In our community, big changes are happening with regards to kids and Sunday mornings. It has nothing to do with PowerPoint during children's time, contemporary music in the Sunday School or even the fact we've replaced the term "Sunday School" with something more sleek and user-friendly. Rather, it's happening down at the local ice rink, where the adult men's hockey league is getting bumped to make way for more youth hockey time.

You see, in our community, as in many others, Sunday morning has been sacred, set aside as a time when young people could be with their families in church. Sports leagues and community clubs honoured that time slot and the role it played in developing young people of character and integrity.

But now, with the popularity of sports rising, and the practice of parents to over-program their children doing the same, that sense of Sundays being off-limits is no longer a concession sports leagues want to make. What happened in the retail world with stores being open on Sundays is happening in the realm of youth sports, and churches are suffering because of it.

At our church, and many like it, sports programs have long been cast as the enemy to church involvement:

"If little Johnny weren't so committed to hockey, his family might show up at church once in a while."

"Suzie's not at Sunday School today; there must be another tournament this weekend."

That stance, however, is a far-too easy and far-too-negative cop-out for churches to adopt. What we ought to do is think of creative and faithful ways to reach out to kids and youth using the very techniques sports programs employ to attract, inspire and build up youth athletes. Sports are not the problem in kids' lives rather, the decisions families make around programming and how they use their time are what lead young people towards Christ or away from him.

Sports actually have the potential to be a redeeming force in a young person's life. The field or the ice rink has long been described as a microcosm of the challenges a person faces in life. Will you back down under pressure? How will you work with others? How will you respond to disappointment? How will you behave in victory? All of these are challenges kids have to face in their life, and all of these are things we need Christ's light to see clearly.

Many churches and para-church groups are now developing sports ministries as a way to connect young athletes with the Gospel. From hockey leagues to soccer tournaments to volleyball camps and rugby clinics, churches far and wide are tapping into kids' love of the game and desire to compete. Often the emphasis in these programs is not on winning, but on fair play, team building and sportsmanship. Kids who take part in sports ministries often find their experience a lot more fun because of the emphasis placed on these aspects by Christian leaders.

Sports ministries often take time out to teach aspects of the faith as well, and many use high profile Christian athletes to tell their stories. Kids who are into sports are usually very observant of athletic role models, and we in the church have many in our midst who can inspire youth both on and off the field. Look at Christians like Pinball Clemons or Darryl Sittler and you will find role models who are willing and able to show kids Christ through sports.

If we in the church are to view sports not as the enemy but as a tool that can be redeemed in order to bring kids to Christ, we need to change a few things about our programming. We need to hold our buildings a little looser-you can't have a baseball ministry and not expect a few broken windows. We need to expand our programming past Sunday mornings-find times and places that allow families to make faithful sporting decisions. And we need to take Christ into the sphere of the sports community-get some church folks to volunteer at the community hockey tournament; bless the sports leagues in your area.

For too long, families with kids have had to choose between sports and church. With faith, courage, creativity and hard work, we can take Christ into the world of sports so that families can have both.