Sports and Activity LifeGroups leverage a shared interest to help people in our church find community. While these groups might meet to play a sport, go on a hike, or participate in another shared activity, there’s still an opportunity to grow spiritually and relationally together.

Three Ways to Build Connection

• • Start and end in prayer. Whether you’re preparing for a competitive match of pickleball or going on a lengthy bike ride, your group will always start and end together. You can build connection by opening your time in prayer and asking the Lord to create fun moments of connection, and ending your time in prayer by sharing prayer requests or praise reports.
  • Share a meal. Depending on the activity you’re doing together, you might consider how to incorporate additional fellowship through sharing a meal or snack during your time. This might look like brunch after a Saturday morning run or fueling up with coffee before heading to a service project.
  • Connect throughout the week. You can help people feel connected by creating a group chat that you use between your meeting times. As the leader, give the gift of going first by sharing prayer requests or things you’re learning about God throughout the week. You can also use resources like finds.life.church or the Bible App to engage with spiritual growth content during the week. When you gather, you might take five minutes to share any takeaways before starting your activity.

Creating a Safe and Welcoming Environment
As a LifeGroup Leader for a Sports and Activity group, it’s your responsibility to ensure participants feel safe and welcomed. A few practical ways you can do this include:

• • Selecting “Hobby” as the focus of your group while registering. This ensures your group is both promoted accurately and tracked correctly.
  • Setting clear expectations on where you’ll meet, how long your group will last, and any equipment participants need to provide for themselves.
  • Consistently sharing game rules or safety guidelines, especially for activities that might traditionally be considered “contact sports.”
  • Reiterating that the goal of your LifeGroup is to build connection, not competition.

Participant Activity Release Form
Every LifeGroup participant must complete a Participant Activity Release Form for groups involving sports or higher-risk physical activity. Please scan the QR code below and bookmark the form for easy access. This will make it easy for you to help new participants fill out the form. 

If you’re not sure whether this will be necessary for your group, please connect with your Community Pastor before starting your group.