The Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Barrington Middle School in Lithia grows to more than 80 students.

Since 1954, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) has encouraged people of all ages to impact the world for Christ. FCA is the largest Christian campus ministry in the world.
     Barrington Middle School teacher, Tammy Bradley, felt called to start the FCA program at Barrington last school year.
     “We started with a small handful of kids and sang songs and had devotion,” said Bradley. “We met in my classroom with the door closed so we wouldn’t be distracted by hallway noise. Then one day I opened my door during one of our meetings and kids started flowing in.”
      Almost at the one-year mark, the Barrington Middle School FCA boasts more than 80 kids every Wednesday morning at 8 a.m., outgrowing Bradley’s classroom.
     “We now meet in the large music room but our goal is to outgrow that room and meet in the gym,” explained Bradley.
     Bradley, who is also a member of Crossing Church, is enthusiastic about the weekly meetings which now include a live band leading praise songs every week, consisting of professional musicians as well as student participation.
      Students also lead in an opening prayer, discuss upcoming events and dismiss in prayer. A prayer book is passed around every week where the students can write down their special prayer requests. Each meeting also includes a guest speaker.
      Recently, the youth director from Horizon Christian Church, Justin Story, enthusiastically talked to the kids about the groups’ theme verse from I Timothy 4:12. “Don’t let anyone look down on you for being young. Instead, make your speech, behavior, love, faith, and purity an example for other believers.”
     Victor Gancedo, an eighth-grade student, FishHawk Fellowship member is a member of Barrington FCA. “I thought it was a good way to spread the word of Christ to other students at school,” said Gancedo.
      Students are seeing a difference in their school already. Bradley, and her FCA co-sponsor and fellow teacher, Sue Gelcich, were excited and moved to see more than 180 students at the annual “Meet at the pole” last month.
     “Students look forward to coming every week and we are exciting to see the impact it’s making in their lives and the lives of others,” said Bradley.
       If you are interested in being a guest speaker, contact Bradley at Tammy.Bradley@sdhc.k12.fl.us. To learn more about FCA, please visit www.fca.org.

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Kelly Wise Valdes
Kelly Wise Valdes has been writing for the Osprey Observer since 2008. She graduated in 1989 from Florida Southern College with a B.S. in Communications and enjoys writing and traveling. She currently resides in northern Hillsborough County with her husband, David. When not traveling and writing, Kelly and her husband enjoy spending time with their five grown children (as well as their grandchildren) that still keep them very busy.