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Are you ready for The Games?

Published: 03 January 2012

Prepare early!

We anticipate that most people will want to watch the Games while they are on, so plan your events during the build-up when excitement will be mounting and interest high! We don’t recommend trying to complete with the Olympics by holding an event when they are on!

Community and school events

Consider holding guest events with local sporting celebrities, mixing the Christian message with sporting themes. Organise a local church sports day - something lightly competitive and fun for the community.

The local primary school will almost certainly pick up the Olympic themes. What can be done between church and school? Maybe a joint event, assemblies, a special ‘Olympics Prize’ to be given in school awarded by the church!

Consider organising a sports-themed craft day or flower festival, or make a trip to the Manchester Cathedral flower festival (23 to 29 July 2012) which will have an Olympic theme.

Themes for talks or events

Think about the Games themselves and the kinds of activity we will all be watching. Pick up on the bishop’s challenge to ‘Run the Race’ and what that might mean for each of our churches and for us as Christians.

Talk about fitness or practice, about the importance of team, about a good diet and watching our weight and the parallels in Christian living. Athletes talk about having a ‘positive mental attitude’, so could people take up a sport or exercise as an act of spiritual discipline (like fasting – doing something hard sharpens the mind and resolution)? This could be linked to a prayer or worship event and even a Lenten theme.

Help and resources

Visit More Than Gold at www.morethangold.org.uk

Over 30 Christian sports outreach organisations are available to help your church. Visit www.uksportsministries.org