Entry 198-1
The Fisherman Minister – Glen Chappelear
Part 1: Sportsman’s Outreach
Editor’s Note: Glen Chappelear of Acworth, Georgia, fishes the FLW tour and FLW series, but more importantly, he’s the head of Sportsman’s Outreach, a program used to reach outdoorsman through wild-game banquets and hunting and fishing seminars that Strike King sponsors. Many people don’t understand that professional fishermen deal with a lot of stress as fishermen. Pros spend lot of time away from home, and they have family and financial problems, as well as issues with other fishermen and sponsors. Today, Chappelear will tell how he helps fishermen deal with their most common problems.
Question: Glen, how did you get involved with this Sportsman’s Outreach?
Chappelear: I surrendered to the ministry and went to Fort Worth, Texas, to get a master’s degree in theology. I was a youth minister for 10 years, and in 1997, I felt God was calling me to the outdoors. That year, our church put on its first wild-game banquet, and we had 300 men attend. Ranger Boats and many types of all terrain vehicles were outside at the banquet. The local Ranger Boat representative saw the large crowd the banquet generated and asked if I wanted to promote Ranger Boats. That year I began fishing on the Bassmasters tour with a boat sponsorship from Ranger Boats.
Question: What are you trying to accomplish by working with Sportsman’s Outreach?
Chappelear: While I’m on my way to tournaments, I stop at nearby churches to present programs at wild-game banquets and fishing seminars. I tell hunting and fishing stories, and I share my faith in Christ. Just like I look for bass during tournaments, I look for opportunities to share my faith and to minister to anyone I can help. Whether I’m speaking to one person who sees my boat at a gas station or to hundreds of people at a seminar, my goal is to spread the Gospel. Jesus said, “If you follow me, I will make you fishers of men,” so I fish on the land as well as in the water.
Question: Glen, what is the FOCUS program?
Chappelear: I organize a Bible study on the FLW tour called FOCUS, and more than 100 sponsors and individuals have attended the last two FOCUS meetings we have held on both of the FLW tours. 
An average of one out of every four fishermen in the tournaments attend our study. In conjunction with our other tournaments’ Pros Night, we have a Meet the Pros night, where I enlist the help of several professional fishermen such as Mark Davis, Mark Rose, Alton Jones and Clark Wendlandt, and we speak at local churches before tournaments. When we spoke in Arkansas at the First Baptist Church, 450 people attended. At Lake Lanier’s Hebron Baptist Church, more than 600 people attended. This is a great way to get exposure – not only for our fishing sponsors, but for our main sponsor, Jesus Christ.
Next: The Fisherman Preacher
Contents:
- Part 1: Sportsman’s Outreach
- Part 2: The Fisherman Preacher
- Part 3: Advising the Fishermen
- Part 4: Dealing with Self-Doubt
- Part 5: A Journey of Faith
