At first glance, our annual Men’s World Championship Cornhole Tournament might not look like a theological event. There will be cornhole boards, competition, trophies, gift cards, breakfast burritos, and enough coffee to raise the dead. There will be laughter, trash talk, very weird throwing forms, and at least one guy who takes his cornhole game far more seriously than anyone thought humanly possible…and there will be about 70 men. But underneath all of that is something much more important…there is a theology of cornhole.
- Men Need to Have Fun!
God made us for joy! “A joyful heart is good medicine” - Proverbs 17. “A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, a time to dance and a time to sling dat bean bag” -Ecclesiastes 3:4 (JSV - Jeffro Standard Version). Having fun is something God himself gives. Jesus was not allergic to having a good time.
At the very beginning of Jesus public ministry (John 2), Jesus and his men were invited to a wedding…a grand celebration even back in his day that lasted for a week. When the wine ran dry, Jesus made sure the party continued by providing plenty of the good stuff! There was dancing, storytelling, eating delicious food, probably some pranks and YES, LAUGHING. Think about that…the Son of God and King of Kings dancing a jig and enjoying food and friends. Jesus was free to have a good time because all good gifts are from His Father above. So yes, we play cornhole because it’s fun, and fun is not the enemy of discipleship and growth in Christ…sometimes fun is the front door to those things.
- Men Need other Men!
Here is where the theology of cornhole gets a little more serious…men are lonely! A 2025 Pew Research Center study found that men and women are about equally likely to have at least one close friend. But men tend to communicate with their close friends way less often and are way less likely than women to turn to friends for emotional support. And an earlier national study found something even more sobering: the percentage of men reporting six or more close friends dropped from 55% in 1990 to just 27%, while the percentage reporting no close friendships increased from 3% to 15%. When most men can’t think of 6 men who would weep at their funeral and carry their casket…Houston, we have a problem!
Most men don't wake up in the morning thinking, “I really need some authentic male community today.” They wake up thinking about work, finances, wife, kids, emails, solving problems all day long. At the end of the day, they walk in tired, mow something, fix something, watch something, and hit the sack only to do it all over again the next day. So often, men don’t really need another “thing” to go to; they need other men.
Thankfully, God’s word speaks to this because the Bible has no category for following Jesus in isolation. “Two are better than one” (Ecclesiastes 4:9). “Encourage one another and build one another up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). “Bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2). You can't do that with a guy you never see, so sometimes men need environments (around a bunch of dudes and cornhole boards) to start this process of connecting with each other.
- Men Need an Easy Way To Invite a Friend!
Some men would never walk through the front door of a church on a Sunday morning. Maybe they aren't Christians. Maybe they've never been around church or been hurt by the church. But ask him to play in the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CORNHOLE TOURNAMENT…and he’s all in. Talk about EASY: “Yo…will you be my partner in a huge cornhole tournament with me? I’ll take care of the fee; we’ll both get a belly full of grub and ain’t no doubt we’ll run the table and bring the trophy home. Remember, if ya ain’t 1st, you're last.”
No pressure…no awkward Jesus talk…no biblical questions for him to answer…JUST COME! And while we are asking, we are also praying: “Lord, move his heart because the cornhole tournament is not the destination.” It’s just a bridge so that a man who does not know or love Jesus can meet other men who do. We want friendships that may begin around a cornhole board but eventually end up around a cup of coffee where Jesus has entered the chat. Because when Jesus has entered the chat, ain’t no telling what will happen in this man’s life. That’s ministry at its finest!
- Men Need Food
Let's be honest, there is something deeply spiritual about FOOD...especially homemade breakfast burritos. Add my favorite drug, caffeine in fresh coffee and you have the makings of revival. If anybody understood the power of eating a meal together it was Jesus. He joined people in their homes all the time to “dine with them.” Even after His resurrection, one of the 1st things he did with his disciples was prepare a hot breakfast for them…maybe even breakfast burritos HeeHee! The reality is, food does something beautiful. It slows us down and creates conversation and connection. A man’s heart opens up wider and easier when his belly ain’t growling…at least that’s what I’ve been telling Jenna for 40 years. So we’ll feed you and your friends. You are welcome!
- Men Need to Compete
Put 2 men on opposite sides of a cornhole board and all of a sudden the theology of sanctification get’s real…real fast! I remember last year, where a brand new guy at our church showed up after nearly driving all night long and he and his friend where crowned the champs. He connected with many men that morning and in doing so, he and his wife are all in at Fellowship. His crown is on the line but oh my, he enjoyed the competition.
- Men Need to Hear Stories of Jesus
Finally, we're going to hear from a couple of men who will share their stories. Not polished religious speeches, but real stories of struggle, disappointment, failure and the cra cra in this mad, mad world. Men need to see and hear men who have encountered the living Christ who meets real men in the middle of real life. This is the why behind the what of “The 2026 Cornhole World Championship”! So YES, there is a theology of Cornhole, and it’s ultimately a theology of a God who loves us and made us for joy, community, and who calls us to do for others what He and others have done for us. So, bring your neighbor, brother, guy from work, the guy who has not entered a church in 10 years, who does not like church, and the guy who does not think he needs church. We’ll have a cornhole board waiting, some hot grub, and lots of smiling faces. God can work and will work with that.
Bottom line: The tournament is one morning…the relationships made at cornhole can last for a lifetime.
You can sign up HERE!