[Article for denominational magazine]

Faith@Work: The Ultimate Goal

As director of Marketing and Creative Services for the Carolina Hurricanes, Howard Sadel is in the enviable position of being part of a Stanley Cup-winning hockey team. As a Christian and member of North Raleigh Church of the Nazarene in Raleigh, North Carolina, Howard works hard to keep his professional success in perspective.

“I grew up watching Bobby Orr and the Boston Bruins and I have seen the Cup presented every year since I was five or six years old,” Howard remembers. “I've now been in the locker room with the Stanley Cup and been on the ice when it was awarded. To get the championship is amazing, but as a Christian, you have to ask, ‘is this what you are really living for? It’s very exciting, but you have to balance it.”

Howard works in a highly visible role in a competitive and pressure-packed environment and is always mindful that other people are watching him as he lives out his faith.

“The charge is to be in this world but not of this world, certainly at work; that is a challenge. I often wonder why God put me in a hockey team, although it’s a dream job—working in sports, in front of the camera, behind the camera, interviewing players. You definitely have daily and hourly challenges of ‘how do I carry myself.’ It’s a high-pressure job, around sports and high testosterone. You find yourself in situations where have to remember who you are and what you are.”

One of the other ways Howard brings his faith to work is to feature members of the team who are open about their Christian faith in communication that comes from the Hurricanes front office.

“We have two outspoken Christians on our team: Cam Ward, a 22-year-old-kid who is an incredible talent; and Glen Wesley, who has played in the NHL for 18 years. We were able to do an article about Glen and his faith on the web site [carolinahurricanes.com] that got over 20,000 views and generated the most positive fan mail during the play-offs,” Howard said. “Hopefully, we can continue to bring out stories like that so that kids can see a different side of sports.”

Howard grew up just outside Manhattan and was raised in a Lutheran church. As a young man, he “was not living a Christian life in any way, shape or form. But I always felt God knocking on the door.” After high school, he got involved in graphic arts and spent the next 17 years in the print industry. He worked on "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. God brought me my wife, Christine, who helped me get in the right direction, and then brought us to a Bible-based church. The pastor was dynamic and not apologetic about what the word of God said. Going back to my time on my knees in my bedroom, I understood what it meant.”

Howard 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 and I was asked by the club if I would come on board and start things internally.”

His assignment with the Hurricanes is “very time consuming,” and making time for Godly priorities requires effort. “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 get home at 11:00 and have to get up for an 8:00 meeting. It’s difficult for me to balance time with my kids and wife. I get them involved as much as I can, but it’s a battle.”

Howard believes living out his faith in his work with a major league sports team is not that different than anybody else. “I just talked to someone who was heading to the Marines. I said, ‘You’re going to be in conflict with the world. You are going to be asked to go to bars. You’re going to want to hang with the guys and are going to want to fit in. You have an opportunity to be a light, the only one that some of these guys are going to see. You are going to have to make those choices everyday.’”

In the emotional world of professional sports, Howard also deals with his share of tension. “There are heated moments and disgruntled fans. It would be easy to get defensive, but you have an opportunity to turn a negative into a positive, and hopefully do it in a Christian light.”

Many of the issues of living out faith at work are the same for Howard as they are for anyone else, with one exception. Right now, his challenge is to balance top-of-the-profession success with kingdom-of-God values.

“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.”

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