How can Elim be really good news in the footballing community?

Robin Greenwood introduces a sports charity that works with local churches to reach out to people through their love of football

INTRO by Mark Greenwood, Director of Elim Evangelism
Okay, so a little bit of fatherly pride here; my daughter Robin was part of the England U18s training squad of the six nations. She did athletics from a very young age and got to a pretty high standard. She is gifted and really enjoys sport and so she’s really intentional on merging her two real passions in life – sport and God.

She’s been involved in leading sports programmes at Limitless Festival, Big Church Festival, DTI, to name just a few. As part of this, she has been working with Bridge the Gap Football and she has seen first-hand the difference gospel-focused sport can make.

Bridge the Gap Football is more than just a kickabout with your mates. It’s a welcoming, passionate, supportive environment centred around a love for God, football and others, writes Robin Greenwood, Events Intern at Bridge the Gap Football, a national Christian sports charity partnered with Alpha.

Bridge the Gap (BTG) Football works with local churches to train and equip volunteers to run local footballing communities for men, women and youth in towns and cities across the UK. The charity is partnered with the Alpha Course (an Elim strategic partner), providing a means to share and explore faith on and off the pitch.

The football ministry was founded in 2019 by Tristan Lury, a former coach at Southampton FC. His passion for football and Jesus launched two football sites on the south coast and this now reaches more than 25-plus locations across England and Wales.

The first national men’s tournament, held in 2021, saw 12 teams fight it out for the BTG cup. This year’s attendance almost tripled that, seeing 32 teams come together in two streams, with Nottingham taking home the plate and Bournemouth winning the cup for the second year running. Some 300 men from 26 locations pulled on football boots, shared testimonies and ate burgers.

It was a joy to see players from all backgrounds come together over football and shake hands with one another, win or lose.

It’s also a joy to talk to many of those involved in BTG about their faith journey. It won’t take long to hear an encouraging story of God at work! James Delve, now co-leading the growing Southampton community, came to know God personally through BTG. A friend made through the weekly football sessions invited him to Alpha and the community formed around the shared love of football helped illustrate what a life with God could look like.

During the day after this year’s tournament, we received a message from a BTG location which only started a few months ago, letting us know that one of the players had come to church the next day and given his life to Jesus. It’s stories like these that are at the heart of what Bridge the Gap does – we aim to build relationships, develop leaders and see lives transformed by Jesus. Whether you have a church football group or would like to start one up, Bridge the Gap can help your church be really good news in your local community. If you would like to explore what Bridge the Gap could look like in your church and city, please get in touch.

For more information about Bridge the Gap, click here.

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.

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