Churches are formulating outreach plans as World Cup draws closer

CONROE—The Church at 242 doesn’t have a lot of members who are soccer fans or who know much about the sport, according to its pastor, Dennis Parish.

That didn’t stop the church from jumping at the chance to get involved with a statewide outreach planned to coincide with the FIFA World Cup this summer.

“Our church is not a soccer church,” Parish said. “We don’t have a lot of folks who play soccer, but for us, the idea is to make connections with folks who do.”

The Church at 242 participated in one of two outreach trainings hosted in April by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. The trainings provided churches with tools and training needed to conduct outreaches in the Dallas and Houston areas, where World Cup matches will be held in June and July.

The arrival of the World Cup has energized local fans, and officials are estimating more than 1 million people from around the globe will come to the Lone Star State to watch matches. It creates a unique opportunity to make a global gospel impact without leaving the state.

“People from every corner of the globe will be in Texas,” SBTC Missional Ministries Senior Strategist Tony Mathews said, “and churches have a rare opportunity to share the hope of the gospel face-to-face with those who might never walk into our buildings on a normal Sunday.”

Hosting a World Cup block party will allow The Church at 242 to connect with people in the rapidly expanding city of Conroe, where some sources have estimated a 40% population surge since the 2020 census. That has pushed the city’s population to well over 100,000 residents.

“We’ve got 6,000 new homes being built as fast as they can be built,” Parish said. “Two weeks ago, we connected with 19 new homes where people moved in just over the past three weeks. I met a family that had just moved here from Coppell, but they’re from Africa. I met a man who just moved here from Hershey, Penn. The world is coming to us, and we just have to be ready.”

Parish added that church members plan to use the new GOAL evangelism tract developed by the SBTC to share the gospel with block party attendees.

Farther north, Genuine Faith Community Church in Greenville is among the churches planning an evangelistic soccer camp. Church members have been learning how to start spiritual conversations and how to use the one-verse evangelism method to share the saving message of Christ. As a follow-up, camp attendees and their families will be invited to participate in a Bible school at the church later this summer.

“There is an excitement here,” said Mark Bird, a member at Genuine Faith who is heading up the effort to host a soccer camp. “It’s all been very positive, and that’s a good thing.”

Mathews said it’s not too late for more churches to get involved with the effort to host or participate in a World Cup outreach. Interested churches can:

• Explore training videos and browse evangelistic resources at the SBTC Resource Webstore to begin shaping a World Cup outreach project.
• Connect with an SBTC regional project manager who can walk alongside your church, whether you’re planning your own event or partnering with another church, by emailing tmathews@sbtexas.com.
• Complete an interest form to get started. Indicate your interest in a missional grant on the form if your church would like additional support for outreach efforts.