Students filed into the indoor athletic facility to gather for the annual Fellowship of Christian Athletes Fields of Faith event Oct. 17, in a moment of community and faith.

“It took a lot of people behind the scenes of getting a band that would sing and worship for us, and just getting the facility and everything, so a lot of behind the scenes work,” senior Patrice Loftin said. “I had to write out my testimony and practice so that when I spoke it to a larger group, it was well spoken.”

The FCA Fields of Faith event began as a chance for like-minded believers to gather with one another, and each year many look forward to this event as a chance to see loved-ones and peers share what matters most to them.

“I’ve been in FCA for three years, and I believe I’ve been a leader for this year and last year,” senior Cole Crawford said.  “It’s a really cool opportunity where we get to talk about our faith on a public school campus, which is very rare, that doesn’t happen everywhere. Me and the guys we take it really seriously, because we want to spread the Good News and let everybody know.”

Beyond the Fields of Faith event, the FCA program engages with the student body on a regular basis. Every Thursday in the gym during flex, FCA leaders go through a Bible study with their peers.

“The football team has been very consistent, there’s some guys there who show up on every Thursday to FCA meetings, and then seeing all them at Fields of Faith, and how they’re really participating in it too, and there not just there for the attendance,” Crawford said. “It’s definitely made a big impact, especially on football guys, but everyone there.”

Along with Loftin, senior Luke Schabel shared his testimony as well, and he said the current FCA leaders emphasized the importance in identifying new leaders to carry on the legacy they’ve created.

“I’d love to find new leaders so we can kind of continue on what’s going on this year, because I think it’s special. We have a lot of really great leaders who are seniors,” Schabel said. “Now I want to find new leaders and make sure that they understand what they’re doing and the importance of it, so that they steward and shepherd FCA well next year.”

Throughout her high school career, Loftin said the event not only has impacted her and her family but those around her as well.

“My freshman year I got to see my brother do it, and then I got to see these people that I love and care deeply getting to share their testimony and see their faith transform other people’s lives, and then just getting to see that in myself, too,” Loftin said.  “Our stories all mean something, and they make a difference in other people’s lives, and just how incredible that is.”