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SAN DIEGO, Calif. — In a baseball season that has been anything but heavenly for the Padres and their fans, a few thousand concentrated prayers couldn’t hurt.
The good news is they will come when the annual Fellowship Night is held at Petco Park as the Padres take on the Philadelphia Phillies.
The bad news is the event won’t be held until Aug. 15.
“There are great things happening spiritually on the team, even though their record on the field is not that good,” said team chaplain Doug Sutherland, who added that he doesn’t like to ask people to pray for the team’s performance.
Instead, he likes to point to 2 Corinthians 4:17 and 18 in which Paul writes that things on earth are temporal, but the heavenly or eternal matters are unseen.
“The difficult times are the times when God really brings people to Himself,” Sutherland said. “It opens up an opportunity.”
While there has been plenty of opportunity in April and early May, Sutherland and the team are hoping that on-field results begin to mirror the growth that is going on behind the scenes through Bible studies and chapel services.
In the meantime, Sutherland has formed his own team, this one focusing on August’s Christian night at the ballpark. Working with him is the National Network of Youth Ministries.
That team led to last year’s successful Fellowship Night, which drew 6,000 people, the largest group in recent memory. The event involved 75 churches, and 31 people indicated they decided to follow Christ.
“It well exceeded what we thought in terms of attendance,” Sutherland said.
To that end, Sutherland and the National Network hosted about two dozen pastors to an April 24 kickoff luncheon in the San Diego Padres executive boardroom. In addition to sandwiches and information packets, the pastors were treated to testimonies by Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and catcher Josh Bard.
“In baseball, a lot of people don’t understand the importance of the church, so we are a starting-off point,” Bard told the group. “We’ll do our best to encourage the people you serve.”
Bard went on to say that he viewed his role as a baseball player as an opportunity to live his faith at work in order to reach others.
“It doesn’t matter if you are a plumber or if you are an artist or a stay-at-home mom,” he said. “Yes, baseball is how I provide for my family, but it’s the culture God put me in to make a statement of my faith.”
Minor league support
Gonzalez took time to discuss his conversion to Christianity and the support he and his wife received from other minor league couples while playing minor league ball in Albuquerque.
“They kind of led us along the way,” the first baseman said. “The Lord put me on these teams for a reason. Now He can place me on a team with nobody (no Christians), and I can still serve the Lord.”
For now, though, he’s found himself on a team with several believers including Trevor Hoffman, Jake Peavy and Tony Clark.
“These guys are the real deal,” Gonzalez said. “They care about their relationship with the Lord.”
Bard added that the Christian relationships cemented in the dugout and on road trips is having a lasting impact on the kingdom.
“It’s neat to see how it gets passed on,” Bard said. “Guys are mentoring other guys.”
Bard, Gonzalez and Sutherland are hoping the passing continues for the August 15 game, a Friday night affair that will include post-game fireworks.
“We are looking forward to a great year and a great Fellowship Night,” the chaplain said. “I want to see God absolutely glorified by this event.
“This is a most wonderful event because everyone wins,” he said. “The Padres sell more tickets, and we get to do what we do. This is an encouragement for believers, and an opportunity for people to bring their unsaved friends.”
Missing link
Sutherland also cited the work of Ric Tolhurst from the National Network for providing vital resources to revitalize the event, which had dwindled in attendance in previous years.
“Ric was the missing link,” said Sutherland, who added he worked with officials from the Lake Elsinore Storm, a minor league affiliate for the Padres. Their Fellowship Night sold out two straight years, although the stadium capacity of 7,800 is much smaller than Petco’s 42,000.
Bob Botsford, pastor of Horizon North County, praised the event for its unprecedented evangelism opportunities. He likened it to building a city within a city without having to rent out the ballpark. Last year his congregation took several hundred people.
Botsford shared the story of a young girl who began to sob uncontrollably after an usher presented her with a brand new fielding glove as part of a children’s promotional giveaway. Her father was surprised at the reaction, thinking his daughter would love her new glove. But as the youngster looked around at all the cars in the parking lot and the hundreds of people flooding the concourses and the seats, she began to panic. With some coaxing she told her concerned dad, “I came to watch, not play.”
Using that analogy, Botsford described what he sees as a major opportunity for Christians to not just sit in the stands, but to actually play ball.
“This is an opportunity for us to come together and let the city of God shine and show all that He’s done for us,” he said. “It’s much more than you and I buying some tickets and showing up for a game. It’s an opportunity for the church of Jesus Christ in San Diego to pick up our mitts.”
For more information on tickets, including group discounts for 25 or more, visit
Fellowship Night —click here for tickets
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