The Australian Missionary News IPTV caught up with Richard last year in Perth and that interview can be viewed on YouTube.
Richard Pengelley in sports ministry circles is perhaps best known for his "10 Common Questions for a Christian athlete".
These were first published in Western Australia at a 1992 seminar on Christians in sport and then republished in my 1994 book 'No Orchestra, No Trumpet' which detailed the story of establishing the Sports and Leisure Ministry.
There was an Appendix Section to this book which included these 10 Common Questions for a Christian athlete. These are available as a .pdf file and readers can have these emailed to them from Well-Being Australia.
timeout@bushorchestra.com
These 10 Common Questions for Christian Athletes are as follows:
1. How do I relate to non-Christians on my team ?
2. What role should /does prayer play in my preparation ?
3. What can / should I do about dirty play ?
4. Should I play on Sunday ?
5. How do I get both spiritual and physical training in ?
6. What are effective ways to witness to: team mates, coaches, opponents, umpires, spectators
7. How do I cope with winning or losing (and do I prayer for a win) ?
8. What priority should sport have in my life ?
9. What do I do about drinking, swearing, dirty jokes, immorality, institutions or hurtful comments (at me or others) ?
10. I often feel alone as a Christian in my sport. What can this group offer me ?
Soon after I founded the Sports and Leisure Ministry in 1982 and establishing Chaplains in Australia's professional sports, numbers of Christians in sport began contacting me and from this, a network of Christian athletes was established.
These athletes had confidence that this new ministry, (as it functioned under the auspecies of Heads of Churches), they would not have their name exploited, but rather they themselves would be pastored and cared for.
There is always a fine line between evangelism with a Christian athlete as a "model for the Christian cause" and abusing the Christian athlete, as that person is a follower of Jesus needing all the support and encouragement as any other Christian. In some sense more so as they are in the front line of life.
I tended to err on the side of caution and emphasised the pastoral care role, but having said that, many Christian athletes and coaches have accompanied me over these past 29 years on Country Town Tours. Here they minister to regional and rural Australia through schools, youth groups, prisons, service clubs, sports dinners and breakfasts and the like.
If you are a Christian athlete and wish to be linked into like minded athletes and enjoy the wisdom of their experiences, contact me at timeout@bushorchestra.com