God Uses One Family To Pave The Way
John and Frances Owen, their daughter Holly Owen, granddaughters, Elizabeth Owen and Meghean Warner along with her husband, Paul, and their children Gracie, Lilly, and James represent four generations of involvement through Second’s sports program.
The 2PC Sports program does more than simply teach young people how to play ball. In many cases, it has drawn families into the life of our church and into regular corporate worship.
This is the story of how God used a man’s love for his granddaughter, coupled with his love for sports, to fuel a ministry to benefit countless families from all across our city. His impact has been far reaching, well beyond what he could have imagined, but well in keeping with his passion for helping others. It all began with this one man’s dedicated role as a sports fan and supporter of his granddaughter’s 2PC athletic pursuits.
John had a love of sports from an early age and played high school football and even played baseball in a satin uniform. He was the owner of a construction company.
When Meghean was in first grade, she started attending Second Presbyterian recreational sports in the early 1990’s. The 2PC sports program drew them to Second Presbyterian Church initially. Meghean had a natural bent towards sports, playing for 2PC and being coached by Kenny Shackelford all the way through high school. Kenny was the Director of Recreation from 1982-2002. In Kenny’s words, “It was a hodge podge of kids from each school who played on the team together year after year. And that is what made the team so special.”
Holly warmly recalled how her father was devoted to Meghean, especially after he retired stating “He absolutely adored her.” John was a committed fan of all the 2PC teams and even became the assistant coach for several sports teams at 2PC, focusing mainly on softball. It all started when Kenny needed help coaching when the assistant coach was out for the day, and John readily stepped in. He continued filling in wherever the need was, and soon John was the assistant coach in whatever sport needed him and supplier of water and snacks for the teams.
Meghean was 9 years old when her grandfather died, passing away in the fall of 1995. He had a sudden diagnosis and was given only three months to live. In fact, it was so sudden that he had been involved with the team as late as that summer.
John Owen Recreational Scholarship Fund Established – Let’s Play Ball
The John Owen Recreational Scholarship Fund was established as a memorial at John's death by the parents of Meghean's team members along with John’s family. It was transferred to the 2PC Foundation shortly after the Foundation was established. For five years leading up to that transfer, Kenny would faithfully direct people with charitable intent and love for sports to this Fund. As of June 30, 2023 the Fund has a balance of $120,564.
The purpose of the Fund is to cover 2PC Sports activities and fees for children needing assistance. In addition to individual scholarships for participation in any of the sports offered through 2PC, the original target was to have an inner-city team through the Neighborhood Christian School, now Binghamton Christian Academy (BCA). The Fund would sponsor a whole team or individual children.
The Fund Scores
In fact, 2PC Sports still works with kids from BCA today. This past year, across all 2PC sports, 30-40 children from BCA received a scholarship through the John Owen Fund. In total 50 scholarships were given last year from the John Owen Fund to children all over the city, including some members of 2PC. Today, Mrs. Owen loves the scope of the sports ministry and that it does not exclude anyone, even children of single parents at Second who might be struggling with an extra expense. The Recreation Department has not had to turn away a single person due to the existence of the Fund.
2PC Sports makes intentional efforts to mix up the teams with families represented from across the city, similar to how Meghean’s teams were when she played for 2PC. The Owen family is delighted and pleased that the original purpose of the Fund continues to be used for children all over the city and said that it is in keeping with who John was since he enjoyed working with all types of people from the city.
There were 2000 participants in the 2PC Sports program in 2023, and 70% of those are families outside of 2PC. It used to be a majority of 2PC families who played sports at Second, so this is largely due to successful outreach efforts over the years as well as the quality of the sports programs offered. A goal is to capitalize on this incredible opportunity and have one 2PC member on each team to spearhead outreach to the other families.
A Proven Play Call
The current Director of Recreation, Chris Devine states, “The 2PC Sports program has been so effective for so long due to the faithfulness of Kenny and the board. Some of the same board members still are serving today, including Buddy Flinn.” Chris said his department is doing some of the proven things now just like Kenny did. He added that many families either did not have or did not know they needed a church home but came to Second through sports. They were connected to the sports program and eventually came to worship at Second. That happened to Holly and Meghean all those years ago.
Dream Team of Three, Coached by the Best.
Chris noted that John Owen and Kenny Shackleford were the initial mechanisms God used to impact lives through a love for sports and a love for people. Chris’s commitment to running proven plays and yet envisioning the expansion of the program to further leveling the playing field for as many as want to participate provides a sunny future for recreation, a concept designed by the Head Coach Himself.