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Wednesday, September 28, 2011

FCA Huddle, Oct 11th

FCA Huddle, Oct 11th


    The October NOAH Fellowship of Christian Athletes Huddle is set for Tuesday, October 11th, at 7pm.
    The Campus Ministry of FCA is initiated and led by student-athletes and coaches on junior high, high school and college campuses. The types of Campus Ministry include Huddles, Team Bible Studies, Coaches Bible Studies, and Chaplain Programs. 
    Cornerstone Tutorial Center is hosting the event at 8999 E 11th S., on the 3rd floor auditorium.

    This exciting and inspiring "huddle" is open to Junior High & High School homeschoolers of all NOAH families, and their guests.
    The evening begins with snacks and games, and is followed by music, scripture, and a challenging message from a guest speaker.

    More details will be announced as the date approaches.

    All NOAH A.D.s and coaches are encouraged to help invite their teams. The monthly huddles are a key aspect of NOAH's committment to developing  spiritual growth in homeschool students.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

FCA Huddle, Thursday, Sept. 22



 ALL-NOAH FCA HUDDLE, Thursday Night
   NOAH will resume FCA Huddles on Thursday, Sept 22. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes is a vital part of spiritual life for many kids on public, private, & homeschool organizations. The non-denominational spiritual format focuses on strengthening a student's commitment to Christ in the company of peers, teammates and community.


    The event is open to all teen homeschool students and their school-age guests. We look forward to regular FCA Huddles throughout this school year. The Sept. Huddle will be held at Cornerstone Tutorial Center (see map), 9091 E 11th ST. at 7pm.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Former NOAH Coach Brings Spiritual Solutions to Public School Athletes

This article appeared in the Tulsa World, Feb. 19th: Nathan Harrington previously served as a baseball coach in NOAH's elementary division.

Mounds Student Athletes Find Fellowship Off the Field
By BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer
Published: 2/19/2011 2:21 AM
Last Modified: 2/19/2011 5:08 AM


MOUNDS - Eighteen months ago, seven students met in Coach Nathan Harrington's classroom at Mounds High School to talk about starting a Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter.


Senior Robert Banks, 18, attends a
Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting
at Mounds High School with
more than 200 other students.
More than half the middle and
high school student body attends
the meetings.
Now 200 students, more than half of the student body in the middle and high schools, attend the FCA chapter meeting each Wednesday in the school gym.

"That's unheard of," said Todd Christensen, Northeastern Oklahoma area representative for FCA.

"Even in big schools like Jenks and Union we run about 70 students. There's not another school I can think of that even comes close to this in the nation."

Ashleigh Weeks, a senior at Mounds, said she thought students first attended the meetings because they were something new, but then came back because they liked them.

"It's touched a lot of people," she said Wednesday after the chapter meeting.

"You see girls getting pregnant and kids doing drugs. Our generation is looking for something else, and when they come here, they find that God is what they want, so they keep coming back."

Natalie Mayberry, a junior, came up with the idea to start an FCA chapter in September 2009 while she was attending See You at the Pole, an annual before-school prayer meeting held across the nation.

"I was thinking we need to do this more often. It's a great experience to pray with your friends that you see every day."

She approached Harrington, a new teacher and coach at the school, about starting a chapter.

Harrington
had been involved in FCA as a student in the early 1990s at what is now East Central University, and he liked her idea.

Weeks and Mayberry were among the seven students who attended the first meeting in Harrington's classroom.

By spring, the group had outgrown Harrington's classroom and moved their meetings into the school gym.

Each Wednesday, middle school and high school students file through the cafeteria to pick up their lunch, then move to the gym, where they eat, listen to a speaker and often sing worship songs and pray.

"It's really fun," Mayberry said.
Mounds student Chandlyr Shell, 18,
wears a cross ring at a recent
meeting.

This Wednesday, Mounds volunteer firefighter and Mounds First Baptist Church youth minister Jim Danforth talked about a car accident he had been called to that morning in the dense fog.

"We tend to put our faith where it doesn't belong, in friends, money, our abilities, all things that will fail you," he said.

"My faith is in Jesus Christ ... the only one who has never failed me. He'll always be there."

Jacob Jordan, a junior, said he has been attending the meetings since they began.

"It helps get your mind back on track," he said.

Harrington said that in addition to the weekly meetings at the school, the FCA students go to nursing homes to visit people, conduct a canned food drive for the needy and hold "fifth quarter" events after football and basketball games, with speakers, games and sometimes movies.

"It gives the kids someplace to go instead of going out drinking," he said.
A student goes into the
Mounds High School gym
for a recent Fellowship of
Christian Athletes meeting
Harrington has been named FCA Coach of the Year in the northeast Oklahoma area for his work with the Mounds chapter, and he will be honored at an April 13 banquet in Oklahoma City, at which former first lady Laura Bush will speak.

John O'Dell, Oklahoma FCA director, said it is rare to have a chapter grow like the one in Mounds.

"It depends on the coach," he said.


"Coach Harrington is outstanding. He's a very special man. We're very thankful to have him leading that group."

O'Dell described FCA as a ministry that works through the influence of coaches and athletes to "challenge athletes in their relationship with Christ, and use their influence to better our cities and our states." Chapters also welcome nonathletes.

He said 14 staff members oversee the 377 chapters in the state, with average attendance of about 30 to 35. Most chapters are in middle and high schools, but colleges, including the University of Tulsa, also have chapters.

According to its annual report, the national ministry reached 313,600 students on 6,272 campuses across America in 2010, with a budget of $70 million.

FCA was started in 1954 by Don McClanen when he was head football coach at what is now Eastern Oklahoma State College in Wilburton. FCA's first state headquarters was in Norman. The state headquarters is now in Edmond and the national headquarters is in Kansas City, Mo.
Original Print Headline: Fellowship off the field

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20110219_18_A13_CUTLIN672874&archive=yes