Deeper Discipleship, Increased Impact

Shelley Pearson • June 24, 2022

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes has been a gamechanger in the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people over the last 70 years. FCA camps and huddles have provided transformational opportunities to grow in faith and learn how to follow Jesus. Leadership is continually looking at how well our model matches our mission to lead every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. A few years ago, they realized that there was room in grow in the area of discipleship. Though many coaches and athletes were coming to Christ and growing and learning, we were not seeing the depth of growth to match our mission.

FCA Leadership introduced a plan to go deeper in discipleship through its E3 program (Engage, Equip, Empower), but many didn’t want to give up the large-group meetings with snacks, games, and a speaker that they had been accustomed to for years. It took a pandemic to finally make the switch at some schools.

Early on in the pandemic, large groups could not meet. Athletes, many of whom had lost their spring or fall sports, were desperate for connection. They began meeting in smaller groups, and discipleship started happening in greater measure. Today, many high school and college huddles have embraced a discipleship model. The FCA huddle at Sartell High School is one example.

A New Model

Before Covid, students and huddle coaches struggled to keep FCA growing at Sartell. They tried meeting on weekends or before school or after school, and they just weren’t getting buy-in from the athletes. When Covid came, the group dissolved completely. When two staff members separately reached out to her, Kelley Newell (FCA Area Rep at the time) had a suggestion based on what she had seen in another school in the Central Lakes Area: “I was so thrilled to see what was happening in Royalton with a blend of coaches and athletes in the same room, at the same table, getting into the Word and faith conversations together. I shared this concept with these coaches.” These two adults tapped four others, and all agreed to go through FCA’s The Core together (The Core is an 8-week study that provides a great foundation for deeper discipleship).

After Marcus, Brad, Joe, Caleb, Riley, and Nick completed The Core, they prayerfully hand-picked student-athletes and invited them to go through the Core with them. Kelley said, “It was so amazing to hear the conversation happening at those tables and to hear coaches giving wisdom to these student-athletes who are craving to know more about faith.” Following that group, these new student leaders invited their friends and teammates to go through a six-week study of Ephesians with them. The reach keeps expanding.

Multiplication Impact

FCA loves seeing multiplication like this because the impact is so incredible. What started at Sartell as a small group has already expanded to 20-30 athletes coming together each week to go deeper in their walks with Jesus Christ in smaller groups within the large group. Praise God for how He has orchestrated that!

Nick Koubsky, math teacher at Sartell, is one of the huddle coaches who first went through The Core with the other adults. He had been involved in FCA at Becker High School and was solid in his faith before coming to Sartell, but going through The Core with other coaches changed him. He said, “When I was going through it, I was being transformed. The Core is transferrable and easy to pass along.” And it has been passed along, first with the huddle coaches, then with the student leaders, and finally to the rest of the students. Next year, they are planning for further multiplication as they raise up new student leaders to join current leaders.

Nick said, “We want to use this as a continuous way to practice leading and develop new leaders in the process. Our goal is that once or twice a month, instead of doing the weekly large group, that the athletes would meet with their teams. Large group is like the nucleus where we can help each other and have a safe environment but then see it trickle into their teams.” It’s also a way to get more coaches involved. For example, the student leader who plays on the basketball team can ask the coach to host the team where they can eat together and look at The Core or do another Bible study together. It’s further multiplication.

Bearing Fruit that will Last

One of the greatest surprises for Nick has been the students’ response. They want to be there every week, and they want to dig in and do the work. He said, “The whole focus of discipleship has been a gamechanger. There was a hunger for digging in and growing in discipleship and leadership skills – it’s been a pivot for us. It is an absolutely brilliant move on FCA’s part. We can see the fruit.”

Kelley agreed, “I am thrilled to see the momentum and the testimonies of students growing in their faith through this journey at Sartell FCA. It will be exciting to see what growth happens at Sartell!” They still meet together in a large group. They still have fun. They still eat snacks. But they now go so much deeper, which is really what these students all crave – to go deeper in relationship with each other and with Christ.

And it is not something Nick could ever do alone; the other five coaches are tremendous partners. Nick said, “They all lead with commitment, passion, and equally carried the load. They are a phenomenal team to partner with and grow closer to Christ with these students.” God has moved in mighty ways, and there are great things in store moving forward. We are excited to see continued fruit as student-athletes reach their teams and schools with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are seeing this duplicated in many schools around Minnesota and cannot wait to see the fruit of all God is doing.

Thank you to Kelley Newell, Nick Koubsky, the other five huddles coaches, and the student-athletes for shining Christ’s love on the campus of Sartell High School!

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