Rev. Dr. Mark Tronson died Monday 4th July. This extraordinary man had a heart for the people of sport and transformed many aspects of sporting community. While he had an influence in many other areas of church, chaplaincy, art, writing, and many other ministries I wanted to focus on his heart for athletes.
Tronson was an established athlete himself having played hockey and athletics. He also trained at Morling Baptist Theological College in Sydney from 1977 to 1980. Following pastorates at Croydon Park and Warragamba (1979–1983), he served as a part-time industrial chaplain until 1992. It was the combination of his love for sport, people and God that birthed an amazing ministry. There are many parts of his ministry but here I outline a selected few.
Dr. Mark Tronson PhD
Firstly, between 1984 to 86 he wrote a doctoral dissertation in the new field of sports mission. This earned him his PhD from Louisiana Baptist University in association with Morling College. In this he established himself as a world leader in the way sport could be used as an instrument for the gospel.
Secondly, he was The Australian newspaper's hockey writer for several Olympics, World Cups and Champions Trophies. He also wrote several books on hockey and sports chaplaincy. This gave him great awareness of elite sport and the need for sports chaplaincy.
Thirdly, in 1982 he founded the Sports and Leisure Ministry with the aim to minister to the people of sport. There was, at first, a high level of scepticism among Australian sporting organisations about this new group. However, Tronson soon won their hearts by showing them he was there to care for them and their people.
Sports Chaplaincy
The Australian Cricket Board was the first to adopt the idea of Sports Chaplaincy with the appointment of Tronson as their chaplain. He also served as Chaplain to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and in 2000 Tronson was invited to the IOC Lausanne Switzerland to assist in the development of an Olympic Villages Religious Services protocol. Tronson also trained up a team of other chaplains for sports around Australia and opened the eyes of the church in Australia to see the theology of incarnational ministry in many other areas such as executive ministries, entertainment, media, leisure and tourism sectors.
Basil Sellers House
Part of his care for athletes saw the establishment of respite care. This firstly saw the development of Basil Sellers House for Canberra Australian Institute of Sport coaches and athletes and expanded to Tweed Heads and Laguna Keys respite. Tronson saw the intense pressure the people of sport were under and provided ways to care for them through this ministry.
Mark Tronson’s impact on Australian sport cannot be underestimated. However, one of the biggest impacts may not be his establishment of sports chaplaincy in Australia but in the quiet one-on-one conversations he had with athletes, umpires, coaches and sports administrators. He listened, shared and prayed with each of them making an profound impact on the lives of many. He was a man of great vision who loved the people of sport.
Jeremy Dover is a former sports scientist and Pastor
Jeremy Dover's previous articles may be viewed at https://www.pressserviceinternational.org/jeremy-dover1.html
And https://www.pressserviceinternational.org/jeremy-dover.html