BRENTWOOD — Growing up, Aaron Bryant may have dreamed of playing in the NFL, but his family would’ve never dreamed of skipping church.
Bryant was part of the Tennessee Titans when they made the Super Bowl in 1999. Despite playing multiple sports in high school, he says he rarely missed church services because of it.
“Primarily, my parents prioritized corporate worship for our family and established a precedent that our time with our church family on Sunday mornings was more important than anything else,” he said.
Today, Bryant is the teaching pastor at the Church at Avenue South in Nashville, and like many pastors, sees some families missing because of sports.
A Lifeway Research study of both U.S. Protestant pastors and churchgoers found most in both groups believe it’s OK to miss church occasionally for a kid’s game or travel sporting event, but those in the pews are laxer on the issue than those behind the pulpit.
“Our culture no longer expects large numbers of people to be in church each week, so increasingly other events are also scheduled on Sundays,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research.
“Families whose kids play sports often have to choose between attending church or being with their team.”
Pastoral perspective
More than one in three U.S. Protestant pastors (36 percent) say it’s never okay to skip a weekly worship service for kid’s games or travel sporting events, but almost three in five (58 percent)) see at least some allowance for missing in those circumstances. Around three in 10 (29 percent)) believe it’s acceptable once or twice a year. A quarter (26 percent) say a few times a year, while three percent say many times a year. Another six percent say they aren’t sure.
Regardless of how accepting their pastor may be, Bryant said families often feel overwhelmed by all their tasks and events and feel as if they need to make a choice.
“Unfortunately, for the children, when they choose to eliminate something from their schedules, it’s often corporate worship involvement so they can continue to remain involved with team sports,” he said.
Recent research indicates this may have accelerated for families after the pandemic. A report published by the Aspen Institute found children ages 6-18 spent an average of 13.6 hours per week playing sports, including 4.6 hours of practice and 3.7 hours of competition before COVID-19.
While those all dropped during the pandemic, by September 2022, children were involved in sports for 16.6 hours per week, with 8.1 hours of practice and 3.7 hours of competition. According to Wintergreen Research, travel sports has grown into a $39 billion-a-year industry and is projected to reach $72 billion by 2029.
Despite some potential conflicts, Bryant said he and his wife encourage their children to be involved in sports and extra-curricular activities, but they discuss together how it might affect their family.
When advising other parents, Bryant said he would encourage them to affirm their child’s desire to be involved in sports even if it does involve some travel. “Sports mirror the game of life, and our kids can learn perseverance, accountability, hard work, humility, teamwork and much more from sports,” he said.
“However, I would caution all parents to count the cost and the impact that sports will have on their child’s spiritual development, the impact it will have on their marriage, finances, etc.”
Justin Terrell, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Dandridge, agreed with that assessment. “The high levels of commitment required to participate in the modern travel-ball culture really forces families to make a choice about what is most important in life,” he said.
Having formerly served as a pastor in Atlanta, he observed that choosing between sports and church was more of an issue there than it has been in Dandridge, but it does still occur.
He opined that missing church occasionally for a tournament “is understandable, and no different than a family going on a summer vacation,” but “when it frequently removes families from the life of the church, it’s a serious problem.”
Terrell encouraged parents to think about priorities. “Ninety-nine percent of children most likely will never play professional sports but they will all face eternity.”
View from the pews
Based on their perspective on missing services, many churchgoers see the potential impact differently than their pastors. Fewer than one in five U.S. Protestant churchgoers (18 percent) say it is never OK to skip church for kid’s sports. Around three in four (74 percent) believe it’s acceptable at least occasionally, including 22 percent who say once or twice a year, 39 percent a few times a year and 13 percent many times a year. Another nine percent) say they aren’t sure.
For churchgoers who do decide to miss because of sports, Bryant encourages the whole family to capitalize on the opportunity. “Perhaps you will be able to share the gospel with someone on the team, or another parent, who would otherwise never attend a worship service,” he said. “But those gospel engagements won’t happen accidentally, so you’ll have to be proactive and intentional.”
Bryant says they are working to equip and encourage parents at the Church at Avenue South, and they’ve seen some results. “Some parents are now embracing more than ever that all 168 hours in a week are important for reinforcing biblical truths, not just taking their children to church for one hour of corporate worship on Sundays,” he said.
“Some are repurposing the time they have with their children, whether in the car during the trip or around the team hotel to invest the gospel in their children.” B&R — For more information, visit LifewayResearch.com and type travel sports in the search bar. Lonnie Wilkey contributed to this article.