On 5th July 2005, it was announced to the World that London would be the host city for 2012 Olympic Games.  Christian Leaders throughout the UK started to discuss our response to this unprecedented opportunity.  In March 2006, a number of denominations and organisations gathered at Westminster Central Hall to discuss establishing More Than Gold as an umbrella organisation to co-ordinate our endeavors. 

In January 2007, More Than Gold was launched in front of 2000 people at St Pauls Cathedral.  In attendance that day, were key leaders, including Lord Coe, Tessa Jowell, Archbishop Rowan Williams and Archbishop Cormack Murphy-OConnor. 

More Than Gold was established as a Charitable Trust in 2008 under the chairmanship of Lord Brian Mawhinney and our CEO, David Willson, was appointed in November of that year.  In 2009, the Board of Reference will be instituted, key staff and seconded personnel will be appointed and on July 16th, we will hold our strategic engagement conference at Wembley Stadium. 

Historical documentation will point to the fact that the Christian community has been involved with the Olympics stretching as far back as the early 1970s. Considering that the Christian community was the largest single constituency within many of the previous host cities, it is not surprising to find that the Christian community has been involved in an array of officially sanctioned programs ranging from the provision of water, homes to host athletes families, facilities, to chaplains, creative arts performers, translators and literature resources.

Local organising committees have utilized the resources of the local church in a number of different ways. This document records some of the Christian Communities involvement with the Games over a period of eight years between 1994 and 2002 including four Olympics (Lillehammer, Atlanta, Sydney and Salt Lake City). During this time frame you will note that the Christian community has played an ever increasing role in assisting the official local organizing committee to implement programs associated with the Games.

• › Lillehammer 1994

  Because the Lutheran Church was and still is the official state church of Norway, they were funded by the local official organizing committee to provide a full-time administrator/chaplain who would oversee the Christian community’s involvement leading up to and during the 1994 Winter Olympic Games. To our knowledge, this was only the second time (Seoul ’88 being the first) that a full-time employee was employed by the local official organizing committee to coordinate the role of the church with an Olympic event. As well as assisting in the dissemination of volunteer information to the local community, the role of the church administrator was to implement four programs leading up to and during the Games. Those officially sanctioned programs were as follows:

  1. Chaplaincy: as required by the IOC, a chaplaincy program was implemented in the Olympic Village representing the Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Islamic, and the Buddhist faiths. Chaplains, the majority of which were of the Christian faith, served as counselors and leaders of services for the athletes in the Village. Chaplains were allowed access to all areas of the Village. A special version of the Bible containing an official cover was produced for use within the Village.
  2. Facilities: the Lutheran Church was and is integral to the make-up and culture of society in Norway. Because of this and the additional lack of meeting places for Cultural Olympiad performances, a number of church facilities were used as venues for the Cultural Olympiad. The official church administrator was therefore extensively involved in coordinating the scheduling of creative arts performances in church facilities.
  3. Food, Refreshment and Counseling Services: due to the fact that there were not enough accommodation facilities in Lillehammer, a large group of construction workers were shipped in to build facilities leading up to the Games. The official church administrator helped in coordinating the local church’s involvement with canteen supplies (meals and drink) to the construction workers twelve to eighteen months out from the Games. The local church also organized counseling and entertainment for the workers. These services were provided to the construction workers at no cost to the official organizing committee.
  4. Literature Resources: a number of official Christian-related resources were produced with the blessing of the organizing committee. These resources included the above-mentioned Bible for the Olympic Village and a directory of services to be held in the local churches by various denominations. This directory was provided to visitors via information booths scattered throughout the town.

  It is worth pointing out that there were a number of unofficial programs that were implemented by denominations and parachurch agencies during the Games. One church located on the major pedestrian corridor instituted a coffee house that saw thousands of visitors use for refreshment and warming purposes. Other activities included the distribution of resources that were not approved by the local official organizing committee. It is conservatively estimated that 300+ individuals distributed resources and entertained the crowd on pedestrian corridors without the official approval of the organizing committee during the Games.

  A more extensive report of the activities of the Christian Church at the Lillehammer Olympics is available from the Global Events Group office.

• › Atlanta 1996

  The Christian community’s preparation for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics began as far back as 1991. At this time, an organization by the name of Quest Atlanta was created with the support and backing of local government officials and the local official organizing committee. Quest Atlanta represented the first time that the majority of local denominations came together to work under one banner. Although not officially funded by the local organizing committee as was the case with Lillehammer, it is conservatively estimated that over $1,000,000 US was raised and utilized in the implementation of programs and production and distribution of Christian resources. Officially sanctioned programs coordinated by Quest and the local church network included:

  1. Chaplaincy: 40+ chaplains were utilized to lead services and counseling within the Olympic Village for the athletes.
  2. Volunteers: The local churches were used as a forum to distribute literature regarding the volunteer opportunities. In addition to the general supply of volunteers, 1000 security personnel were provided by Youth With a Mission to augment the security for the Games.
  3. Athlete Family Homestay: Churches under the banner Quest Atlanta presented to the local organizing committee the idea of hosting athlete’s families in church members’ homes. This program was officially sanctioned by the organizing committee as the AT&T Family-to-Family Program. The local church provided over 75% of the 1000 homes used for hosting athletes families.
  4. Water Distribution: In an effort to provide free water to spectators lining up at venues, The Salvation Army teamed up with Coca Cola and local churches to provide over 3 million cups of cold water to spectators at no cost to the official organizing committee. Water was distributed via mobile kitchen units and tent facilities erected outside fifteen of the Olympic venues.

  In addition to the above-mentioned sanctioned programs, a variety of other programs were implemented by the local Christian community. These included:

  1. Coffee House Ministry: A local storefront was purchased on a main pedestrian corridor to provide refreshments and a place of rest and entertainment for the local public. Face painting, balloon sculpting, and other creative arts performances were implemented at this venue.
  2. Sports Clinics: 45+ sports clinics were implemented at local churches for the purposes of providing the opportunity for disadvantaged youth to be involved in the Olympic experience. Over 2000 youth attended these clinics, which were staffed by experienced coaches.
  3. Hospitality Bag Distribution: 300,000+ hospitality bags containing lip balm, sunscreen, tissue, and candy were distributed at hospitality locations to visitors to Atlanta.
  4. Rental of Facilities: Local denominational seminaries were rented to Olympic sponsors to host officials and dignitaries of the organization. The Salvation Army for example rented their seminary college out to Nations Bank for US $1,000,000.
  5. Resource distribution:  2,000,000+ pins, sports New Testaments, sports magazines, and booklets were produced and distributed by the various denominations during the Games. Resources also included a directory of when and where church services would take place on the main pedestrian corridors, and a map of where free water could be obtained from the hospitality locations.
  6. Creative Arts Performance: 300+ cultural performances were staged at churches on high traffic pedestrian corridors within the city.
  7. Prayer Initiative: A prayer network was developed across the entire city and beyond to under gird the Games with prayer.

  It is conservatively estimated that 20,000+ Christians were involved in some aspect of the programs mentioned above. It is conservatively estimated that over US $3,500,0000 was spent on the outreach by various denominations and Para-church agencies involved with the Games.

• › Sydney 2000

  Following the success of Quest Atlanta in coordinating the combined church involvement with the Games, Quest Australia was officially created in early 1997 to coordinate the Christian community’s involvement with the local government and official organizing committee. Officially sanctioned by the local organizing committee, Quest implemented the largest combined Christian ministry effort in the history of the Games. Quest was involved with the following officially sanctioned programs of SOCOG:

  1. Chaplaincy:  60+ chaplains served the athletes via counseling and leadership of services within the Olympic Village.
  2. Resources: 20+ Christian resources are approved for distribution at the Games. These resources included sports New Testaments, magazines, tracts, videos, pins, CD’s and postcards, to name a few.
  3. Samsung Athlete Family Homestay Program: The Christian community once again provided the largest amount of homes to host athletes’ families (400+). For the first time, a Christian is employed fulltime by the official organizing committee to coordinate the local churches involvement with the program.
  4. Water Distribution: The local Christian churches, coordinated by The Salvation Army, distributed 250,000 cups of free water at Olympic venues. Once again, Coca Cola served as the main sponsor for this program.
  5. Christian Resource Distribution Center: For the first time in Olympic history, the local organizing committee approved the location of Christian resource distribution centers within an Olympic venue. One center was located inside the entrance of Olympic Park at Homebush next to the Nike store. A second distribution site was staged at the main train station in the town center.
  6. Volunteers: It is conservatively estimated that the local church, under the banner of Quest, provided 2000+ official volunteers to serve in various capacities.
  7. Information Centers: Two church facilities on high traffic pedestrian corridors were chosen to serve as information centers for visitors. These church facilities were equipped with televisions, ticket information, and computers to provide all the necessary information to visitors.
  8. Rental of Facilities: A number of the Christian facilities in Sydney were rented out during the Games to house bus drivers and security personnel.
  9. Creative Arts Performance Groups: A number of top-class Christian performance groups were used as part of the Cultural Olympiad and performed at Cultural Olympiad locations.
  10. Pin Trading Center: A major pin trading center was staged by the church next to St. Andrews Cathedral and the main train station venue in downtown Sydney.

   

  In addition to the officially sanctioned programs, the local Christian community was involved in an array of other programs. These programs included:

  1. Sports Clinics: 110 sports clinics were implemented by 85 churches with 2500 youth attending. As in Atlanta, these clinics were aimed at targeting disadvantaged youth.
  2. Opening Ceremony Festivals: With the permission of Channel 7 (the official broadcaster of the Olympics), churches implemented over 120 festivals where the Opening Ceremonies could be seen on large outdoor screens. Over 225,000 from the general public attended theses festivals where free entertainment and sports clinics were provided. Crowds in excess of 25,000 people attended some of these festivals.
  3. Prayer: Prayer festivals and a 24-hour prayer chain were implemented so as to under gird the Games with prayer.
  4. Paralympic Ministry: Paralympians were provided with the opportunity to travel to local sightseeing venues by the provision of buses from the local church.
  5. 2K+ Media Team: Over 300 radio stations on five continents received Christian coverage of the Games via the 2K+ media team, hosted by Quest Australia.
  6. Creative Arts Performance: In addition to the official cultural program mentioned above, Quest staged 1,000+ performances on 155 stages throughout the city.

   

  It is conservatively estimated that over 5,000 Christians were involved in the staging of the above-mentioned programs. It is also conservatively estimated that a budget of $2,000,000 US was raised to implement the above-mentioned programs.

• › Salt Lake 2002

  Following the model of Atlanta and Sydney, the Christian community came together in Salt Lake City to create an umbrella organization called the Utahgames Network (UGN). Created in 1997, UGN assisted the official organizing committee (SLOC) in implementing the following programs:

  1. Chaplaincy: 30+ chaplains from 19 faiths provided religious support for the athletes in the Olympic Village.
  2. Interfaith Roundtable: Designed as an umbrella organization for all religious faiths in Salt Lake, the Interfaith Roundtable served as the officially sanctioned body for implementing a number of programs including: chaplaincy, a World of Faith book, an ecumenical cultural service, a directory of religious services, a calendar of faith events occurring in the Salt Lake area during the Games, and an interfaith chapel/interfaith center in the Olympic Village.
  3. Samsung Athlete Family Homestay Program: As in previous Summer Games, the Christian community provided the largest number of homes for hosting the athletes’ families (400+). A part time consultant is seconded to the official organizing committee to assist with the program.
  4. Water Distribution: The Salvation Army was once again requested to provide water distribution at ten of the Olympic venues. Coca Cola again served as one of the major sponsors for this program.
  5. Volunteers: The Christian community provided 50+ volunteers to serve the local government in cleaning the streets of garbage. In addition, large numbers of the local Christian community served in volunteer roles within the official organizing committee.
  6. Food Distribution Center: For the first time in Olympic history, a Christian-owned facility served as the distribution point for 3000+ meals a day for official volunteers.
  7. Pins and Uniforms: For the first time in Olympic history a denomination (The Salvation Army) is given permission to use the official Olympic marks on pins and uniforms.

   

  In addition to the above-mentioned official programs, UGN and the local Christian community implemented the following unofficial programs:

  1. Sports Clinics: A number of winter-related sports clinics were implemented by Snowboarders for Christ.
  2. Opening Ceremonies Festivals: 12 local churches hosted Opening Ceremony festivals for the local community.
  3. Coffee House: The local Baptist denomination purchased a storefront on a main pedestrian corridor leading up to Temple Square. This facility was used as a coffee distribution center, performance arts venue, Internet café, and pin trading location.
  4. Resources and Pins: Five types of sports related resources including magazines, sports New Testaments, tracts, videos, and pins were developed for distribution during the Games.
  5. Hospitality Bags: Over 25,000 hospitality bags were distributed to spectators coming to the Games. These hospitality bags included lip balm, sunscreen, tissues, mints, band-aids, and hand lotion.
  6. Creative Arts Performance Groups: Approximately 30+ performance groups were staged in the city during the Games. A number of these performance groups were officially sanctioned by the local government to perform on city stages up and down the pedestrian corridor.

   

  It is conservatively estimated that 2000+ Christians assisted in the implementation of the above-mentioned programs. Combined budgets for the UGN and the denominations involved surpassed US$1,000,000.