360 Sports Australia<\/a> sits within the wider Fellowship of Christian Athletes, an international ministry established in 1954 and now operating in more than 100 countries.<\/p>\nIn Australia, the work is still relatively new. The ministry launched just over two years ago with a single full-time staff member and has since grown into a small team of four, working across multiple regions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really wanting to disciple Christian athletes so they can be disciple makers in their realm of influence,\u201d Jim said.<\/p>\n
That influence can look very different depending on the person, from local community clubs to high-performance sport. The goal is not to separate those spaces, but to connect faith with everyday experience.<\/p>\n
\nSupporting athletes in real environments\n<\/p>\n
A key part of the ministry is mentoring. Athletes meet regularly with a mentor, often one-on-one, to talk through both their sport and their faith.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe help them grow spiritually,\u201d Jim said, \u201cbut also think about what it looks like in their specific sporting environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
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So far, the ministry has worked with around 35 athletes in performance pathways, including young players identified by professional clubs. The group spans those progressing through junior systems to athletes close to top-level competition, as well as an Olympian and a world champion swimmer.<\/p>\n
Mentors bring a mix of experience across sport, coaching and leadership, with a focus on consistent, practical support.<\/p>\n
\nBuilding momentum across Australia\n<\/p>\n
Growth is also happening through gatherings in different cities. These events bring athletes, coaches and community members together to explore the connection between faith and sport in practical ways.<\/p>\n
The first gathering on the Gold Coast brought together more than 30 participants, from recognised athletes to people involved in local churches and clubs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was fantastic,\u201d Jim said. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing people really catch a glimpse of the vision that God has for their life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Further gatherings are planned in Canberra, Albury, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, with an emphasis on building connected communities rather than large one-off events.<\/p>\n
\nStrengthening connections at the local level\n<\/p>\n
Alongside mentoring and events, 360 Sports Australia is developing closer links with churches and local sporting clubs.<\/p>\n
A pilot program is equipping people already involved in sport to think intentionally about their influence. In one regional example, around 40 Christians connected to a single club came together for training, exploring how they could support one another within that environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think historically there has been a bit of a division,\u201d Jim said. \u201cBut we actually believe sport is a gift\u2026 both to enjoy and as a place to live out faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nA growing opportunity\n<\/p>\n
As the ministry expands, its future depends on people choosing to be involved, whether as athletes, mentors or supporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod wants us to glorify him in all aspects of our lives,\u201d Jim said. \u201cSport is one of those spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n
For those connected to the work, the focus remains simple: not stepping away from sport, but bringing something deeper into it.<\/p>\n
Listen to the full conversation in the player above.<\/p>\n
This article was researched and prepared by Hope 103.2 staff writers, with assistance from AI in its presentation. Final review and fact-checking were undertaken by our Digital Team prior to publication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A growing sports ministry is helping Australians rethink the connection between faith and sport \u2013 not as separate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":697004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4225,64,63,339783,44,588,339784],"class_list":["post-697003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-article","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-chris-jolly","tag-news","tag-sport","tag-sport-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=697003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/697004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=697003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=697003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=697003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}