Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA)

[Mountie]

Hi all!

I have a particular question. So in high school, I joined the FCA (only Christian group at school). I know that it isn’t Catholic. My senior year, I became a huddle leader (we had to sign an agreement stating that basically said we won’t spread denomination specific beliefs like speaking in tongues, etc so to be exclusive to all Christians). I always took my brother with me. After I graduated, he stopped going, but recently I was told that he was thinking of going again. In addition to this, I was invited to go to a county-wide event at the school hosted by the FCA this Wednesday.

My question is, can a Catholic in good faith join the FCA and participate in its events?

 

[Cthompson]

FCA Non-Catholic Religions

I joined FCA 2 years ago in my school because there were no Catholic clubs in our school. This year I am one of the 10 FCA leaders in our our school. When I first took the position I was nieve of the differences in Protestant and Catholic doctrines (I was aware there were divisions of seperation, but I thought they were minor), all I knew were Catholics were Christians too, and I felt I had to represent them. Months later the president gave me a pamphlet on the Catholic Church, but I firmly bel…

This link may help.

I live in a very evangelical Christian area and have three evangelical Christian colleges in my area, so I am very familiar with FCA and the like. My advice would be to stay away.

There is nothing evil or intrinsically wrong about the group; however, you would be putting yourself in a situation where you may be unnecessarily pressured.

Do they know you are Catholic? Because, if they are like any evangelicals I know, they will try to convert the heck out of you. You have to realize that most evangelicals are vehemently anti-Catholic and do not see Catholics as true Christians. From my experience, once evangelicals know you are Catholic, they begin to look at your very differently.

You, and your brother, may be exposed to certain speakers or talks (I am not sure how the event will work) that may question your beliefs. While it is important for you to hear objections to Catholic teachings so that you may become well-versed in adequate responses, a deeply evangelical organization like this is not likely to help build on your Catholic faith.

I would stay away from it. Pray the rosary and visit the Blessed Sacrament instead.

 

[Mountie]

Thanks for the advice Chris! I really appreciate it!

My experience with FCA (2 years) was always pleasant. To be honest, while it definitely had that evangelical “feel,” I never really felt that any theology was really pushed. At least at my local chapter, it was mostly about how us athletes could do better at playing for Christ.

As for the other post, I read through that a bit and got a wide variety of opinions. Thanks for sharing!

I was very Catholic. Now, no one at the meetings spoke on what denomination we were. However, I was friends with some on social media, and I usually posted a lot of Catholic content. It would have been hard to miss lol.

Now, there is a local event called “Field of Faith” at my school that I was invited to (and told someone that I planned on going). Should I just say that I couldn’t go and advise my family to avoid going as well? Or would it be wise to go and maybe speak with my family afterwards about it.

I personally think it helped my faith (providing a constant reminder to put Jesus first). Now, for someone less versed in the faith, I’m not entirely sure if it would be different. I’m just not too sure on how to approach it going forward if it were to be the best option to stay away and advise my brother too as well.

The Rosary AND the Blessed Saceament? What could beat that combo??

 

[Cthompson]

Going to the event would depend on your breadth and knowledge of Catholicism and your susceptibility to protestant lies. For example, if a group of people at the event started talking about sola fide or “bible only” remarks, would you be susceptible to believe these lies or could you listen to them in good faith and not have your Catholic faith wavered?

You sound a little shaky in your Catholic faith. I would be disheartened to see a Catholic fall into the evangelical Christian trap (as I have so many times before ) (i.e. when you say “I was very Catholic”)

If you and your family were to attend the event, I would talk about it before the fact. If the event is not designed to actively evangelize people, then it may not be too bad. Events like Kingdom Bound would be a no-no, but if this event you speak of is a gathering of friends to talk and have a bbq, you could go. Just be on your lookout

Consider volunteering with CYO at your parish as a coach or volunteer as well. And, again, pray the rosary and visit the Blessed Sacrament

 

[Mountie]

I didn’t mean to sound shaky (I have no idea why I said “was” lol). I believe that I have a solid foundation (enough to be a Catechist and I am currently discerning the priesthood). I’ve actually had a formal debate with an evangelical once upon a time. I’m not worried per say about my faith (it would be near impossible for that event (or any) to make me lost my Catholic faith (maybe the only scenario would be for me to fall, hit my head, and develop a severe amnesia where I was told that I was an evangelical, but I would think that I would find my way back home regardless lol)).

The event is described as “Fields of Faith is a student led event. Students invite, pray for, share with, and challenge their peers to read the Bible and follow Jesus Christ. An athletic field provides a neutral, rally point where a community can come together.” To be honest, it may be nice to talk about the Catholic faith with my family, go to the event, catch up with some friends (maybe I’ll carry my rosary in my hand the entire time!), and then pray the rosary with my family afterwards! I don’t find that too problematic. Now if I would be wrong, I’d hope any of my brothers and sisters out there would inform me (as you are!), but during my time with FCA, I have found it pleasant. My worries only arrived afterwords when my brother expressed interest in going again (without me to correct if anything were against Catholic teaching) and my multiple verbal invitations to attend this event!

I also found an additional thread on here: Fellowship of Christian Athletes

It seems feedback I’m receiving from these threads are that as long as one has a strong grasp on their faith, it would be permissible, and maybe beneficial to attend.

Thanks again for this helpful advice!

 

[Mountie]

So, I went with my family to that event today (Fields of Faith). This is basically what happened.

They opened with a “worship set” which was basically a few pop rock Christian songs, which were nice to be honest. I’m a little bit of a metalhead myself (I bore my Metallica shirt tonight). I’m more of a hymm guy when it comes to Mass, but they were catchy songs that many people seemed to enjoy.

After that, an athlete from a local college gave a testimony, which talked about how she was a workaholic and eventually, someone challenged her to work as hard on her faith as she did in the gym, to which she claimed she “accepted Jesus,” which was evangelical in nature, but overall, it was decent.

Then, we broke into groups and just prayed, mostly just giving thanks to God for the chance to worship Him.

After that, some gentleman (also an athlete from a local college) gave his testimony. He talked about how he grew up in a good Christian home, but soon he put the focus of himself. Eventually, he received so many concussions that he had to drop football and basketball, to which he grew in self-pity. Eventually, he decided to start playing for God (which was always what FCA was about when I was in it years ago).

The final part (I left after this) for me was when the guy in charge started speaking to about accepting Jesus. Here, it was 100% evangelical. He talked about how the devil tricks us into thinking that we can earn our salvation (which was good). However, it soon turned into, “we need to repent and accept Jesus into our heart and confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and we will become saved. So as soon as we do that, we know that we will go to Heaven.” At this, I took my family and left. We discussed actual Catholic teaching in the car ride home (thankfully, my younger siblings themselves knew that this was “off” and rejected it, to which I was glad.

Then, we had a productive discussion about one siblings’ Faith Formation class and talked about the Hail Mary!

Overall, I think it was good to discuss how we could better live our lives devoted to God, but I would strongly recommend to never attend a “Fields of Faith” event due to its evangelical theology. I still do like FCA on the local level, as long as it isn’t based in evangelical theology (which it never was when I was in it and was a Huddle Leader). However, any actual event I would steer clear from or if anyone lacks a firm foundation in Catholic understanding.