“Knowing Christ is the best thing that has ever happened to me, although winning the US Open was a pretty good second.”
The Applicability Of Sports Ministry In Korean Churches: A Case Study Of The Hosanna Soccer Mission Team
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Of Pyonganeui Church, HWANG, Yo Han, Wesley Theological Seminary, D.Min.: 2014
The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility of church-growth through evangelical ministry through sports amid the special circumstances of the Korean church, and to present to the contemporary churches of the 21st century about the applicability of evangelical sports ministry.
According to the abstract: “The author researched the possibility of church-growth through evangelical sports ministry. In the process, the unique circumstances of the Korean church and the applicability of the ministry were considered. Based on the surveys administered to486 laymen and 104 pastors and the case study of the Hosanna Soccer Mission Team of Pyonganeui Church which has been in operation in for 23 years, the author concluded that sports ministry is helpful for church-growth and for leading a mature Christian life. The applications of need-centered evangelical strategies and the sports ministry is a good model for reaching out to non-believers were suggested”.
The author concludes that “sports can be used as a vital medium which connects churches with the world, and believers with non-believers” and that sports are a “wonderful evangelical tool”. He reports that the Hosanna Soccer Mission of Pyunganeui Church has welcomed countless young adults back to church since its founding in January 1990 with at least 30 new believers being added to the church every year from the soccer field resulting in the church doubling its Sunday attendance.
The thesis also notes how Korea pioneered sports mission through Taekwondo instructors going abroad.