Students gather in prayer on the Greenfield-Central High School football field during the 2019 Fields of Faith event. The next local Fields of Faith is April 30 at Mt. Vernon High School’s football field.
Photo provided
FORTVILLE — Area youth will gather on the Mt. Vernon High School football field at the end of the month to worship God together, hear from Christian speakers, and get to know each other.
Fellowship of Christian Athletes invites area students and their families to Fields of Faith, an April 30 event they say will be spiritually encouraging for youths and adults.
“I’m hoping to see a night of people coming together just to worship and fellowship,” said Nick Holliday, who works with middle school and high school FCA chapters at Eastern Hancock, Greenfield-Central, Mt. Vernon and Knightstown. A new group is forming for next school year at Mt. Vernon Middle School, and he hopes to see more area clubs form.
He said some church youth groups are planning to attend Fields of Faith, and the event is open to anyone who’d like to come and participate. “We’re hoping that they’ll invite their churches and their families,” he said.
The last local Fields of Faith event took place at Greenfield-Central High School in 2019, and Holliday said some of the people who had been part of that event said they’d like to see another one happen.
Greg Hall, father of several past and present G-C students, remembers going to the 2019 event.
“It was great to see the community of youth and their families come together and openly praise God,” he said.
Hall’s older daughter, Grace, was one of the students sharing testimonies at the event on G-C’s football field. The upcoming event in Fortville will also feature several student speakers.
The keynote speaker will be Ben Malcolmson, who played football for USC and later served eight years on the staff of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. “He has an amazing story about God putting him in the right place at the right time for a specific purpose,” Holliday said.
Winona Avenue will play a concert and lead worship music at the event. The band is made up of brothers Daniel and David Deputy, both Mt. Vernon High School graduates. “They actually reached out to me and said they’d love to give back to the community that raised them,” Holliday said.
Eastern Hancock athletic director Aaron Spaulding will also address those gathered.
“It is a great honor to have the opportunity to speak at this event,” Spaulding wrote in an email. “I am very passionate about both athletics as well as my faith in Jesus Christ. FCA is a wonderful platform to be able to express both!”
Holliday, also a pastor at New Life Christian Fellowship in Fortville, is an ambassador for FCA in the area. He talks to coaches and teachers and finds people interested in facilitating a club. Clubs usually meet weekly and sometimes have other events such as pre-game tailgates or post-game after parties. Sometimes he does chapel for a team.
He said the upcoming event is an opportunity for the students who gather to meet people of like belief from different schools.
“It’s not a separate God that we’re worshiping at our different churches,” Holliday said. “It’s the same God. We’re on the same team.”
FIELDS OF FAITH
When: 5-8 p.m. April 30
Where: Hancock Health Stadium at Mt. Vernon High School, 8112 N. County Road 200W
Cost: Free
Featuring: Keynote speaker Ben Malcolmson, the band Winona Avenue, Eastern Hancock athletic director Aaron Spaulding, testimonies by local high school athletes, food, T-shirts and games
