“Can Athletic Competition and Christian Faith Really Go Together?”
Wednesday, October 9, 2013 3:30-5:00 P.M., HPER 235
Lecture Co-Sponsored by:
The Sport & Religion Research Group and the Center for Sport, Peace, and Society
Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Studies
Distinguished Lecturer: Dr. Ashley Null
Three-Time Olympic Chaplain and Past-Chairman, Major Events Sport Chaplaincy Commission
The Reverend Canon Dr. Ashley Null is an internationally respected scholar on the grace and gratitude theology of the English Reformation. Holding research degrees from Yale and the University of Cambridge, Ashley has received numerous awards for his work, including Fulbright, National Endowment for the Humanities and Guggenheim fellowships. He currently holds a research post funded by the German Research Council at Humboldt University of Berlin and is a visiting fellow at the Divinity Faculty of Cambridge University and St. John’s College, Durham University. Dr. Null serves as a chaplain to elite athletes and coaches, helping them to integrate the Reformation’s emphasis on the unconditional love and grace of God with their vocation as professional sportspeople. He is the author of Real Joy: Freedom to be Your Best (Haennsler, 2004) and served for six years as chairman of the Major Event Chaplaincy Commission, a group which recommends Protestant chaplains for large international sporting events such as the Summer and Winter Olympics. Ashley himself is a three-time Olympic chaplain, most recently at London 2012.