Having church in a ballpark

“Do good things for the city where I sent you as captives. Pray to the Lord for the city where you are living, because if good things happen in the city, good things will happen to you also” (Jeremiah 29:7 NCV).

We had church at the ballpark last night. I’ve agreed to be the team chaplain for our local baseball team, the Wilson Tobs. The Tobs play in the Coastal Plain League, a NCAA sanctioned collegiate summer baseball league. They have college players from all over the U.S. spending their summer with us in Wilson.

Last night, I had the honor of throwing out the first pitch. Catcher, Heath Holliday (#5 talking to me in the photo above) made me look good, saying, “Good pitch Pastor. That one definitely caught the inside corner!” Heath is from Oklahoma City, OK.

Around 100 WCCers showed up in the sweltering heat (+90 degrees) to support the team. Our worship band, led by my son Stephen, offered an hour of worship music as people entered the stadium before game time. I preached a short sermon on the Lord’s Prayer from home plate to those gathered in the stands. Our own Talia Jernigan sang the National Anthem. And after the game, Bobby Pittman led a WCC crew that provided a postgame meal of chicken pastry for both teams.

“Have you ever had chicken pastry?” I asked my new friend Heath from Oklahoma.

“No sir. I can’t say that I have.” He answered.

“Oh, you’ll love it.” I said, while patting him on the shoulder.

Some might wonder why we would take our church to the ballpark on a Wednesday night, but we love taking our church to the city. Sure, it was hard work and terribly hot and we’re not sure if we made an impact or not. But we do know that we did our best to “do good for our city.”

We are praying to the Lord for our city. We want people to come to Christ in Wilson. When we see all of these young baseball players from all over the U.S. coming to our city, we sense an even more strategic call to share the gospel with them. They could carry the good news to their home towns too.

Tomorrow I’m returning to the ball field to hold a short devotion with the team before another home game. I’m praying that these young men will be open to spiritual things and that God will speak through me. I think it might be easier now that they’ve seen us having church in a ballpark.