Bowling and Chrisitanity
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Chelsea LeinSenior Seminar God with Us March 3, 2017        “God in the Bowling Industry”As graduation creeps closer and closer many of us ponder what we will be doing after we walk across the stage. Most of our college careers have been what seems like a never ending maze full of dead ends. This maze took a lot of teamwork and perseverance to navigate but we have finally reached the end. Now that we have succeeded together as a class and begin to break off in our separate paths we must remember the valuable lessons we have learned along the way. One of the most important lessons we have learned throughout the past years is our faith and how we overcome the obstacles surrounding it. The next chapter in most of our lives is a career path and, unfortunately, most careers have large obstacles surrounding faith. In my case this definitely holds to be true. After graduation I plan on pursuing my dreams of owning my own bowling center. My parents own a bowling center in Eugene Oregon and eventually I would like to take that over for them. The bowling industry, unfortunately, does not have the best reputation. Some aspects of the bowling culture that are contradictory of or question Christian beliefs include alcohol consumption, gambling, and Sunday competitions. As I navigate through these topics, I will also attempt to answers two of Garber’s questions: “Can you know the world and still love it?”(22); “Knowing what I know, what will I do?”(52).        Let me first begin by explaining the bowling industry and competitions. The industry is centered on regulars which are league and tournament bowlers. “Significantly, over 10 million consumers classify themselves as “frequent bowlers,” those who bowl 12 or more times a year, a notable base of loyal customers” (Hansell, 5). League bowlers commit to bowl anywhere from twelve to thirty-six weeks, with the average being about thirty-two weeks. When you are a league bowler you pay a one-time sanction fee to the United States Bowling Congress, your state congress, and your local congress. Then you pay a fee around twenty dollars once a week which is split up between the bowling alley and the prize fund for the league you are bowling. Even if you are absent and miss a week, the league bowler is still responsible to pay for all weeks the league runs. At the end of the season the prize fund is paid out according to the rules for that particular league. Each league runs at a different time and may have restrictions on average, age, and gender. A bowling center may have fifteen to twenty different leagues a year. For example a bowling center may have a senior league Monday morning’s, a men’s league Monday nights, a social league on Tuesday night’s, and so forth. League bowling defined by Sandy Hansell is the following “A bowling league is a formally organized group, often associated with a company, church or other organization which signs a contract with a bowling center to bowl on a regularly scheduled basis, normally at the same time on the same day each week.  Participants are divided into teams which compete with each other for prizes.  Traditionally, leagues bowl a season of 30-to-35 weeks, although many leagues now utilize far shorter schedules”. (6-7)As for competitions most bowling centers hold tournaments which most often take place on Saturday’s and Sunday’s. Usually these tournament require an average and a sanction card meaning you must be a league bowler. At these tournaments the bowler pays to get into the tournament and may pay for side pots such as brackets and high games. The tournament fee is split up to pay the bowling center and the tournament staff, and the rest is put into the prize fund. Each tournament has a different format and payout of the prize fund.
Now that you know the basics of the bowling industry let’s discuss the issue it has with Christian beliefs, which is alcohol consumption. Most if not all bowling centers sell alcohol because of its widespread popularity among league bowlers and for entertainment purposes. As an owner of the business it is your decision on whether or not you sell alcohol. As a Christian you are probably against over consumption which is seen regularly in the industry. The only way to prevent this is to have an alcohol free environment. The main concern I would have with this would be my customer base. Most regulars in the bowling industry would turn their back on and boycott a bowling center because they cannot get or consume alcohol there. So the main question is: would my business survive without alcohol sales? I would say the answer depends on the location of the bowling center. In places we associate as the Bible belt, you may have an easier time obtaining customers who support the sobriety. As well as communities who favor an alcohol free environment, you may be able to retain customers in a rural location where there is no business competition. Unfortunately in other locations, such as where my family business is, I am not convinced I could persuade the customer base. Ken Paton suggests that forty percent of revenue at a bowling center comes from food and beverage. From personal experience my family has seen alcohol sales at about twenty percent of overall revenue. In my personal opinion it would be a major detriment to discontinue alcohol sales at our specific bowling center because there are multiple bowling centers within the radius that people could divert to. However, according to Sandy Hansell, “although the decline in bar sales adversely impacted overall revenues in many bowing centers, it has enhanced the industry’s status as a wholesome family activity” (13). This is important to note because my family and I have the desire to transform our bowling center into a well-known family environment.         The next issue I would like to discuss is the aspect of gambling. It is my opinion that all leagues and tournaments are a form of gambling unless you are a youth bowler. This is because when you bowl a league or a tournament you pay into the prize fund or “side pots” and that prize fund money is awarded based on performance. I see this as a bowler betting on his or herself or on his or her team. You are essentially betting that you will perform well enough to either win your money back or make a profit. Ephesians 4:28 says “Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need” (NIV). To me this is referring to the fact that by gambling and winning money you are stealing money belonging to someone else. Even though you may have had a good day or year on the lanes, that does not mean that you need to take other competitors’ money because they did not perform as well. The reason youth are not included in the gambling is because they do not bowl for money, instead they bowl for prizes such as gift cards and scholarships.  Unfortunately, unlike the problem with alcohol I have no solution because without the opportunity to make money most bowlers would see participating as a waste of money. In general, people do not want to compete without there being some potential for benefit. In most cases loss of the prize money would be a deterrent for competitive bowlers and with the loss of participation there would be no revenue for the bowling center.