It’s Summertime: Play Ball & Win Souls 

by Alethia Brown

LAUREL, Md. — On Sunday afternoons throughout the summer, Hope Baptist Church hosts softball games at the Johns Hopkins APL fields from 4 to 8 pm for church members, the community, and other churches who want to join in the fun. In addition to softball, they have other games such as ultimate frisbee, basketball and corn hole. They also offer light refreshments and encourage others to bring food and drinks to share. The games provide an opportunity for fellowship among believers and serve as a means of community outreach.

Church Administrator Diana Franklin said, “We started out a couple of years ago playing softball every other Sunday afternoon, but we found that a lot of people wanted to gather more frequently.” In response, the church offered additional softball games if there were enough players, as well as other games, like corn hole and ultimate frisbee.

Hope Baptist Church Pastor Kevin Huber said the softball get-togethers began three years ago, stemming from his love for both softball and baseball. Huber is a bi-vocational pastor who works at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, so he was able to obtain permission to use the fields.

“He just said, ‘Whoever wants to gather, come on over, we’re gonna cook some hotdogs and hamburgers. Bring a side or beverage to share and we’ll fellowship for the evening,’” Franklin said. “And then I’ve encouraged everyone to bring a friend, a neighbor, a colleague, whoever they know who might not be churched or might be seeking a church to join us, and it is just a great opportunity to fellowship and share the gospel.”

This group values their time together so much that even poor weather doesn’t usually stop them from gathering. “There is a very big pavilion with lots of picnic tables, and we typically will gather under there. Obviously not as many people will show up, but, you know, we’ll play board games.” Franklin said.

The church invites everyone, of every skill level, to join them. They also extend the invitation to other churches with the hope of eventually forming a softball league.

Severna Park Baptist Member Alethia Brown a summer intern and a freshman at Belmont University, majoring in publishing