From the Touchline

Today, on the podcast, I read—Psalm 1 and Soccer Psalm 1—from my recent book, The Soccer Psalms. In the reflection and mediation questions, we consider what it looks like to live a life as a footballer and as a person that follows a road which seeks out the pathway of God. Psalm 1 is the first psalm in the Bible and it comes with a promise for the one who is different, who is distinct and set apart. Psalm 1 is a “pillar flanking” our way toward prayer and conversation with God.

The Soccer Psalms, is a self-published book available on Amazon. (You can also find The Football Psalms-a British version-if you appreciate the different terms around the game). Both books are available globally on Amazon and contain 31 psalms that have been translated into “soccer psalms” — with words, language, and metaphors that connect soccer to God’s Word. I also include some reflection on the context and writing as well as some questions for reflection. Check out the book below:

The Soccer Psalms: https://mybook.to/thesoccerpsalms

The Football Psalms: https://mybook.to/thefootballpsalms-uk

From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

A few weeks ago, we hit a major milestone with the From the Touchline podcast: 300 episodes. This is episode #303 and in honor of living and working and being in the 303 area code (Denver), we’re going to take a look back on the past. All the while, I’ve been working to create a new podcast opener (featuring today) as well as having new podcast cover artwork as we continue podcasting into the foreseeable future.

Thanks for listening today as I look back over the past 7-8 years of podcasting and sharing some of the highlights (and maybe a lowlight or critique) of what this podcasting journey has looked like and been. Beginning in February of 2018, I produced 14 podcast episodes that year and 2019 saw 16 episodes before beginning to commit to the weekly rhythm, routine, and work of a weekly podcast from 2020 on…we’ve only had one week (June of 2022) where we didn’t get a podcast done!

From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

Prayer is one of the pivotal practices that Christian people focus in on during the season of Lent and the lead up to Easter. Prayer is perhaps one of the most foundational aspects of Christian living because it is about a conversation with God and sometimes we struggle to know what to say or what to pray when it comes time to spending time with Him.

Today, on the podcast, we look at Jesus’ teaching on prayer — specifically, what we know today as The Lord’s Prayer. But the Lord’s Prayer isn’t for the Lord — it’s for us and it’s the way that we can daily and hourly speak with God. So, whether your lacing up the boots on match day or for a training session, give a listen to how this prayer might help inform your football and faith life.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

As we go through the season of Lent, there are three spiritual disciplines and practices that Christians often observe — prayer, fasting, and giving. Last week, we looked at generosity and giving. This week we look at the spiritual discipline of fasting and some of its parallels and connections to soccer.

Today, on the podcast, we look at some of the biblical examples of fasting, some of the purposes and intents behind fasting, and what God really desires to see in those moments when we fast. If you’re a Christian athlete that is considering to fast, please make sure that you consult with a team dietician, athletic trainer, or physician ahead of time.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

Ash Wednesday is today, and as the season of Lent begins, three spiritual disciplines come more sharply into focus: fasting, giving, and prayer. But not all spiritual disciplines are treated equally!

Today, on the podcast, I want to give attention to what I have deemed “the least of these” practices and in a word hopefully challenge you and me in a meaningful way this season. We look at the spiritual discipline of giving and generosity and a key text found in Matthew 19:16-30, as Jesus confronts an attitude that is likely very prevalent in our day and age.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

Ramadan begins this weekend — the annual fast for Muslims can be challenging for the professional player – especially in certain times of the year. At the start of a season, a player is trying to earn a spot. In the middle of summer, the heat and humidity can severely impact an athletes physiology. Ash Wednesday, which marks the 40-day season of Lent, is also a time where Christian believers take up disciplines including fasting, as well. Where do all of these religious observance periods fit into the scope of professional soccer? And how does a chaplain help support people in the midst of these times?

Today, on the podcast, I share about the different ways that a chaplain supports people — of Christian and non-Christian traditions — in professional soccer that desire to make observances like Ramadan and Lent. How does one play professionally and still maintain the practices of one’s faith? What is a chaplain’s role to educate, advocate, and support? We get into all of that and a little bit more, From the Touchline.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

For many years, I struggled with some of the derision for the work and the environment of soccer where my work gets played out as a volunteer chaplain. I was the only one, either, as some athletes and coaches had friends and family who would comment — when will you grow up? when will you get a real job?

I think a commonly shared desire amongst people is that we can know and feel confident that our work is worthy, that our work is needed and valued or valuable. When we don’t feel those things we tend to move on to find something more fulfilling and something that can wake us up in the morning and get us out of bed.

Today, on the podcast, I talk about a bit of my own journey at coming to grips with seeing my volunteer chaplaincy work in soccer as a place that God has called me to. I share the words of Presbyterian minister and author, Frederick Buechner, and his definition of “vocation” as a possible start point for the one who is considering the question of calling and our work. I end the pod with an adapted blessing for the work of football (soccer).

From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

An introduction in any industry or business is critical and key — whether a 24-year veteran volunteer soccer chaplain or a first-year chaplain. An introduction to athletes, coaches, and staff at a football club usually come as a result of a trusted relationship or at the end of some sort of process that someone has endured. And introductions are important — whether an athlete is retiring from the game or someone is moving in or on elsewhere (think coach, executive, staffer).

Today, on the pod, I talk about introductions and take a brief look at introductions back in the ancient world and biblical times. The apostle Paul makes an introduction (really a re-introduction) of a runaway slave to his owner — the hope? That the two would be reunited and reconciled and that both of them would benefit from the mutual blessings around that work. And Paul uses a powerful letter to make that introduction.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

Usually the beginning of the Major League Soccer (MLS) season sees me reflecting back and looking forward for the season to come. I usually do a lot of praying because there is a lot change and movement — not only for the athletes, but pretty much everyone else involved in the game. This time of the year (in the US and even a bit in the UK) sees a lot of change occur as teams in soccer going looking for a result or are ramping up for a season to come.

Today, on the pod, I want to talk about a bit about this idea of “Blessing Everything” as a prayer posture for chaplains (especially chaplains in sport, and soccer). Saint Ninian is to blame — it’s was a bit of his pattern that I am following to “Bless everything and let God guard the consequences.” There are some nuances to the phrase, but the idea of blessing everything has become part of the theological tool belt that I wear and tends to be a posture even in the day-to-day — from training day, to off-day, to match-day.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

This past December, I released a new book, The Soccer Psalms, as a self-published work. (You can also find The Football Psalms-a British version-if you appreciate the different terms around the game). Both books are available globally on Amazon and contain 31 psalms that have been translated into “soccer psalms” — with words, language, and metaphors that connect soccer to God’s Word. I also include some reflection on the context and writing as well as some questions for reflection. Check out the book!

The Soccer Psalms: https://mybook.to/thesoccerpsalms

The Football Psalms: https://mybook.to/thefootballpsalms-uk

Today, on the podcast, I read—Psalm 131 and Soccer Psalm 131—from the book, and share the reflection and mediation questions. What does it look like for an elite athlete to have perspective and not worry so much about their career or making their own “destiny” when it comes to the Beautiful Game? Does an elite soccer player or coach ever reach a point where they don’t need to learn anything else? Psalm 131 and the Soccer Psalm 131 could be a daily reminder that we need to have patience and be willing and open to being trained by God for all that he has in store. I suggest one memorizes this psalm or soccer psalm and recite it as you lace up the boots and put on the shinguards.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.