the Monday Morning Debrief: NCAA Tourney = Great Relationship Builder

I’ve posted about why I think the NCAA Tourney is great for ministry before. But this year, it is even better. Why?  Because of all the upsets.  Seriously, whether you did a Bracket Challenge with your students or not, the simple fact is that this Tournament is grabbing headlines and people are talking about it…just check your Facebook newsfeed.

With all this chatter, this produces great opportunities for you to interact with students and start or develop more relationships.

“Did you see that Butler game?  That ending was insane.”

“How about Georgetown losing?  Did you see all those crazy dunks?”

Whether you pay close attention to the games or not, it is something students are watching and paying close attention to, espeically the guys.  So, when you are able to approach guys and talk to them about the tournament, you lower the defenses of students (especially students you don’t know) and then you can transition from those easy to engage questions to more important ones.  In Young Life, they talk about “winning the right to be heard”.  That happens over time, but in essence, you win the right with students here by knowing what they are interested in and engaging them in something they enjoy.  Then, by having that initial conversation starter, you can hopefully get to the point where you can invite them to participate in something else such as a rec event, youth group gathering or even going to the movies and/or coffee.

Regardless of where the conversation leads, by knowing what is going on in the Tournament, you open yourself up to more relationships with students and hopefully more students coming to know Christ eventually.

Thoughts?  Experiences?  TAKE A MINUTE and post a comment below or share on social media how you’ve used the NCAA tourney for your student ministry.