Impact of Christian Athletes Grows On Field and Off
The impact of one of the leading sports ministries in the world continues on strong with more than 1.3 million students reached every year.
Fellowship of Christian Athletes has spread to 6,623 certified campuses under the new leadership of Les Steckel, a former NFL football coach. And FCA events, camps and campus huddles - student-led small groups - have led to more than 35,000 faith commitments in the past year, according to the ministry's Annual Impact Report.
"It’s nice to go to a fellowship activity that involves some kind of physical activity to involve the body, and then involve your mind and soul with the study that follows," said Heather Palmateer, a junior at Bethel College, according to the school publication Collegian.
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One of the biggest events last summer saw students in 35 states meet on over 335 athletic fields for "Fields of Faith" - a student-led outreach that went national for the first time. Students, both athletic and non-athletic, gathered in their respective school fields to hear the gospel and commit themselves to read the Bible consistently. Over 50,000 people were reached that one night.
"It's bringing people to Christ and to read the Bible as opposed to 'Join FCA,'" explained Danny Burns who directs FCA's online ministry.
Ministering to a generation where the majority of youth fall out of the church even as more ministry opportunities arise, Oklahoma FCA Area Director Jeff Martin launched Fields of Faith in 2004 by. The main purpose was to get students back to the fundamentals, just as a sports team would if it were losing. In this case, students were challenged to go back to the Bible and to come to faith in Christ.
The initiative went national in 2006 and has become an annual event.
While the fellowship is largely around sports, FCA events are not limited to professional athletes or school sports team players.
"It's not just for athletes ... anybody who wants to come out and have a good time playing games and talking about God can come," noted Palmateer.
This past summer's camps also drew a high attendance of 33,546 people. Nearly 200 camps were held at the high school, college, professional and coaches level to engage a wide spectrum of age groups and talents.
"How can we use athletes to carry the Christian message to the rest of the world?" said Burns, alluding to the mission of FCA.
Outside of the field, the sports ministry is newly taking the Christian influence to the virtual world with FCA MySpace templates now available to students. With a growing community of people, including Christians, joining the social network phenomenon, FCA hopped on board to equip Christian students and "allow them to carry the banner of FCA," as Burns put it.
On a further note, the sports fellowship plans to develop a ministry-specific online community to connect FCA members and those who have fallen away from the organization to local FCA groups wherever they are.
