Believers in England, Poland and Switzerland describe how churches connect football and the gospel and point to players known for being committed Christians

The eyes of millions of football fans in Europe are nervously following the three daily group matches, as 24 countries brought their best players to Germany.

A “national religion” or “identity”

Among those who follow the competition in detail is Chris Redfearn, an English missionary and theology student, who has a hobby of visiting as many stadiums as possible.

“Football is almost the national religion in England”, he tells Evangelical Focus. “Cities like mine, Newcastle, have the stadium on the hill in the middle of the city and the worshippers troop up in their colours each Saturday to sing praises and to hope for a joyful experience that distracts them from difficult things in life”.

The European and World Cups also create a lot of expectation, although in England they often end in disappointment, he says. “The song ‘It’s coming home’, a prayer-like anthem about our hope of winning despite our complete ineptitude, plays all month long”, he says sarcastically.

Reality strikes when England gets knocked out, “and then we talk about how disappointing it all is… This is a routine that has played out every couple of years since 1966”.

In Poland, too, football moves the country in occasions like the Euro. “Football has been and is still a part of Polish identity”, explains Remek Neumann, a magazine publisher and Baptist pastor.

He proudly points to the “worldwide known players” who have come out of Poland, such as striker Robert Lewandoski or goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek. This year, “we are cheering and hoping that we finally get to the 1/8 finals”.

They also have aspirations in Switzerland, the small central European country whose football team is considered a contender to rub shoulders with the best.

“There is great interest in Euro 2024 here”, Florian Wüthrich, director of the news website Livenet.ch tells Evangelical Focus.

Bringing diverse people together to watch the game

All agree that the Euro is an opportunity to foster community.

In Switzerland, Wüthrich notes that believers organise “small initiatives, mostly public viewings of matches”.

“In my church, I invite friends and guys from church over for the game nights and we watch them together”, says Remek from Poland.

In England, “for a long time Christians have used sports events to invite friends to come to church to watch and then hear a gospel talk at half-time or after the game, usually related with the game”, says Redfearn, “people also run quizzes and hand out tracts that are related to the tournament”.

“In fact”, he continues, “I became a life-long Arsenal fan when my dad brought me with him to do an evangelistic talk for the FA Cup final in 1998”.

Committed Christians on the pitch

As in all elite sports, also in European football there are players known for their outspoken faith. This is the case of Chris Führich of Germany (“I read the Bible and pray a lot”), Olivier Giroud of France (“I pray on the pitch before every game and after every goal as well”) or Cody Gapko in the Netherlands (“I like to go to church and read many books about the faith”).

In England, one of the stars stands out for his Christian faith, explains Chris: “Bukayo Saka, our doggedly determined and permanently joyful right winger has told the media he reads his bible daily and that his faith is really important to him”.

Florian, in Switzerland, points to the already experienced Ruben Vargas, who spoke clearly about his faith in an interview just before this championship. “I’ve found strength for my life in my faith”, he toldwebsite Watson, adding that his whole family is Christian, and that he attends “church activities once or twice a week”.

“Also Breel Embolo is clearly on the way with Christ”, says the journalist, whose Christian media group has put together an European championship special about faith and football with testimonies from Christian footballers, which was freely distributed to 100,000 readers at Pentecost.

Football connected to mission

Other well-organised initiatives link their Christians with a passion for football and evangelism.

“Christians in Sport do a great job of equipping sports fans with tools to use to share their faith”, in England, says Redfearn. “A very high quality quiz is produced each year for churches to put on. Alongside the quiz there is a winsome gospel presentation”.

“Many churches also run social football games for people to bring mates to so they can build friendships and hope for gospel opportunities. There is even a church football league in many cities in England with the requirement of a certain percentage from each team being non-believers”.

In Switzerland, Florian also sees such chances. “We work with the German-speaking ministry Fussball mit Vision(Football with Vision), which collects videos of testimonies of Christian football start to share on social media”.

In Poland, what works well in Christian contexts, says Reumann, are “summer camps for youth who love football”.

Credit: evangelicalfocus.com

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