Clarke Central FCA hosts annual Fields of Faith
Clarke Central High School’s (CCHS) Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) held their annual Fields of Faith event at the Billy Henderson stadium on Oct. 22. Fields of Faith is a place for anyone in the community to listen to student testimonies and worship.
Aaron Cavin, Central FCA adviser, started helping leaders in FCA planning this event because he wants to expand the group’s reach.
“We want to be able to share the gospel with kids that may never go to church or may never even come to an FCA event, but they’ll come to something that’s at school. But then also to encourage kids that are believers in the school to know that they’re not alone, to have a community,” Cavin said.
Nolen Wood, chaplain at University of Georgia, has been on staff with UGA since 2014 and spoke at Fields of Faith. Wood enjoys speaking to high school students since his dad was a coach and helped in FCA.
“I love sharing the gospel, FCA and students – to come and share it on a level where they can understand it and be able to get through to them. Anyone can be a part of FCA. It’s such a great platform for me to leverage things like sports, because even if you’re not an athlete, most people enjoy athletics,” Wood said.
While she did not attend the event at Clarke Central, Cedar Shoals senior Ky’Esha Gainer hopes to see more student leaders come out to grow FCA.
“I continue to pray that God uses people that are in FCA as tools and leaders. I know for a fact that when God uses them it will grow FCA at Cedar,” Gainer said.
Cavin has also noticed that more students are reaching out to be student leaders and learn how they can share more.
“It’s my 20th year here, and it seems to me like God is in His perfect timing, raising up more student leaders to share their testimonies and share the gospel, and we have more coaches and faculty members,” Cavin said.
CSHS also has a growing FCA organization. FCA adviser and Associate and Family Pastor at Life Church Steven Day has seen FCA make a difference in students’ lives in different ways.
“I’ve seen kids come to have self-acknowledgement in Jesus. I’ve seen the lord use FCA to draw students to himself. I’ve seen students build community with other students, and through that, help each other through hard and difficult times,” Day said.
CCHS senior FCA leader Maddie Gilreath, has enjoyed developing new conversations with new people through her participation in FCA events.
“It sparks new conversations in classrooms. I’ve had many conversations with new people that I usually never talk to, but with FCA, it kind of brings that into the conversation. And those conversations bring Jesus more into school,” Gilreath said.
Having that kind of faith can also inspire students to take action in their own environments, says Wood.
“You don’t have to be radical, you don’t have to be a theologian. You just got to be genuine. You just have to have real faith. So people who are believers, who actually are unashamed of that, who step up and say, I’m going to share my faith with my team or my classroom. No matter where I am, I’m gonna live differently. And it doesn’t take a lot for light to stand out in darkness, and using FCA to help you live for Christ is a way to shine your light,” Wood said.
Day believes that it doesn’t matter what you believe in or who you are, you are able to go to FCA meetings. He hopes that more Cedar students will join the organization on the East side.
“Doesn’t matter if you’re an athlete, doesn’t matter if you’re a disciple of Jesus or not. We want all students. And I would say even teachers, staff, administrators, anybody and everybody. We would love for them to come to fellowship and to hear the gospel. And ultimately, being a transformation within Cedar Shoals, because it starts for students in the classroom, in the hallways. And from there it goes to homes, and then to communities, and on and on,” Day said.
