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Ministering through sports and recreation:
Alumnus uses passion for physical activity to share Christ

It takes a great deal of patience and a heart for ministry to coordinate sports leagues, golf lessons, dance classes, garage sales, crafts shows and photography classes for an entire community, but Matt Gerlach thrives on high levels of activity.

After his graduation from Huntington University in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in recreation and sports ministry, Matt became the program director for the Huntington City Parks and Recreation Department in Huntington, Ind.

Currently, he oversees multiple activities that occur in association with the city and parks such as Summer Parks and Recreation for Kids, giving upwards of 250 children a chance to come to the parks for six weeks of the summer to play games, do crafts, get outside and go on field trips. He also runs sports leagues such as youth soccer and adult softball, and all that is on top of the lessons, classes, sales and shows already mentioned, plus the Back to School Bash, and Letters and Phone Calls from Santa.

One of the biggest challenges Matt faced was taking over the reigns of a position that had seen impressive leadership over the past five years. Jumping right in, Matt hired 17 staff members to oversee seven parks and organize daily activities. In addition, he had to plan field trips for more than 300 children. Though it was stressful at times, Matt found the experience to be a positive one and credits the joy he finds in his work to the preparation he received from HU and more specifically, his PRIME experience, an internship required of all ministry and missions majors pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree.

During his PRIME, Matt served at a church in Tennessee for six months as a family life and missions intern. At times, he was responsible for facility management and on-the-field as well as behind-the-scenes programming for events such as dodgeball tournaments, Upward Basketball, Vacation Bible School programs and even a mission trip to Alaska. Receiving hands-on training is what Matt says ultimately prepared him for his current position.
 
A natural leader, Matt gained experience working at HU as a campus ministries coordinator, giving his time to the Joe Mertz Center for Volunteer Service and being part of the men’s soccer team.

As a member of the soccer team, Matt was given the opportunity by Russ Lawson, the men’s soccer coach, to lead a camp for children on a soccer team mission trip to Tampa, Fla. From his time working with the soccer team both on and off the field, Matt found some significant character traits being shaped: leadership, hard work, passion and teamwork.

"It was a great chance for me to step out and grow, learning more about my major through a varsity sports mission’s trip," Matt says.

As a campus ministries coordinator, Matt led a residence hall floor of fellow Huntington students in Bible studies and small groups that prompted student interaction and gave Matt a chance to see how he could integrate his skills in leadership and his passion for ministry.

In his ministry classes, Matt learned valuable information and developed skills to prepare him for his chosen field.

"As I studied, I built up my understanding on the Bible, Biblical principles and theological understanding," he says. "More importantly, I saw how relationships in the church work, immersed myself in learning how to grow personally in Christ as well as how to foster that growth in others."

With ministry classes focusing on “how to bring Christ into a dark world” and living in a world that thrives on competition, Matt found himself spending hours of study coming to understand how Christ can be seen through sports, recreation and competition.

“At Huntington University, my professors always focused on how to be a light in whatever field you were heading into,” Matt says, “whether it was into the ministry or into the recreation field.”

Matt points out that one of the biggest advantages that he had was the personal interaction with his professors.

“During school I could always go in and ask about class work and my ideas for the future,” Matt says, “but could also discuss other issues as well. I am still in connection with several professors gleaning from their knowledge and asking their advice on many issues.”

Huntington is one of the few colleges in the area that offers a recreation and sports ministry degree and for Matt, that was a selling point.

“If you love recreation, the outdoors and sports and feel called to full-time ministry, recreation and sports ministry is for you,” Matt says.