School is back in session! And in Colorado, this means that chaplaincy takes on a bit of a different vein through high school. For me, 2018 marks the sixth consecutive season of working with the Boys Soccer Program at Valor Christian High School. This year, again, I will serve as chaplain for the Varsity Boys Soccer Team. Valor is one of the top private schools in Colorado and perhaps the country with an emphasis on college-preparatory level work and excellence in all things from academics, arts, athletics, and more. Chaplaincy at Valor, though, is different from chaplaincy amongst professional soccer. Some of the unique aspects of working with the Valor community include, first, the Christian environment and values that Valor

More than a cliché, Soccer Chaplains United has a 2020 vision and it's big. Recently, I was preparing a grant request and as I was dialoguing with friend and fellow chaplain, Ben Dudley in Portland, he suggested the catchphrase could be more, especially with how we are poised to grow. Since changing our name last year, we have seen increased opportunities to explore the development of chaplaincy across all levels of the sport. Whether at the youth club level or all the way up to the professional leagues, our aim and vision is to grow chaplains to serve the thousands of soccer clubs and organizations. It's a huge vision. Maybe it's too big! So for this next year, as we

It was a tough Thursday morning. Our board conference call the night before hadn't gone as well as I had hoped. Technical difficulties. A warm summer evening. And then the financial news. A mid-year shortfall due to our quickening pace of growth. I left feeling a bit discouraged. The next day, a meeting with church partner, Highline Community Church and a representative from the Missions Committee. I wasn't sure what the meeting was about. Would the church end their financial support? Were they looking for an update? What encouraging news could I give them especially with last night's call? I grumbled a bit as I plugged a few coins into the parking meter. Why are we meeting here? There goes more

Ever since rebranding last fall, Soccer Chaplains United has been experiencing a tremendous amount of growth and opportunity. Last year, at the time of rebranding, the Portland Timbers chaplains joined Soccer Chaplains United as well as the organization's first collegiate chaplain at Moody Bible Institute joined the organization. This year, we've added chaplains in Nashville and Rio Grande Valley with the second division soccer teams there and are exploring adding a chaplain at another college in Illinois. Ministry growth has outpaced ministry funding, though, for the year which has created new challenges and an opportunity. As the Board of Directors for Soccer Chaplains United seeks answers to address the shortfall, there has been looks at several different options including creating

Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church, a Soccer Chaplains United church partner, is sending a team (including Senior Pastor Brad Strait, his wife, Soccer Chaplains United board member Darren Dragovich's family, and Children's Ministry staffer Lea Wright) to visit Hope for the Fatherless, a Christian ministry that serves orphaned and vulnerable children in Ethiopia. Hope for the Fatherless strives to create a culture of adoption and orphan care worldwide by working in and through local communities. The team from Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church will be ministering to the children who are part of HFTF's group homes in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. There are ten children in each home. In addition, the team will also visit one of the children who are sponsored by