Towards a normative theological foundation as a Manifesto for sports ministry leaders

Abstract

The central focus of this article is to show that a normative theological foundation for sports ministry leaders as a Manifesto should be developed. Seeking a normative theological foundation for sports ministry is a relatively new field of research. Most authors on the subject acknowledge that the sports ministry movement has developed without a clearly articulated theology of sport. The aim of this article is, therefore, to develop a normative theological foundation to address this challenge. This is conducted through providing a short exposition of five passages of Scripture that may be used as points of departure and contribute towards a Manifesto for sports ministry leaders. For each of the five passages the focus is on three primary elements of the exegesis, namely, a) why the passage was chosen, b) the relevance of the passage for sports ministry leaders today, and c) basic theological principles that can be derived from each pericope. Finally, the article proposes a normative theological Manifesto (derived from the exposition of the five passages) for sports ministry leaders that will be able to guide and help to equip them for a sustainable sports ministry.