Wesson News
Wesson High School (WHS) has begun its second year of Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). The student-led organization aims at uniting Christian athletes so they have somewhere to congregate.
“I feel like, from a teenager’s point of view and the things they go through in life, I think it’s important that FCA is student-led,” said Blayten Windhom, a sophomore on the FCA leadership team. Windhom’s father is a Wesson coach and an FCA sponsor.
Meetings are every Thursday during the school year, except for holidays, held in the school’s old gym and open to all WHS faculty, staff and students. Meetings consist of donuts and fellowship, worship music and a message from a speaker.
While attendees do not have to be athletes, the messages shared are tailored to athletes. Attendees do not even have to be Christian, for that matter. The organization hopes to “glorify God on and off the field,” said Ella Logan, FCA leadership team member and high school senior. “It’s definitely not easy to glorify God at all times, but He calls us to do it.” The organization is in its second year from a re-launch.
“My dad kept pushing me to start FCA. I kind of just put it to the side. It was kind of awkward. I was the only one. We hadn’t had it before. Finally, I just decided…I’m gonna start it. And then I got my group together, and we’ve just been growing since then,” said Macy Loy.
Loy’s dad is Coach Loy, head football coach at Wesson.
“He really wanted this in the school. We’ve had it in the past in this school, but it kind of fell off the last couple of years, and he wanted to get it started back up again,” she said. Meetings start at 7:20 a.m., with worship getting kicked off around 7:25 a.m. On average, fifty to sixtey students are in attendance on any given Thursday. The highest number counted was last year at just over one hundred. A message is shared starting around 7:30 a.m. Dismissal is just in time for the bell to ring to start a new school day.
“It’s early…some people just don’t get up in time,” said high school senior Ben McKenzie, also on the leadership team.
The community seems to support the students’ efforts. Donuts for meetings are provided by monetary donations, and an FCA member picks up the donuts the morning of the meeting.
Through donations, enough donuts are secured until January 16. To give, see unofficial FCA “treasurer” and leadership team member and recently elected WHS Homecoming Queen, Laney Kate Earls.
FCA sponsors include Coach Vance Windhom, head baseball and cross-country coach; Coach Jeremy Loy, head football coach; Coach White, teacher and assistant softball and volleyball coach.
FCA has no formal membership, and there are no fees to join.
The leadership team has brainstormed fundraising ideas, because they hope and pray for new sound equipment. McKenzie helps to lead worship and has been bringing his personal equipment to the school each Thursday in his car. A t-shirt fundraiser may just help alleviate the extra pressure on McKenzie and meet a much-needed solution to their problem - a dedicated sound system that is ready and available.
“FCA is important, because it’s just like a cool thing to come to. It’s like other Christians being about to see each other and be able to get to know each other better. We are all doing this for the glory of God. It kind of helps for people to socialize but also get God’s word in,” said Tate Brister of Crystal Springs, who attends New Zion Baptist Church.
McKenzie wants to find a healthy balance between recruiting new people to participate and getting the ones who do come to be more active.
“Keeping the same amount of people is good,” says McKenzie. “But, then, those same people can only hear the same word so many times…and then they need to start being disciples. So, I feel that, when everybody that’s there steps in, and then they start recruiting out, then you have other minds and bodies in there…so then that’s just more people there doing the work for the Lord.”
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