Page 4 - May Spire 2013

Adult Spiritual Formation
At the beginning of August 1984 (boy, I am getting
old) I arrived on the campus of the University of
Kentucky to report for football training camp. After one
practice, I made several astute observations…
1. These guys are very large.
2. These guys are very fast.
3. It is very painful when guys this large and this fast
run into you.
4. Some of these very large and fast guys who inflict
a lot of pain when they run into you are also very
strong Christians. Hmmmm?
This was a bit of a Copernican revolution in my
developing 18 year-old mind. I had never put sports
and faith together in the same sentence. Well…I tried
but not very successfully. I played sports in high school
but always felt like a loner as a Christian and an athlete.
I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t attend my youth group
meetings because I always felt out of place as a “jock”.
About a month into my first semester at UK, a large, fast,
hard-hitting defensive end invited me to the Thursday
night meeting of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
“Really?!?” Sports meets faith. That was a match made
in heaven for me. Sign me up. I went to the first
meeting and achieved nirvana (sorry, wrong religion). I
couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Several hundred
athletes representing most of the varsity sports sharing
the common bond of their faith in Jesus Christ. I would
later discover that not all those attending the meetings
were athletes. Anyone was more than welcome to join
the fellowship.
As a result of my involvement with FCA, my spiritual life
took off. I now consider those years at UK the most
formative years of my spiritual growth (that includes my
5 years in seminary). I also realize that the seeds of my
calling to serve as a Pastor were planted during those
years.
Almost 30 years later, I still feel a great debt of gratitude
for the way FCA nurtured me in the faith. I guess that
is part of the reason why I felt grateful when FCA called
me last year to ask if I would be willing to sit on the
Regional Board of Directors. It was a wonderful chance
to give back. Another opportunity quickly surfaced when
the President of FCA, Les Steckel, asked me if I would
be willing to serve on FCA’s staff.
After much prayer and counsel (and the blessing of our
HR team) I have accepted a part-time position to serve
as the Fairfield County Representative for the Fellowship
of Christian Athletes.
I consider this another great opportunity to serve Christ
by serving the community of Darien and wider Fairfield
County. I will continue to serve in the same pastoral
role at NPC. My service to FCA will be outside of my
regular duties at the church.
In case you are not familiar with FCA:
It is the largest sports ministry in the world and currently
reaches approximately two million people annually
on every level with the Gospel of Jesus Christ—
professional, college, high school, junior high and youth.
FCA’s staff has grown to more than 1,000 in over 400
local offices across the country.
Most importantly for me, as the emphasis on sports
continues to grow in our American culture (often in
unhealthy ways), the platform for sports-related ministry
has also grown significantly. As a result, FCA continues
to grow at a remarkable pace. My prayer and great
hope is that God will use this ministry to reach into
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