Baylor sports ministry programs train tomorrow’s athletic chaplains

Sports are great. Competition is great. Conference championships and national titles are great. But it can be easy to forget what — who, really — is greater than all that.

With that in mind, Baylor began by hiring a full-time athletic chaplain, Wes Yeary (BA ’87), in 2008. Three years later, they took another step — launching a complete program for training athletic chaplains at Truett Seminary. Graduates earn a full Master of Divinity degree with an emphasis in sports ministry; the goal is to prepare chaplains to be “a faithful presence of Christ in the culture of sport.”

The idea of a program dedicated to sports ministry is pretty new to the United States, and Baylor’s program remains one of just a handful nationwide. And while chaplains have often been looked at as the “rabbit’s foot” of sports teams, the need they fill is very real. “The heavy emphasis on winning at any cost takes a real toll on people who have a God-given talent for sports,” says Dr. John White, who heads Truett’s sports chaplaincy/ministry program. “There are ethical problems in sports that most ministers don’t think of… While you want to be a Good Samaritan, you also want to be a prophet bringing direction in a culture in which things have been mis-valued, devalued and overvalued.”

Baylor’s program has not gone unnoticed. White — a former Athletes in Action staffer, top-level amateur bicyclist and sports chaplain for various colleges and Colorado’s Olympic Training Center — was recently was one of 100 scholars and practitioners from around the world invited to the Vatican for an international seminar on “Church and Sport.” Pope Francis himself has met with numerous athletes and representatives around the world and, like White, sees sports as a platform through which Christian athletes can minister to their teammates, their fans, and, potentially, the world.

Closer to home, the Truett M.Div. program isn’t the only option for Baylor students. Last month, about a dozen Baylor football and basketball players completed a course on sports ministry taught by John’s wife, Cindy, an Athletes in Action staff member. And many more student-athletes completed this year’s Ultimate Training Camp, which focuses on integrating faith into sports and reminding Christian athletes who they play for.

Sic ’em, Baylor chaplains and student-athletes!