By Bailey Jacobs, freshman

Friends University will add a Fellowship of Christian Athletes group to its list of clubs next year.

Currently, many student athletes are striving to get the ball rolling for the new club.

“At this point we are just working on getting all of the paperwork turned it to get FCA legitimized here at Friends,” said junior Josh Funk.

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes is the largest Christian sports organization in the United States and was created in 1954.

So why now?

Sophomore Sarah Goldsmith was surprised that Friends didn’t have an FCA chapter and was eager to get the group started.

“It was actually something I have been thinking about since the beginning of this year,” said Goldsmith.

The group would thrive off the vibe at Friends University. FCA would work side by side with Campus Ministries to influence more people for Christ.

“Our target is athletes but in no way are our meetings exclusive. Everyone is welcome,” Goldsmith said. “Athletics is more of a common interest to draw people in and help them relate.”

After getting cleared through all the red tape, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes hopes to adopt C.J. Fox as its sponsor, even though he has not officially accepted the position. Fox is the assistant director of the Christian Spiritual Formation Institute on the Friends campus.

The primary goal of FCA groups is to touch millions of lives serving the Lord through athletics.

“What is better than making God the heart and soul of your sport and sharing that joy with other people?” freshman Chase Billings asked. “I can really see this group taking off, especially at our University.”

While having a great impact on the overall campus life at Friends, Fellowship of Christian Athletes will also have a lasting impression on the Wichita community by doing volunteer work.

The group will not be in effect until next year, so until then the students who are working to achieve their ambitions with the new club ask for everyone’s support.

“We need everyone's prayers in order to get this thing to work out, because it has been a lot more work than we had anticipated,” Funk said.