How a Church of 30 Impacted 1,400 Kids Through Sports Ministry

THE CHURCH
Harvest Fields Community Church in Deatsville, Alabama

THE CHALLENGE
A community of families had few recreational opportunities.

ONE BIG IDEA
Plant a church with a focus on sports outreach.

Over the 17-year life of Harvest Fields Community Church in Deatsville, Alabama, around 1,400 of the community’s kids have been impacted through the church’s sports and recreation ministry. And the church is comprised of only 30 people.

From its earliest days, the people of Harvest Fields knew that God had called the church to be intentionally small and focused on a specific ministry: sports and recreation, in an area that had a lack of outdoor recreational opportunities. According to Pastor Dave Hicks, a few years after planting, the church acquired 10 acres of land, which was arguably more important for its ministry than the building it would construct there.

Over time, Harvest Fields has become its community’s go-to place to get outside for fun by adding a quarter-mile walking track and facilities for kite-flying and more. They have installed backstops for baseball games, and a disc golf course is underway. The church also partners with Upward Sports to run its own soccer, flag football and cheer leagues.

“[The community knows] their kids are going to get the opportunity to hear the good news,” explains Hicks. “And we’ve got coaches who are committed to teaching not just the skills needed for sports, but the skills needed for life.”

Every church member helps in Harvest Fields’ signature ministry, from cutting the grass to praying for the families on each season’s sports rosters. And the church partners with community members who serve as coaches and in other volunteer positions.

“I believe that if every person in the church is actually working actively in the ministry of the church there’s so much more churches can do than they can imagine,” Hicks reflects. “That’s really the challenge we’ve laid out for our members and the vision we’ve cast.”

He estimates that in the last three years alone about 100 kids have given their lives to Christ through the church’s sports leagues.

“We focus on the ministry of the church as a community, not as a single church body,” Hicks emphasizes. “And that’s really one of the key purposes when we get kids and their families involved in our sports programs. We don’t just encourage them to go to our church, but go to a church. Because of that, we have seen numerous kids and families come to Christ due to the work we’re doing. That’s the reward for us: not necessarily building our local system, but building the kingdom.”

Jessica Hanewinckel