We Go to Church, and it's not about Baseball

Clovis Hills Community Church, Clovis, California

Jeremy Affeldt took an interesting theological stance on the Parable of the Sheep and Goats from Matthew 25. “The Son of Man on the Throne said, ‘Giants fans to the right and Dodgers fans to the left.’” People laughed, and Affeldt joked, “I’ve got the stage, I can do what I want.”

Affeldt pitched for the Kansas City Royals, the Colorado Rockies, and the Cincinnati Reds, but now that he’s retired, he’ll always be closely related to the San Francisco Giants, because it was as a setup pitcher that he earned his three World Series rings.

He was joking, of course. The Dodgers had fan representation in the house: Scott Hinman (“I’m one of the pastors here at Clovis Hills Community Church”) admitted, when he introduced Affeldt, that he was a Dodger fan. Hinman received some booing when he made that admission. Good natured kidding of the Dodgers continued as Affeldt spoke, particularly about Dodger pitcher Clayton Kershaw (“Kershaw has Cy Young Awards, which is cute; but it’s not a championship.”)

Obviously, many people were there because a major league player was speaking. That’s why we were there, too. We’d heard he’d be speaking from an Bonnie, who’s read this blog and contacted us months ago to visit a church together. She mentioned she’d be attending Saturday night’s service, and we asked if we could join her.*  

So Mindy and I drove out to Clovis on a dark autumn evening. The church campus is in a less developed part of town, so the large, lighted building stands out from a distance. The first time visitor parking spots were all full, but we found parking pretty nearby. We bypassed the Dutch Brothers coffee truck in front of the church (I didn't bypass the cookies right inside the door. Rice Krispies treats and chocolate chip were options.) We didn’t bypass the greeters at the door, who were quite friendly and hard to miss.

I took a seat, while Mindy met Bonnie. There was a good crowd, I’d guess about a thousand people there in the service.

During the announcements, Derek, the high school pastor, announced a high school baptism service coming soon. “If you’re in high school and say, ‘I don’t like going to my parents’ church’, well we have a service just for you.”

Several groups had teamed together with the church to bring Affeldt to speak at the church, including the Central Valley Justice Coalition, Breaking the Chains, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Affeldt told some of his life story. He grew up in Merced (about an hour from Fresno); playing the game from a young age. He remembered his father taking him to the Oakland Coliseum for an A’s game, watching Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco play (who looked like such big guys to him back in the day, and now he understands why they were so big). He remembered telling his dad he would play on that field someday, and one day, before a game, he called his dad from the field to say he was just about to play there.

But not all was well in his major league career. When he’d played for the Kansas City Royals, the team was not playing well, and he wasn’t pitching well. He didn’t like what he was doing, though when you tell people “I hate my job” they tend to be surprised when they learn you play major league baseball. He was happy when he was traded to the Colorado Rockies, and it was in Denver that God made a great change in his life.

Affeldt took a walk through the city and headed for a Starbucks. A young woman sat in front looking sad and battered. She was lost and scared, and he realized he felt the same. He bought her some food, and he felt happy to help someone. The joy he felt stayed with him as he went to the stadium that day.

He felt purpose as he played that day. He realized he could use his position to speak out for those without a voice; he could provide a platform to lift up those who were hurting. He researched the problem of poverty in the United States and eventually began a nonprofit that included the project, “Something to Eat” with the purpose of feeding children. He also worked to address the problem of those who need water, digging wells in Uganda.

Then Affeldt had another opportunity to change teams, and he wasn’t initially excited, even though playing for San Francisco would allow him to be closer to home and to play for a team that would be a contender. But he admitted that something held him back from wanting to play for the Giants: a fear of the city, which he considered “weird.” He ruefully admitted that homophobia was part of his problem.

Once he came to the Giants, his attitude changed. He was introduced to the problem of human trafficking. In the city, he met young men who had been kicked out of their homes when they came out as gay. Many of them turned to selling themselves to survive. Affeldt looked for ways address the problem and found support from the management and front office of the Giants. The Giants began (and continue to have) a “Not for Sale Day” which addresses the issue of modern slavery. Players were willing to donate a day’s pay to address the problem (which can add up, what with Major League baseball salaries).

Affeldt challenged the crowd at the church to consider how they can be serving Christ in the world. When he finished, Pastor Hinman reinforced the message by saying that at Clovis Hills, they try to remind people that they don’t “come to church.” They are the church, sent out to do Christ’s work in the world.

After the message, there was another video to present the ministry of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Started in the 1950’s, one its founders was Branch Rickey of Dodgers fame. The organization uses sports as a tool for spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The overall message of the evening for Dodgers fans and Giants fans -- and even those who don’t care about baseball -- can do the work of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the prisoner; in general, meeting the needs of the needy. It’s a giant task, but it’s not one the church can dodge. (Sorry about that.)

*A sidebar: it was great to meet Bonnie. We’d love to meet you, too, especially if you know of an interesting ministry we could visit with you. We’d love to visit it with you. Just contact us through DeanandMindyGotoChurch@gmail.com.)

We Go to Church at a Ball Park

Easter at Chukchansi Park, Fresno

“Did you put on any lotion?” one redheaded woman asked of another. The question would be quite odd in the worship center on an average Sunday at the Bridge Church, but it made sense on a sunny day at Chukchansi Park, the home of the Grizzlies in downtown Fresno --  and the location of this Sunday worship service. There had been concern about rain on Easter morning or excessive heat, but instead the day was sunny, near 70 degrees, with a light breeze as the morning warmed up. So the fair skinned were justly concerned about the sun.

Months ago The Bridge decided to celebrate the Resurrection outside church walls. The slogan for the church is “A Church for the Valley,” and Pastor Andrew Smith said the service was being held at this iconic venue of the Valley to carry out that call. Hundreds of volunteers contributed hours to the project decorating the stadium, preparing lunch and activities after the service, and promoting the event beforehand. Smith said, “This is the church mobilized to help and love people.”

In the weeks leading to Easter, tickets were available to distribute to friends, family, and neighbors. One didn’t need a ticket to enter the stadium -- they were purely promotional items.

We drove downtown and were directed by a cheery attendant who waved drivers into a stadium parking lot, greeting each carload. As we walked down the street to the stadium, a great number of volunteers in bright green t-shirts pointed the way to the entrance and greeted us with “Good mornings” and “Happy Easters.” When we came to the main gate, people offered first time visitors bags containing promotional material about the church along with tickets for a free hot dog lunch following the service.

Hundreds of chairs faced the stage, which had been set up for a concert at the stadium the night before People steamed down the steps through the stands to take their seats on the field. The service didn’t begin promptly at 10:30 am;  instead, someone announced from the stage that the service would start in five minutes to allow people more time to find their seats. A five minute countdown appeared on the front screen.

The band opened with a song of victory over the grave, but not any of the traditional hymns (“Christ the Lord is Risen Today” or “Up from the Grave He Arose”). People  in Easter Sunday dresses and suits ready for the Easter parade and people in shorts and t-shirts were encouraged to stand and “put their hands together.”  

After several songs and a video about the church, Pastor Andrew Smith came forward to preach, concluding a series on Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness from Matthew 4. He had come to the portion where Satan offered the world to Jesus if He would bow and worship the prince of darkness. “Let’s be honest,” Andrew said (a phrase he often repeats), “What is worship? When we worship we give all we have in hope of getting everything we need.” He said we were made to worship but we often misplace our worship. Our career, money, another person can’t provide all we need. Only God can.

He talked about how we attempt to make that exchange of worship for all that we need. He used the illustration of exchanges made in action movies, of say, money for a person, and how those exchanges never seem to work well. He said in real life our exchanges of devotion for what we need never goes well, when we barter with anyone or thing besides God.

And what do we need, what do we desire? Three things, Smith argued: direction, meaning, and significance. God alone can provide these things. Everything we hope for can be found in Jesus Christ alone.

Smith illustrated how Christ can save a life with a video about a man on the Bridge’s tech staff, Reuben. This man had life without Christ or as he put it, “For years I tried to get Jesus on my team until I realized I need to be on Jesus’ team.” He came to a point in life when he faced a prison sentence, but God miraculously provided release into a drug program instead. After the video, Smith called Reuben forward to the applause of the audience. Smith said that Christ is still changing lives and offered hope for change for those attending. People were asked to talk with the prayer team. With a tent set up on the field, the team would be there throughout the afternoon.

After the sermon, another pastor announced that there were more tickets available for the free lunch, or people could buy lunch from the concession stands, which were opened for the occasion. (The free lunch was a hot dog, a large cookie, a bag of chips, and a bottle of water. We were excited to see the water bottles, because we’d heard in Sunday School that the cost of the bottles might be prohibitive.)

There were Easter egg hunts and egg races for kids, bounce houses, games, and a couple of photo booths. The Bridge wanted to present the abundant life of Easter and I think the hundreds of people who came found it.

(We’ve made a commitment on this blog to go to a new church every week, so you might quite reasonably wonder if that’s what we did this week since The Bridge is the church we’re attending regularly. But the church was meeting in a different place, so that kind of counts, doesn’t it? Also, we did go to a different church during the week, -- a drama on Good Friday at Truth Tabernacle. We’ll write about that next week.)

Statistics

Service Length: 1 hour 6 minutes

Sermon Length: 27 minutes

Visitor Treatment: As we entered the park, people in bright green “VIP Guest Team” tshirts asked if we’d been to The Bridge before, offering a bag of information and a lunch ticket to visitors. During the worship service, guests were welcomed and all (guests and regulars alike) were invited to fill out the connection card at the bottom of the half sheet map and schedule. All were encouraged to participate in the afternoon’s festivities.

Our Rough Count: 2500

Probable Ushers’ Count: 2500

Snacks: coffee for early arrivers, hot dog lunch with water!; concessions included hamburgers, fries, and sodas

Musicians: acoustic guitar (man)

Electric Bass (man)

Electric guitar(man)

Keyboard (woman)

Drums (man)

Percussion (man)

Vocals (4 women, 2 men)

Songs: Passion/Glorious Day

“I am Free”

“Jesus Paid it All/ O Praise the One”

“Jesus is Calling”

“O Come to the Altar”

Distance to Church: 7 miles

Open WiFi: yes
Tie/Suit Count: forgot to count

Church Website: thebridgefresno.com