The Best Five Activities with which to Launch a Church-based Adventure Sports Ministry
And why you may not choose them
After 25 years of running Bayside Adventure Sports, the first fully functioning church-based adventure sports ministry, I would like to share my perspective on what I believe are five of the best activities/sports to focus on when starting up a ministry like this. These can work for any size church and don’t need a full time staff to oversee. I do recommend having at least a part-time employee overseeing the ministry, though, because if you launch with these activities and have plans for them to continue throughout the year, and you promote them early and well, then you will have far more supervision needed over the volunteer leaders than another volunteer will normally be able to offer. But that’s another article (look through the others on my page). OK, here are my suggestions!
Family Camping Trips – these weekend or longer car-camping trips can connect whole families together or a group of adults and offer multiple days together which always results in stronger relationship building. There are many people who can help host a family camping trip when the total attendance is kept to no more than 20 people. Yes, some churches do family camping trips already as their biggest annual event and those are usually run by the church staff. Keep those going! But add smaller camping trips 6 to 8 times a year and watch the ministry grow! These are great opportunities to which to invite new non-church families. I will post a whole article on tons of ideas for getting the most out of camping trips, including great devotional ideas for around the campfire and meals that are easy to offer and easy to clean up! Camping trips are the best!!!
Hiking/Snowshoeing – Almost everyone can hike! Hikes can easily be offered with beginner to advanced levels and can last from 30 minutes to several weeks like the international trips I have led climbing Kilimanjaro, Everest Base Camp, Machu Picchu, The Via Alpina in Switzerland, etc. Hiking requires the minimum of gear, a good pair of shoes, a daypack and a water bottle. Hiking is super relational because people can talk while they walk. As people advance in their skills and fitness, walking can turn to hiking and can aim at summiting mountains, backpacking, trekking, and snowshoeing for the winter. Snowshoeing does take an experienced leader, extra gear and clothing and knowledge of safe conditions, but it’s a logical winter option that many have never tried.
Kayaking/SUPs – Also highly relational because people can paddle together, talk while on the water, and easy to learn, the paddling sports are very popular. Many already own kayaks and SUPs if they live near a good water source, and good quality used gear is readily available. Our paddling sports have been going for over 25 years now and there is always a new flat water location to try out. Our group also began offering Kayak Camping Trips where they kayaked across a lake to “boat-in” camp sights. Super cool! And as you get Camping Trips going for families, including the paddling sports is always a plus! If your church or leaders can purchase a few inflatable SUPs, then advertising that you have them available encourages people to come and try out the sport and connect with the group.
Mountain Biking – Because it’s safer to mountain bike with others and often people don’t know the trails, people like to find others of approximately the same skill levels with whom to ride. Beginner and intermediate rides are the most in demand but often the leaders of the sport are advanced riders and find themselves riding together multiple times a month. Good mountain bikes are important and unfortunately expensive but allowing people with improperly maintained or poor quality bikes only leads to frustrating experiences for all, so we recommend starting and building this division with restrictions on the bikes. Mountain bikers connect best before, after, and during rest stops since typical mountain biking is on single track trails not ideal for talking while riding.
Shooting – Shooting Sports are actually enjoyed by many people and shooting enthusiasts enjoy shooting with others. Handgun classes, trap and skeet shooting with shotguns, and safety courses taught by friendly people for all firearms are very popular. People don’t actually shoot that long (ammo is expensive!) so these events work well for combining with a lunch combined which gives more time for connecting and relationship development.
Why you may not choose these five to start with? You may not have volunteer leaders identified or even exist in your church for some of these sports and instead, you may have some great volunteers ready to lead well in other sports, so go with the sports you have great volunteers available! A great leader will take any sport or ministry to epic levels. Encourage and reinforce the behavior of the great leaders at your church!
Also, you may have other sports that are more popular in the area your ministry is located. Go with the sports that are obviously more popular for your area or your church. I will post, in the near future, my suggestions for how to really refine how to do each of these sports for your church. Please subscribe and share these resources with your church leaders!