Spiritual Formation | 9/6/2025 11:16:00 AM

Spiritual Formation within Lipscomb Athletics aims to train student athletes and coaches to know Jesus and make Jesus known. In a sports culture often focused on wins and losses, Spiritual Formation invites student athletes to look beyond themselves and their sports to see the bigger story unfolding around them. We believe God is inviting student athletes to play a meaningful part in the story that He is writing. Through local and global service, our desire is to equip and invite student-athletes to live on mission, using their sport and talents to impact others and grow into Christ likeness.
 
Serving in our Backyard 
 To pursue this mission, student athletes are provided with meaningful opportunities to serve - both right here in Nashville and around the world. Chris Klotz, Director of Spiritual Formation, emphasizes the importance of serving in your own backyard before you serve across the globe. 
 
Through consistent partnerships with local ministries, Lipscomb athletes have stepped into neighborhoods, schools, and nonprofits across Nashville. Whether tutoring students through after-school programs, or engaging with underserved populations, they are making a tangible difference day in and day out. Student-athletes are building relationships with refugee families, adults with learning challenges, incarcerated youth, and vulnerable families across our city. 
 
Women's soccer player Neeley Giessinger reflected on her experience serving at local elementary schools saying:
 
"I first served with the soccer team at Carter Lawrence, where we helped with our after-school program. This experience was unlike any service I had done before, but it left me wanting more. I decided to serve weekly at Whitsitt Elementary with a teacher named Angela. I left excited to go back week after week simply because of what I saw and learned from Angela. Her humility and overflow of joy is a direct reflection of Jesus. Almost every time I visited, I was left in complete awe of how even the smallest things we take for granted can have a lasting impact on these kids. "  Neeley furthered expanded on why she believes serving is so important by saying, "Serving at Whitsitt taught me that service doesn't have to be big or flashy. It can be as simple as consistently showing up, because that is what we are called to do (Luke 16:10). These experiences stretched my view of service and reminded me of the importance of being faithful in the small acts, showing up time after time, even when nobody sees it. I truly believe that serving off the field is so important for athletes because it challenges us in ways our sport doesn't. It realigns our identity and reminds us that we were made for more than our sport. We were made to reflect Christ." 
 
These local experiences not only bless our city - they shape our athletes. The impact goes both ways: as athletes serve, they are also being formed into leaders marked by humility, compassion, and purpose. 
 
Going Beyond Borders
 Over the past 13 years, Athletic Missions has sent over 60 teams and nearly 900 students and coaches into the global mission field. This year, student athletes from across multiple teams joined together for international mission trips to Mexico, Scotland and  El Salvador, as well as domestic trips right here in Nashville. Through long-standing partnerships with local churches and ministries, teams led sports clinics and served within communities facing significant needs. These consistent partnerships have led to long-term relationships, sustainable investment, and eternal impact. 
 
David Coppedge, a fifth-year baseball player who participated in trips to both Mexico and El Salvador, shared, "these trips showed me how people live around the world. Some families have little, but they are rich in community with each other. Spending time in Mexico and El Salvador showed me how we should live our lives every day. What you experience on a mission trip is what we were made to do - to serve God and others. I would recommend that every athlete that comes to Lipscomb go on a mission trip. You don't get an opportunity to serve with fellow athletes at most universities. We are given a special opportunity from the Lord at Lipscomb. It is easy to get caught up in our bubbles of sports and school, but we are called to so much more than that!" 
 
Serving the global church leaves a lasting impact - not just in the communities we serve, but in the hearts of those who go. Many athletes return with a renewed sense of purpose, a deeper understanding of God's heart, and a stronger desire to lead lives that reflect Christ.
 
Growing Roots that Bear Fruit 
 Local and global service opportunities act as a springboard into every other aspect of ministry within the Lipscomb Athletic department. These experiences help athletes see that their time in college is about far more than athletic success - they are being invited into the bigger story of God's Kingdom. 
 
Athletes leave these service opportunities with a hunger for more: more of God, more of His mission, and more of the transformation that comes only through Jesus.
 
We are watching God grow roots in our athletes that will change them from the inside out. Our hope is that every student-athletes will be inspired to use their sport, their future career, and their entire life to know Jesus - and make Him known.