2024 FCA
Metro Cleveland Update
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A Message From Our Director |
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In 1 Thessalonians 2:8 the Apostle Paul says “it was important that we not only shared the good news with you but our lives as well.” He makes the point that in order for the gospel to hold greater impact in one’s life, having done life with someone is key.
We can’t thank you all enough for doing life with FCA Metro Cleveland and we pray you enjoy these ministry updates and celebrate God with us for all He’s doing!
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Brittany Holloway
FCA Metro Cleveland
Area Representative
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Brittany Holloway has recently joined the team as an Area Representative and has been on staff with FCA Metro Cleveland since February 2024. She has a passion for sports and helping young people know who they are in Christ. Brittany attended Kent State University and during her time there she felt the Lord calling her into full time ministry. She made the decision to walk out on faith and leave school to now minister to young athletes. She was able to combine her love of sports with her faith to share the gospel in a way she wished she had growing up.
Brittany played volleyball, basketball, softball and ran track growing up. She was encouraged by her mom to discover what sport fit her, which led to her passion for athletics. She coached girls volleyball for two years at Lutheran High School East. She also has a passion for cooking and creating wonderful meals for others.
Since joining staff with FCA, Brittany is now the Area Representative for Ursuline College, Lutheran East High School and Brush High School. At Ursuline College, Brittany had the opportunity to lead the huddle and was able to share a message on "Surrendering". During that time some of the athletes decided to give their life to Christ. As a result Brittany conducts one-on-one discipleship with one of the athletes, named Malicca. Watching Malicca grow in her walk with Christ has been a highlight for Brittany. At Lutheran East Brittany launched a multi-sport huddle in the spring of 2024. She has about 20-30 athletes and is excited to see the huddle continue to grow. Lastly, she recently launched a huddle with the girls volleyball team at Brush High School in June. A lot of the athletes are freshmen and sophomores. Seeing young girls, who have a desire to know Christ, is something that truly inspires Brittany. She is currently working on launching more huddles in the Metro Cleveland area and is excited to see how God continues to move throughout Cleveland.
While Brittany is still growing within FCA, she is also focused on continuing to grow in her personal walk with the Lord and her Biblical knowledge so that she can keep serving in the way God has called her to. She is excited to see how God continues to move in her ministry. She has been able to witness the fullness and abundance that comes with being obedient to the Lord and wants others to experience the blessings and pure joy that comes with saying “Yes” to God!
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Since the restructuring of FCA Metro Cleveland on September 1, 2023 to exclusively focus on the entirety of Cuyahoga County a lot has been happening. As part of the restructuring we have officially hired Brittany Holloway as an Area Representative and Tim Jarm, prospective staff, as an Area Representative to help deepen our impact.
Our hope, with your partnership, is to establish FCA groups in every school within the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, as well as the surrounding suburbs. This will move us closer to leading every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His church.
FCA Metro Cleveland has seen our ministry efforts expand and have an even greater impact. While we are extremely grateful for all that God has used us to do together there are so many more coaches and athletes in need of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So we are thrilled that God has brought more staff to help in this endeavor.
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FCA’s mission is to lead every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church. One way that we endeavor to accomplish this goal is to get FCA Huddle groups in our local area schools. These are student led groups that meet for Bible Studies, devotions, and fellowship to grow in their faith as well as introduce their fellow athletes to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
As the new school year is about to begin later in August so will the FCA Metro Cleveland Huddles. With new staff joining our team there have been new FCA groups launched and are well established to continue for the 2024/25 school year. We are thankful for partners like you that make all of this possible.
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All-Abilities "Heart's on Fire" Huddle
Baldwin Wallace University
*Benedictine High School
*Berea-Midpark High School
*Brush High School
Chagrin Falls High School
*Collinwood High School
Cornerstone Christian Academy
Euclid High School
Garfield High School
Glenville High School
John Carroll University
John Hay High School
John Marshall High School
*Lutheran East High School
Maple Heights High School
Richmond Heights High School
St. Edward High School
St. Joseph High School
*Shaw High School
Ursuline College
Warrensville High School
Westlake Dover Intermediate School
Westlake High School
*indicates new huddles started in the 2023/24 school year
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On Wednesday, March 13,2024, FCA Area Representative, Brittany Holloway, addressed the Ursuline College FCA Huddle with a message on "Surrender". That message resonated with one student athlete in particular by the name of Mallica. Brittany has since been discipling Mallica one-on-one to help her grow in her relationship with the Lord.
The Ursulin College FCA group meets every other Thursday during the school year and is regularly attended by 20-25 athletes.
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St. Edward High School Huddle |
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St. Edward High School FCA Huddle held it's annual Spring retreat on Thursday, April 18, 2024. This year the retreat was held at Bain Cabin in Fairview Park. The St. Joseph Academy FCA Huddle joined again this year. The main speaker was FCA Metro Cleveland Director, Nobles Darby IV. The retreat was attended by approximately 50 students. This retreat has been an annual event for many years, led by FCA Huddle Leader, Shaun Kinley. |
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St. Joseph High School Huddle |
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The St. Joseph Academy FCA Huddle is only a few years old but has grown quickly and is a very active group. The huddle is led by Coach Maureen Adler and Erin Cunningham, the Athletic Director at St. Joseph. The group often will join the St. Edward FCA Huddle for special events throughout the school year as well as some of their weekly huddle meetings on Thursday mornings.
This year the huddle hosted an event named "Coffee with Coaches", where they sent an invitation to all of the school's coaches to join them before school for coffee and donuts. The event had a great turnout and everyone is looking forward to doing it again during the 2024/25 school year. The picture above shows the students with the coaches that attended. There were about 50 people in attendance. The students also had a sheet with interesting facts about each coach and they had to go around and find out which one belonged to each coach. This event was a great way to have a positive interaction between the athletes and the coaches. They are planning on making this an annual event due to popular demand.
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John Marshall High School Huddle |
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For several weeks during the basketball season, the subject of "God's Definition of Success" was the focus for the Huddle time at John Marshall High School. Over the course of the season, athletes on the Girl's Basketball team searched for and identified scriptures that were then discussed to gain an understanding of the biblical meaning of SUCCESS, using the following words to define each letter in the word:
S = Surrender, U = Unconditional, C = Confess, C = Confess, E = Eternity, S = Savior, S = Salvation
A couple of the players, who demonstrated leadership skills, and an eagerness to engage in independent study of the Bible, agreed to lead a huddle. Teams of two (2) were paired to present a lesson covering two of the letters in the word success, using the scriptures they found during their private Bible study, to form the foundation for the lesson they developed and shared.
The athlete led Huddles were well received and concluded with many players making a decision for Christ and some recommitting their life to Christ.
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Lutheran East
High School Huddle
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Lutheran East High School is a new FCA Group that was started by Area Representative, Brittany Holloway. The huddle meets every Tuesday and is averaging 20-30 athletes. For a new huddle this is a wonderful start. We are excited to see it grow in the 2024/25 school year. |
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Berea-Midpark High School Huddle |
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The Berea-Midpark FCA Group launched in February 2024. This group was started in collaboration with Grace CMA Church in Middleburg Hts. The huddle is led by a student on the football team that attends Grace Church and is moderated by the Head Football Coach, Jon Hunek. The group meets every Thursday and has been averaging around 30 students. This group is another one that we look forward to seeing grow in the coming 2024/25 school year. |
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FCA Metro Cleveland was grateful for another opportunity to have been a part of Cavs “Faith & Family Night” this year! We had over 200 people in attendance for a special pregame event inside the arena and it was extra special that Faith & Family Night landed on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
In thinking about the legacy of Dr. King and his DREAM, as the speaker for the evening, Nobles Darby shared, on the importance of pursuing our dreams and also reminding the audience about God’s dream, which is found in John 3:16 and how we all play a part in it.
God’s dream is that none would spend eternity apart from him. This is why sharing the gospel and discipleship is so powerful and necessary in today’s world.
Tell somebody about Jesus today, their life depends on it!
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On April 24th, FCA Metro Cleveland hosted its first ever Full Court Faith Girls' Basketball Clinic. The clinic, which was inspired by the Women's Final Four held in Cleveland this year, was facilitated at the Northeast Ohio (NEO) Sports Plant in Euclid, Ohio. Recruitment for the clinic was open to High School females across the Greater Cleveland area.
We were thrilled to have Coach "GiGi," a Greater Cleveland Athletic Coach, along with Coach Demonte Flannigan, Professional Basketball Player, to lead the girls in skills and drills. The young ladies, as well as their parents who were in attendance for the duration of the clinic, were engaged and appreciative of the high caliber experience this opportunity offered them.
Consistent with FCA sponsored events, the Basketball Clinic proved to be a great opportunity to pour into these female athletes. The evening concluded with both the parents and young ladies looking forward to the next Clinic and/or FCA sponsored athletic event.
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On Tuesday, June 11, 2024 FCA Metro Cleveland hosted the "Impact in the City" event. The evening kicked off with honoring the FCA "Champion of the Year", Jacob D'Orazio, followed by Kate Mocho as the "Student Athlete of the Year". Next the "Huddle Leader of the Year" award went to coach and FCA huddle leader, Shaun Kinley. Shaun has faithfully served as the huddle leader at St. Edward High School for decades and has impacted many student athletes' lives in the course of that service.
It is with a heart full of gratitude for what God did at the FCA Cleveland “Impact In The City” Banquet. The Bible states in 1 Thessalonians 2:8, where the Apostle Paul says “We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too". FCA Metro Cleveland is proud of what Isaiah Thomas, Wyatt Teller, Cade York and Coach Brandon Lynch shared and grateful that God has worked through them in order to advance HIS Kingdom.
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On Monday, June 17, 2024 Northeast Ohio FCA hosted a Multi-Sport Camp at Spire Institute in Geneva. There were 150 athletes who participated in the camp and over 50 coaches/volunteers. This first year we were able to offer sports specific training in Wrestling, Basketball, Football, Volleyball, and Track. Olympic Gold Medalist, Kyle Synder, was our keynote speaker and also led the training portion for the wrestlers. 40 people made a commitment for Christ at this camp!
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August 20, 2024
Annual Golf Classic at Sandridge Golf Club
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October 19, 2024
All-Abilities Camp
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In order for great camps and programs like those listed in this newsletter to be possible FCA relies on the generosity of donors. Please consider donating today.
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