As the NHL playoffs rage on and the intensity grows with each passing game, hockey fans watch intently, eagerly anticipating which team will hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup skyward in triumph. But while the incredible saves and mesmerizing goals get all of the attention, the true Lord of all is orchestrating something much more powerful.
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Each Monday during the season, far away from the public eye, dozens of pro hockey players gather together for mutual growth in Christ and encouragement in faith. These discipleship gatherings occur on Zoom as pro players — competitors all vying for a shot at the Cup — come together as one under the lordship of Christ.
There’s prayer, there’s Bible study, there’s accountability and reassurance. And it’s all player-led, each one spurring the others on toward love and good deeds.
The man behind this NHL discipleship group is Mark Rumschik, an Athletes in Action staff member based in Michigan who has been working with hockey players for more than a decade now. Over the years, he’s been discouraged as he’s seen players, once seemingly enthusiastic in their walk with Christ, drift away in pro hockey.
“There’s a culture out there that pulls guys away,” Rumschik told Sports Spectrum. “Over the past couple years, my heart has just been broken for players that I know want to walk with Jesus but just don’t have other people doing it with them.”
Last summer, as Rumschik contemplated the issue, God sparked in his mind a vision of multiplying discipleship within the hockey world. A couple conversations with former NHL defenseman Nate Prosser later, and the plan was in motion. In partnership with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Pro Athletes Outreach, Rumschik launched the pro hockey discipleship.
The first meeting was held on Oct. 6. Fifty players participated.
“[The discipleship] is designed in a way that we’re gonna help guys with walking with God daily,” Rumschik said. “There are some former players and myself that are investing in the leaders of our group, and the leaders are just mirroring what we’re doing with them to their players that are in their group.”
The leaders of the group are pro hockey players themselves, and they’ve each been called to lead a small group of peers within the larger discipleship meeting. Leaders connect with their groups during the week, do life with them, keep them accountable, provide them with Christian community and always point them toward Christ.
The discipleship movement is more than a Monday morning Zoom call; it’s a community in which players throughout professional hockey can navigate the spiritual challenges of their profession while remaining faithful to Him. They are asked about their personal devotion, their prayer life, their Bible reading, and their spiritual conversations with teammates. Multiplication of disciples has been the result.
“I view my role as I just want to equip these [pro hockey discipleship leaders] and give them the tools to go do the things that God has called them to do,” Rumschik said. “… We’re just a bunch of guys who are coming together, unified under the name of Jesus, trying to reach hockey players and empower and equip them to do the same.
“You can’t go wrong with that.”
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