Faith: The Ultimate Goal

As director of Marketing and Creative Services for the Carolina Hurricanes, Howard Sadel has had the privilege of being part of a Stanley Cup-winning hockey team. A member of North Raleigh Church of the Nazarene in Raleigh, North Carolina, he has also had the challenge of living out his faith in the high profile and competitive world of professional sports.

"I grew up watching Bobby Orr and the Boston Bruins, and I have seen the Cup presented every year since I was a young child," Sadel remembers. "Now, I've been in the locker room with the Stanley Cup and was on the ice when it was awarded. To win the championship is amazing, but as a Christian, I have to ask myself, 'Is this what I am really living for?' It's very exciting, but I have to balance it."

Sadel spent 10 years with the Hurricanes and was with them for their 2006 championship season before he recently accepted a new position in Raleigh. It was his highly visible role with the Hurricanes which made him mindful that other people are always watching as we live out our faith.

"The charge is to be in this world but not of this world, and that is certainly a challenge at work. I often wonder why God put me with a hockey team, although it was a dream job—working in sports, in front of the camera, behind the camera, and interviewing players. I definitely had daily and hourly challenges of how to carry myself. It was a high-pressure job, and I found myself in situations where I had to remember who and what I am."

One of the other ways Sadel brought his faith to work was to feature members of the team who were open about their Christian faith in communications that came from the Hurricanes' front office. "There were two outspoken Christians on our team: Cam Ward, a 22-year-old with incredible talent, and Glen Wesley, who has played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 18 years. An article about Glen and his faith on the team's web site was viewed more than 20,000 times and generated the most positive fan mail during the play-offs," Sadel said.

Sadel grew up near New York City and attended a Lutheran church. As a young man, he did not live a Christian life "in any way, shape, or form." But he always felt God knocking on the door. After high school, Sadel got involved in graphic arts and spent the next 17 years in the print industry. He worked with Life magazine, Sports Illustrated, and in advertising in New York.

But he says his life was going in the wrong direction.

"I can remember being on my knees in my bedroom, saying God, I can't do it anymore—You're going to have to. That is when I was saved, although I really didn't know what that meant. I feel that God brought me my wife, Christine, who helped me get going in the right direction, and then took us to a Bible-based church. The pastor was dynamic and not apologetic about what the Word of God said.

"I now understood what the time on my knees meant."

Sadel and his family moved to Raleigh in 1996 where he worked for the agency of record for the Carolina Hurricanes. "I worked on the account for a year and a half, then I was asked by the club if I would come on board and start things internally." His assignment with the Hurricanes was "very time consuming," and having more time with his family was what prompted him to accept his new position as director of marketing for McClatchy Interactive in Raleigh. "You're working from 8:00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M. and then it's game time and you have to work the game. I [would] get home at 11:00 P.M. and have to get up for an 8:00 A.M. meeting. It was difficult for me to balance time with my kids and wife."

Many of the issues of living out faith at work have been the same for Sadel as they are for anyone else, with one exception. His challenge has been to balance top-of-the-profession success with kingdom-of-God values. As Glen Wesley put it: "The Stanley Cup is great, but it's not the eternal goal. Being able to raise the Cup is one thing—but being at the feet of Jesus at the end of your life is ultimately what this life is about."

Karen DeSollar is a freelance writer, editor, and designer in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Holiness Today, March/April 2007

Please note: This article was originally published in 2007. All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at that time but may have since changed.