan designed specifically for people

that feel called to start a skate ministry/Bible study.
http://msskateministry.com/bolts/
5 reasons opening an indoor skate park is a bad way to start a skate
ministry:
https://jsaw.org/5-reasons-an-indoor-skate-park-is-a-bad-way-to-start-a-
skate-ministry/

What resources are out there?

Contextualised gospel material e.g. Surfers bible, skaters bible, pro

testimonies, Walking on Water films, Ride Nature film, Nationals
Foundation films.
Leadership Training e.g. Christian Surfers foundations training, Christian
Skaters training, Snowboarding leadership training, YWAM Discipleship
training schools, etc.
Best Practices (gleaning from what others have
done well) e.g. Christian Skaters International
provides information on short-term missions,
serving at secular events, chaplaincy, and
national movements.
For a basic introduction to Action Sports refer to
the training module at the following link -
http://readysetgo.world/en/resource/actionsports.

Action Sports | 25
Who has done this before?

The following are some examples of long-term Action Sports ministries all
of which are networked with the global network ACTS
www.actionsportsministry.org. You are also welcome to contact and
partner with ACTS yourself.
 Global surf ministry since 1993, local since 1977
www.christiansurfers.net
 Global skate network since 2000 www.christianskaters.com

 Global snowboard and skiing organisation since 2005

www.sfc.international
 Combined local expression www.jsaw.org

 National USA wakeboard ministry http://www.wakewell.org/

 YWAM surf DTS since 2006

http://www.ywamperth.org.au/training/christian-surfers-4wd-dts/
 Global network of climbers since 1995 www.solidrockfgbc.org

Action Sports | 26
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