Mickey Starling: Greene Publishing, Inc.
Students from Madison County will join thousands of other youth on athletic fields across the nation on Wednesday, Oct. 10, to share their Christian faith with fellow students during the 15th annual national Fellowship of Christian Athletes' (FCA) Fields of Faith event. This rapidly growing, interdenominational outreach event, will be held at more than 500 locations throughout the nation. The Madison event will be held at Boot Hill Stadium, on the Madison County High School (MCHS) campus, at 7 p.m.
While many Christian rallies are anchored to an entertainer or professional speaker, FCA's Fields of Faith is structured as a student-to-student ministry. Peers invite their own classmates and teammates to meet on their school's athletic field to hear fellow students share their testimonies, challenge them to read the Bible and come to faith in Jesus Christ.
This year, worship for the event will be led by the combined talents of Caleb Watts, from Fellowship Baptist Church, and Kayla Groover, from Madison First Baptist Church. Opening the service will be MCHS Head Football Coach Mike Coe as well as MCHS Varsity Baseball and Golf Coach Jason Fletcher. Both men will also share their testimonies. Students who are scheduled to give testimonies include Merridy Archambault, Jordan Weatherspoon and Caroline Jennings. The service will conclude with a prayer circle around the entire football field.
The national growth of Fields of Faith has been remarkable. Since the beginning of Fields of Faith in 2004, more than a million people have joined the movement. In 2017 alone, more than 198,000 students gathered on 521 fields, where 6,213 students made first-time faith commitments, 5,015 recommitted their lives to Christ and 6,494 committed to reading their Bible.
Fields of Faith began with an idea from Jeff Martin, FCA's Executive Director of Ministry Advancement, who longed to help today's generation of students face spiritual battles and temptations.
"It's amazing that Fields of Faith has grown to welcome nearly 200,000 people to athletic fields where they can pray and worship together," said Martin. "We are so thankful for the students who feel passionate about sharing their faith with their fellow students so they, too, can see how Christ can impact their lives. There's no doubt that God is working through these young people and will continue to do so for years to come."
In 2004, Martin's vision became reality when 6,000 students gathered on school athletic fields throughout three states for the first Fields of Faith event. That was the beginning of what has become one of the most significant faith-related gathering of students in a single day.
While Fields of Faith has its roots with FCA leadership, the event is designed to include multiple national Christian organizations, local churches and ministries. A local leadership team will determine the program of each Fields of Faith event.