Christians in Sport See Opportunity for Evangelism at 2012 Olympic Games

With London winning the bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games, Christians in Sport plans to be there every step of the way, ensuring the event will be a great success for sport but also for Christianity in the UK.

Graham Daniels, ex-professional footballer and current general director of Christians in Sport, appealed to Christians to get involved with the world-renowned sporting event, saying, "Sport will be on everyone’s lips come 2012 and it’s our job as Christians to make sure we are speaking the right language so we can be part of the conversation."

Daniels went on to stress the enormous potential that an event as big as the Olympics has for particularly UK evangelism:

"Our dream is to serve the Olympics and to help thousands of UK churches engage with this global sporting event that will be held on our very doorsteps, to leave a legacy of Christian witness and life change that will last way beyond the games themselves."

The Government already has plans to increase the number of young people in Britain participating in sport in preparation for the Games. At present 45 per cent of the adult population and 87 per cent of young people participate in sport regularly. If the Government reaches its target, 100,000 people are to join a sporting activity every month until 2020.

Christians in Sport said, "Set that against the eight per cent of the UK population currently attending Church, and it shows how sport is a very important evangelistic tool for the Church."

"The increasing influence of sport and the growing energy toward 2012 is indeed a ‘mission field’ of opportunity for service and witness by the UK Church," Christians in Sport said.

Christians in Sport will be announcing ways to get involved in the coming months.