The men’s basketball team from Central Bible College, Springfield, Missouri will be in ministry Sunday November 15 at University Baptist Church in Shawnee, Oklahoma at 6pm. University Baptist Church is located at 2515 N. Kickapoo Avenue.
It is unusual for an Assemblies of God Bible college to minister at a Baptist church; it is equally unusual the way the men’s basketball team ministers musically—playing handbells.
The Spartans are the only college basketball team who play handbells. This is the second season for the team to play handbells.
Kirk Hanson has coached basketball at Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, for more than 30 years and has compiled a record that includes three national championships and 22 consecutive seasons of 20+ wins. The school was established by the Assemblies of God in 1922 and has a current enrollment of more than 600 at the main campus.
Unlike other colleges, CBC does not offer athletic scholarships, and the coaching staff does not travel the region recruiting players for their teams. For students who play for the CBC teams, athletics is a commitment with few perks.
For Hanson and his team, an away game is more than a road trip, it is a ministry opportunity. The players all participate in the service when the team ministers in a local church.
Looking for something the team could do together, Hanson credits his sister-in-law with inspiring the idea that the team could ring handbells. “We had gone home for Christmas, and my sister-in-law has handbells at her church.” She taught the family to ring using color-coded cards. “I wanted to do something out of the box, and I knew the college had handbells,” Hanson says.
Depending on the basketball schedule, the team rehearsed for about an hour two or three times a week. The rehearsal room was a racquetball court, and rehearsal usually followed basketball practice, before the guys went to the showers. “We came in from ball practice tired, but they didn’t complain,” says Hanson.
