https://youtu.be/mgEy_XTlxkw Watch the Toronto Raptors play against Oklahoma City Thunders, either in-person at Scotiabank Arena or in a watch party with your group. Following the end of the game watch a live streamed interview of Herbie Kuhn, Voice of the Raptors and co-Chaplain, as he shares fun stories of his faith journey. The hope is that is can be the catalyst for further faith conversations with friends. Register below
For the first time in three years, we hosted Centre Court, our outreach event through the Toronto Raptors. As "normal business" continues to evolve from the pandemic, many things changed as well in how Centre Court unfolded. When we finalized our plans with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE), we had five weeks to promote and plan what now turned out to be a pre-game outreach event. In total
We are excited to announce we are hosting Centre Court 2022 on Saturday, December 3 @ Scotiabank Arena. What is Centre Court? It’s a first-point-of-contact for your youth ministry’s non-Christian friends. We host an event that happens courtside at Scotiabank Arena where some of your youth are invited to participate in on-court activities and to hear from a player how Jesus impacts their lives. It is also an opportunity for
Last night, we hosted our 20th+ Centre Court event. Not only did the Raptors come away with a convincing victory, almost 700 of us got to hang back after the game for our own program. This year's speaker was Stormin' Norman Powell. He shared how his faith has continued to shape him (he previously shared at Centre Court about three years ago), especially after last summer's NBA championship. More importantly,
While it was a heart-breaking loss with a nearly impossible shot, our post-game program highlighted the different ways Jesus continues to make an impact in people's lives. We were excited to have Jeremy Lin share his testimony and to give a word of encouragement to our guests. Specifically, he highlighted Galatians 6:9 as the verse that he's currently meditating on. (Much of his story was captured on our CBOQ Youth
Last Friday was the 18th Centre Court event I've participated in. And boy, was it a crazy game?! Overtime and a nail biter right to the end. (You can see all the highlights at raptors.com.) For me, it wasn't just a nail biter of a game. We were also pressed for time and our program. Because the arena needed to be converted for the Leafs game on the following night,
Last Friday, over 375 went down to the Air Canada Centre to witness a Toronto Raptors victory over the Indiana Pacers. While that was exciting, the post-game program became the focus. Patrick Mutombo, one of the Raptors assistant coaches, shared how Jesus impacts his life. He encouraged the students and leaders there to be boldly stand for their faith and stand strong. We also had two young adults from Glencairn
In our Baptist tradition, we believe that each local church can discern the voice of God and where he is leading them. At the same time, we recognize that we can’t do everything ourselves. In youth ministry, there are moments when it’s best to gather as a local tribe for teaching, fellowship, and to listen for God’s promptings specific to that tribe.. However, there are times when it’s necessary to
While the Toronto Raptors didn't win (it's tough playing the Western Conference), the post-game program was well received. Over eighty students had a chance to do lay-ups on the court. Eight of them had a chance to win a big prize (a signed basketball from DeMar DeRozan) going up against Matt and Alvin. The more profound moments came in the testimonies. Landry Fields shared the impact of Jesus in his
We've heard of "outreach events" before. Usually, they refer to some kind of outing for students to invite friends. In some cases, outreach events include a very specific "salvation" message and a call to respond (i.e. altar call). However, there are times when a pre-evangelistic event (which is part of outreach) may be a better first point of engagement. Centre Court is a pre-evangelistic event. For our Centre Court event
