I shared. last week, a reflection from a recent family vacation to Yellowstone National Park. This week, another reflection from my time there and this time it has to do with the wildness that we encountered there. It might seem a far stretch to speak about wildness and connect it somehow into faith and football, but if you saw the scenes from the Copa America Final in Miami, maybe not so much so.
Today, on the podcast, in the amount of time that a coach gives a halftime team talk, I reflect on the wildness of Yellowstone and the proclivity of the human heart to chase after and a certain kind of wildness. We need to pay heed to the warnings and come back to the safety and protection that God offers us from the wildness of this world.
From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).
Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd,in the Apple and Google store.
https://soccerchaplainsunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/From-the-Touchline-Cover-Art.jpg15001500Brad Kenney/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SCU_Seal_Logo-300x300.pngBrad Kenney2024-07-24 00:00:002024-07-23 11:15:38Halftime: Yellowstone is Wild
Geraud Brumfield recently has started serving as volunteer chaplain to Central Valley Fuego FC, a team that plays in the United Soccer League 1, otherwise known as USL1. Fuego FC has a bit of a “rise from the ashes” kind of story after the USL Championship side folded in 2019. The team was founded in 2020, after the pandemic and the work to get a new club up and running saw the team bring back professional soccer to the valley in 2022.
Brumfield, serves many young people in his work for a campus ministry outreach. For Geraud much of his life and mission nd passion is about coming alongside of young people who are asking those “larger than life” questions about God, faith, pain, and this world. While soccer isn’t his first language, loving and listening to young people is.
Part of my call in life is to walk with college-age students and to help in the asking and wrestling with those questions that loom…it comes from a part of my testimony. When I was in college, I was asking those same questions. I had a friend who pursued and persisted and he walked with me as I figured out Jesus. I had been living my life trying to make my dad proud of me. The problem was, my dad passed when I was 10 years old. I came to understand God telling me: ‘You are living for someone who is dead. I want you to live for Someone who died for you.’
Geraud Brumfield, on the origins of his call to ministry and his awakening to faith
Fuego’s USL1 level is a near perfect match for Brumfield in terms of player age. As a third division, professional soccer team, many of Fuego’s athletes are younger and aspiring to grow to higher levels in the game. The average age sees the majority of players in their mid-20’s and coming from the recently graduated college ranks.
Geraud with some of the fellas, hanging out at a Fuego game while going through the process with Soccer Chaplains United.
Geraud’s placement story is a beautiful blend between my connections with different people in the game and the work of Pacific Chaplain Manager, Jubal McDaniel. My relationships with Jermaine Jones, the Head Coach, and Adam Smith, the Technical Director, were a tremendous part of seeing Geraud’s placement come about. Jubal has done the work to coach Geraud in the different points of entry that a chaplain must take in building trust and beginning to work with a team.
It has been a tremendous joy to see how warmly Geraud been received by the club…his humor, personality, and deep love for people has shown to be a perfect match.
Jubal McDaniel, on Geraud’s placement
Soccer Chaplains United is non-profit, 501(c)3 and depends upon the financial support of our partners to carry out our work of developing chaplaincy across all levels of soccer. Please consider making a contribution today to help us continue growing our chaplains and our work. Check out our Donate page for different giving options.
https://soccerchaplainsunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/cropped-Central_Valley_Fuego_Web_Logo___200x200.webp834667Brad Kenney/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SCU_Seal_Logo-300x300.pngBrad Kenney2024-07-19 00:00:002024-07-15 19:34:53Geraud Brumfield is “en Fuego”
A return from family vacation last week to Yellowstone National Park has been reflecting on a couple of things. Perhaps, the greatest takeaway is that I imagine that Yellowstone is something like Heaven — indescribable, unimaginable, and more. Even like certain elements of the Beautiful Game — there is just a limit to how much one can describe or explain, it is something that must be experienced!
Today, on the podcast, in the amount of time that a coach gives a halftime team talk, I reflect on the beautiful monstrosity that is Yellowstone and that only a glimpse of something that is too great and too wonderful to explain was had. I believe it to be a bit like heaven. Let me try to explain. Oh, wait, I don’t think I can.
From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).
Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd,in the Apple and Google store.
https://soccerchaplainsunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/From-the-Touchline-Cover-Art.jpg15001500Brad Kenney/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SCU_Seal_Logo-300x300.pngBrad Kenney2024-07-17 00:00:002024-07-16 18:18:48Halftime: Yellowstone is like Heaven
One of the headlines that is seemingly more and more fused with football is the issue of politics. A few weeks ago, high profile players came out and urged young people in their nation to get out and vote. Around the world, there has been a rise of the “activist super-player” who seemingly has more pull and sway than some politicians.
Today, on the podcast, in the amount of time that a coach might have for a halftime team talk, I reflect on the place of politics in soccer. I specially hone in on what a Christian person might consider in terms of the platforms that they possess and the politics (or other things) that they consciously weigh in the promotion or advocacy of certain things.
From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).
Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd,in the Apple and Google store.
https://soccerchaplainsunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/From-the-Touchline-Cover-Art.jpg15001500Brad Kenney/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SCU_Seal_Logo-300x300.pngBrad Kenney2024-07-10 00:00:002024-07-19 11:24:59Halftime: Platforms and Politics
Currently, in the U.S., there are two days set aside for recognizing freedom: Juneteenth (June 19) and July 4th. One celebrates a freedom fought for and won from British colonialism, the other celebrates the eventual and final execution of a proclamation of freedom.
Today, on the podcast, in the time that a team might have for a halftime team talk, I discuss the differences between these two days and these two types of freedom that are represented. I give some food for thought as it relates to spiritual, physical, and emotional freedoms.
From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).
Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd,in the Apple and Google store.
https://soccerchaplainsunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/From-the-Touchline-Cover-Art.jpg15001500Brad Kenney/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SCU_Seal_Logo-300x300.pngBrad Kenney2024-07-03 00:00:002024-07-08 23:46:22Halftime: Differences in Freedom
Today on the podcast, it is part 2 of my conversation with Jordan Medas. Jordan serves as a volunteer chaplain with Soccer Chaplains United and as the East Coast Chaplain Manager.
Jordan and I continue our reflections about the 2022 Men’s World Cup Devotional and the subsequent (2024) revision, The Light is Coming. Jordan and I both served as authors for this 8-week devotional which combines themes of faith and football (soccer).
We close out the conversation with a fun game of Crosses with Rev, one which requires a VAR review to see if he scored the last question before time was up!
From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).
Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd,in the Apple and Google store.
https://soccerchaplainsunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/From-the-Touchline-Cover-Art.jpg15001500Brad Kenney/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SCU_Seal_Logo-300x300.pngBrad Kenney2024-06-26 00:00:002024-07-19 11:26:35June Soccer with Jordan – Part 2
A little over a year ago, EJ Ruiz stepped into a gap. Chaplain Isidro Piña was moving to San Antonio and needed to handoff the chaplaincy work with the (now defunct) Rio Grande Valley Toros FC, an USL-Championship soccer team. From June until December of 2023, EJ faithfully served as the new chaplain to the Toros with Isidro encouraging and guiding him. Then, the devastating news came just 6 months into EJ tenure — the team was folding. When the Toros officially eased operations on December 18, 2023, EJ and Isidro did their best to help players and coaches in the transition period.
In the months since Toros disbanded, EJ and myself began asking if there were any other soccer teams that might be served with EJ as chaplain. However, the task of shepherding and preaching for the church, El Mesias UMC in Mission, Texas and increased roles within the denomination combined with the difficult work of starting something fresh and anew has meant that EJ needs to step back from Soccer Chaplains United.
EJ remains open to the possibility of returning to serve as a chaplain should the Toros return at some point.
Soccer Chaplains United has been extremely blessed to have EJ as part of the team. He played an important role in helping be a presence to the athletes and coaches at a difficult time. We pray that EJ and his family, experience God’s grace and favor as they look to invest more of their love, time, and energy into the church and community in the RGV.
Soccer Chaplains United is non-profit, 501(c)3 and depends upon the financial support of our partners to carry out our work of developing chaplaincy across all levels of soccer. Please consider making a contribution today to help us continue growing our chaplains and our work. Check out our Donate page for different giving options.
https://soccerchaplainsunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/cd3e990e-b90b-4d4a-bd5b-0e6b53f782cf.jpg15541170Brad Kenney/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SCU_Seal_Logo-300x300.pngBrad Kenney2024-06-19 09:01:202024-07-08 23:46:27Ruiz Steps Back from Soccer Chaplains United to Focus on the Valley
Today on the podcast, I am joined by Jordan Medas. Jordan is a volunteer chaplain with Soccer Chaplains United and he serves as the East Coast Chaplain Manager. Jordan’s first time on the podcast, we take a little bit of time to get to know him better and understand his story of coming to serve with Soccer Chaplains United.
Jordan and I also take a look back at the 2022 Men’s World Cup Devotional and the subsequent (2024) revision, The Light is Coming. Jordan served as one of three authors. The revision as well s the original devotional (along with translations into Spanish and Portuguese) are still available on Amazon. With so much soccer going on in this month of June (Euros, international breaks, and Olympic call ups) we reflect back on one of the first writings and publications that we made around a major soccer event.
We continue the conversation in part 2 (next week) with a fun game of Crosses with Rev! You won’t want to miss it.
From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).
Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd,in the Apple and Google store.
https://soccerchaplainsunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/From-the-Touchline-Cover-Art.jpg15001500Brad Kenney/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SCU_Seal_Logo-300x300.pngBrad Kenney2024-06-19 00:00:002024-07-08 23:46:29June Soccer with Jordan – Part 1
Jubal McDaniel joins me today for part 2 of our June Soccer series. Jubal is the volunteer chaplain for the Tacoma Defiance and serves as the Soccer Chaplains United Pacific Coast Chaplain Manager and our conversation has centered around the two devotional books that we worked on — for the recent World Cups and the subsequent revisions.
June 2024 marks our release of the revision of last year’s Five Women You Meet in Faith and Football. With new artwork and a more timeless feel, Jubal and I look back on that devotional and the work done on both devos and how the art moved or spoke to us.
Jubal and I also play a fun game of Crosses with Rev! It’s debatable whether he attempted to slow the pace down…all good fun, though!
From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).
Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd,in the Apple and Google store.
https://soccerchaplainsunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/From-the-Touchline-Cover-Art.jpg15001500Brad Kenney/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SCU_Seal_Logo-300x300.pngBrad Kenney2024-06-12 00:00:002024-07-08 23:46:31June Soccer with Jubal – Part 2
Just shy of one year from our initial publication of the devotional book, Five Women You Meet in Faith and Football, we’ve released a new edition. Featuring new artwork and changes to the book to make it more timeless, this second edition is available globally on Amazon in paperback and ebook (Kindle) formats.
The devotional looks at the lives of five women listed as part of Jesus’ genealogy found in the Gospel of Matthew. 25 different readings examine some of the visible attributes out of their lives and personalities. These virtues and traits might also be visible and valued in the people that we see in the Beautiful Game!
Below is the artwork — reproductions are available! Requests including information on sizes and pricing should be sent via email to Kalyn Phelps at k.and.eve.create@gmail.com. A portion of proceeds will go to benefit Soccer Chaplains United.
If you or your team are interested in a discounted, bulk sale please send an email for more details: info@soccerchaplainsunited.org.
Soccer Chaplains United is non-profit, 501(c)3 and depends upon the financial support of our partners to carry out our work of developing chaplaincy across all levels of soccer. Please consider making a contribution today to help us continue growing our work. Check out our Donation Page with all the different options. Or, simply click the PushPay link below to make a secure, online, tax-deductible gift, or mail a donation to Soccer Chaplains United, PO Box 102081, Denver, CO 80250.
https://soccerchaplainsunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/5WYMFF-Ebook-Cover.jpg15721000Brad Kenney/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SCU_Seal_Logo-300x300.pngBrad Kenney2024-06-06 00:00:002024-07-08 23:46:34Revised Five Women You Meet in Faith and Football Available!
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