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Saturday, June 2, 2012

Baptists continue Thunder playoff faith outreach effort - NewsOK.com

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Oklahoma Baptists’ “I Believe” faith outreach continues as the Thunder battle the San Antonio Spurs.

BY CARLA HINTON | Published: June 2, 2012 Oklahoman    Comment on this articleLeave a comment

The faith outreach being conducted by Oklahoma Baptists continues to gain momentum as the Oklahoma City Thunder’s playoff battle against the San Antonio Spurs continues.

Tim Knopps is a self-described “event evangelist” who helped coordinate the “I Believe” faith outreach being held in conjunction with the Thunder playoff series. He said volunteers from about five Baptist churches met Thursday at Shields Boulevard Baptist Church, 3700 S Shields, to ride to the Chesapeake Energy Arena and Bricktown area, where they distributed faith-themed brochures and a faith-themed magazine to visitors.

Knopps has helped coordinate similar efforts in conjunction with the Super Bowl.

Reaching others

Knopps and the Rev. Jimmy Kinnaird, pastor of Village Baptist Church, said volunteers also distributed materials on May 21, when the Thunder faced the Los Angeles Lakers. Knopps said Baptist volunteers are expected to continue the outreach on Saturday as the Thunder play the Spurs for Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals.

“On game night between the arena, Thunder Alley and Bricktown, there is in essence the population equivalent of Shawnee squeezed into a quarter-mile radius,” Knopps said. “Not only do we get to witness to the crowd, but we often find ourselves ministering to those in need or searching for spiritual direction. With this many people in one place the Church really does need to jump right into the middle of it all and share the love of Christ.”

The “I Believe” project is being sponsored by the Capitol Baptist Association and the Union Baptist Association in partnership with the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. The associations, affiliates of the convention, are made up of churches in the central Oklahoma area, including Norman.

Kinnaird and Harry Black of the Capitol Baptist Association, have said the outreach effort’s name has a double meaning: Baptists believe in the hope of Christ and they believe in the Thunder.

Branching out

The outreach includes the distribution of a Thunder playoff series mini-magazine from Sports Spectrum and brochures that feature several Thunder players discussing their faith journey.

Many church members have held playoff watch parties.

Knopps said he has been particularly excited to see the Spanish-language “I Believe” materials distributed to Hispanics in the community.

Knopps said a social media outlet at www.ibelieveOKC.com has been a popular part of the outreach effort. He said the site has received about 1,000 hits since the material distribution began.





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