FCA: Sports Evangelism in the Era of the Great Awakening - Research Paper

Introduction

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is one of the largest sports evangelism organizations in the world. Historically, the waves of religious enthusiasm in the era of the Great Awakening saw the believers diversify their approaches to spreading the gospel. This aspect explains the emergence of sports evangelism organizations such as FCA among others. In this perspective, the objective of FCA is to use the influence of its coaches and athletes to enhance the global ministry of spreading the gospel. The organization's efforts fit in the international strategic plan of the FCA since it focuses on building an active sports ministry through affiliate programs that train Christian athletes and coaches for evangelism. FCA has impacted the world for Jesus Christ through its comprehensive spiritual, athlete, and leadership training programs.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

FCA is an international non-profit Christian organization that Don McClanen established in 1954 in the US. Currently, the organization runs a worldwide sports ministry that aims at bringing people closer to God. Its athletes and coaches, in particular, lead people in growing their relationship with Jesus Christ and his church. However, FCA is an interdenominational sports organization, which implies that it is not affiliated to a single religious group. With its headquarters in Kansas City, the organization can effectively coordinate its operations in the US and the entire world ministry. The values that frame FCA's work are excellence, serving, teamwork, and integrity. Its primary services through the sports ministry are national camps in leadership, athletics, and sports. These activities are available in 84 countries that it operates. Currently, FCA has 242 international leaders and 30, 024 coaches and athletes in 304 camps (Fellowship of Christian Athletes, 2018).

FCA achieves its growth, outreach and fellowship goals by convening national camps. The purpose of such activities is to influence the players, athletes, and their followers to establish their relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Through coaches and athletes, the FCA can reach out to the attendees with the Gospel. These people, together with the local communities, connect to study the Word of God. According to Cawthon and Jones (2004), the "huddles" in particular, is the most critical program that enhances the efforts of FCA in reaching out to the world with the Gospel. In this regard, FCA convenes this activity at least twice per month to empower the people through fellowship and outreach programs. This event connects more than 13,000 people annually in about 260 offices where they establish their relations with Jesus Christ

The organization trains its staff to lead the worldwide ministry of spreading the gospel and bringing people close to God. FCA empowers its coaches and athletes to adapt to other peoples' culture and implement approaches that match their way of life. The staff partners with other organizations in the sports ministry to serve the world of Jesus through the gospel. This relationship between Christianity and modern sports have a cultural significance to sports evangelism organizations (Watson & Parker, 2013). Without changing the gospel, it enables FCA to reach out to many people and hence one way of sharing the gospel to a vast population. The authors further noted that the use of sports to enhance religion spans 3000 years in historical epochs in Greece and Rome. The efforts of FCA revolves around touching millions of lives through coaches and athletes that take the gospel to colleges, professional junior, and high school level individuals across the globe (Waller, Dzikus, & Hardin, 2010).

The organization's international strategic plan consists of five strategies. First, it has the policy to connect staff members and field offices to the rest of the world. FCA attains this objective by creating awareness of its existence and supporting field offices connect to specific areas of the world. Secondly, it empowers the trainers and allows individuals leading the international sports ministry to travel to the US, where they learn how to organize the movement in their countries. Such people gain critical concepts and match them with their culture. FCA also sends its staff to train overseas groups and equip them with the techniques of running the sports ministry. Thirdly, the distribution of resources is a critical aspect of the strategic plan. FCA has resources and channels for empowering the people to access them. It provides translates curriculum and sports devotional in many languages. Fourthly, it develops affiliate programs to enable world leaders to build the sports ministry in their countries. Finally, FCA's strategic plan is to work in partnerships with other sports ministry organizations. It strives to cooperate with other similar movements in serving the world.

FCA has made a positive impact in sports ministry through off-campus programs that empower young people to compete for Christ. It has initiated translation programs to inspire the Korean believers and enable them to overcome cultural and language barriers in receiving the gospel (Fellowship of Christian Athletes, 2018). FCA, in this case, is ministering to college students through youth sports, recreational activities, and clubs as a strategy to establish an ongoing ministry for athletes and coaches. Some of the athletes that have participated in FCA are Josh Hamilton, Brian Roberts, Tamika Catchings, and Adam Wainwright.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the international strategic plan of FCA has significant contributions to the worldwide sports ministry. The organization uses a platform of sports to reach out to the young people and hence creating an ongoing ministry. FCA serves the local communities through its coaches and athletes that use the gospel to change the world. They use the transforming power of Jesus Christ to challenge people to remain closer to God.

References

Cawthon, T. W., & Jones, C. (2004). A Description of Traditional and Contemporary Campus Ministries. College Student Affairs Journal, 23(2), 158-172. Retrieved June 30, 2019, From https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ956985.pdf/ur/

Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). (2018). FCA International Strategic Plan. Retrieved June 30, 2019, from https://www.fca.org/international/about/home/url/

Waller, S. N., Dzikus, L., & Hardin, R. (2010). The Collegiate Sports Chaplain: Kindred or Alien? Journal of the Association of Professional Chaplains, 26(1), 16-26. DOI: 10.1080/10999183.2010.10767397

Watson, N. J., & Parker, A. (2013). Sports and Christianity: mapping the field. Retrieved June 30, 2019, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/29392687/url