{"id":2614,"date":"2008-10-30T19:39:29","date_gmt":"2008-10-30T19:39:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=2614"},"modified":"2010-12-22T11:57:58","modified_gmt":"2010-12-22T16:57:58","slug":"6671","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/10\/30\/6671\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You Ready for Some Football? Or Just Talk?"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT DODGE, IA (October 30, 2008) \u2013 First Covenant Church<\/a> pastor Robert Sabin and his wife, Sharon, wanted to connect with the students who attend Iowa Central Community College, which is located directly across the street from their parsonage. She came up with an idea that was wonderful in its simplicity and has proven effective.
\n
\nSharon suggested they host a Monday Night Football gathering each week. How could Robert say no to that?<\/p>\n

So prior to the 2007 season, the Sabins painted the basement, but left a six-foot area white to use as a screen onto which they could project the game. Throw in some couches and a few snacks, and a ministry was born.<\/p>\n

Each Monday night during football season, 10 to 20 students gather together at the Sabin\u2019s home. \u201cIt\u2019s a great way to be relational with them, to plug into their lives,\u201d Robert says.<\/p>\n

Robert doesn\u2019t always get to watch the game, but he doesn\u2019t mind. \u201cSometimes I\u2019ll see only five minutes of a game because I\u2019m counseling or chatting with students,\u201d he says. Recently, he never even made it to the basement because he was counseling.<\/p>\n

The Monday night events also have enabled the Sabins to reach out to students who otherwise would not attend First Covenant. \u201cWe\u2019ve gotten a bunch of students that this was their introduction to the church,\u201d Robert says.<\/p>\n

Robert encourages other congregations to start a similar outreach. \u201cIt\u2019s really something simple that anyone can do,\u201d he says. If nothing else, he adds, \u201cIt guarantees that once a week you will clean the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FORT DODGE, IA (October 30, 2008) \u2013 First Covenant Church pastor Robert Sabin and his wife, Sharon, wanted to connect with the students who attend Iowa Central Community College, which is located directly across the street from their parsonage. She came up with an idea that was wonderful in its simplicity and has proven effective.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAre You Ready for Some Football? 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