Field of pray

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This article was published 22/06/2019 (2320 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This Sunday morning, Winnipeg pastor Scott Koop pitches a spiritual doubleheader, starting at his home church and finishing up at the city’s cathedral to baseball.

After his responsibilities at Portage Avenue Church, he’ll head to Shaw Park for a 10:30 service as volunteer chaplain for the Winnipeg Goldeyes.

“In some sense, I’m more a chaplain for the ballpark than for the team because I don’t travel with the team,” says the associate pastor of Portage Avenue Church.

Whenever there’s a Sunday home game — seven times this season — Koop leads short chapel services for up to 10 players in the Goldeyes dugout, and then walks to the visiting team’s dugout to repeat the process.

“There’s a lot of players for whom church and faith and acknowledgment of God has been part of their life, so they appreciate getting to church even though they can’t get there,” says Koop, a baseball chaplain since 2013.

He leads those two services based on materials provided weekly by the Florida-based Baseball Chapel, and then spends a few minutes with the three game officials.

“I have a little bit of a soft spot for the umpires because they’re away from their families, too, and they never have a home game,” says the sports fan and muscle car enthusiast.

Part of an elite team of chaplains serving professional sports in Winnipeg, Koop signed up after former Goldeyes chaplain Lorne Korol took on the Winnipeg Jets in addition to his roles serving the Manitoba Moose and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Henry Dueck assists Korol with the Moose and serves as chaplain to the Winnipeg Blues and Ice junior hockey teams.

“This work is important as our ministry provides a sanctuary for athletes to learn and grow in their faith, but it is also a safe place for those athletes investigating their faith,” says Korol, an employee of the Christian organization Athletes in Action.

Koop volunteers with Baseball Chapel, a non-denominational Christian organization which provides chaplains to each major and minor league baseball team in North America, as well as to summer and winter leagues and academies in Latin America.

In addition to his Sunday duties, he spends considerable time at the ballpark, cheering from the stands for as many of the 50 home games as possible, and then checks in with the players after the last inning.

“The biggest reality as a chaplain is I’m always making the team aware that I am here for you, to whatever degree you want,” he says.

The team appreciates Koop’s quiet presence and his willingness to listen, Goldeyes vice-president Regan Katz says.

“Scott makes himself available to anyone if they want to have a conversation,” he says.

Those conversations might be about a spiritual matter, but often they’re about family matters or about the loneliness of being on the road for nearly four months a year.

Lately, Koop has fielded more requests for prayers for well-being on the team bus, due to the horrific April 2018 accident involving the Humboldt Broncos hockey team that killed 16 people and injured 13 more.

“There are a lot more prayers for safety in travel,” he says of the aftermath of the crash.

Whatever the topic, Koop must step up to the plate quickly, taking his swing at ministry in the space between practices and getting back on the bus for the next leg of road games.

“Any sort of relationship is very compressed,” says the graduate of Steinbach Bible College, who has been in ministry for 22 years.

“In some sense, when I come (to the ballpark), they know why I’m there.”

At times, his chaplaincy work informs his day job, which includes providing pastoral care to seniors and young adults in his congregation. Earlier this month, Koop brought 40 of his congregants to Shaw Park for the annual faith night, where Goldeyes players Josh Romanski and Parker French shared their faith stories before the game.

In his six years with the team, Koop has learned a few things from the players about winning, losing and keeping your eye on the ball.

“You want to be focused and intentional in your spiritual life, but you also want to be focused and intentional in your play,” the 53-year-old Selkirk resident says.

And there’s a bit of perspective involved as well. No player can be on fire for all 100 games, and in the end, playing ball is just play.

“While it’s great what they’re doing and they enjoy it, they do understand life is more than just a game.”

brenda@suderman.com

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