FCA sees increased participation
By Jessica Brown
The Western Illinois Fellowship of Christian Athletes is achieving Director Todd Sweatman’s goal of growing in numbers.
“Three years ago, we had about 19 Bible study groups of the [Western Illinois] FCA members and now we have 32 groups,” he shares. “So there’s been a really big increase in the interest in the FCA.”
Sweatman says he thinks that’s partly to do with the ways society has shifted.
“Parents, college- and high school-aged individuals are looking for something encouraging, and I think the FCA gives them a place to grow relationships with like minded people,” he says.
The meetings, otherwise known as huddles, that take place at Illinois College (IC) used to consist of 25-30 students who would come to each meeting last year.
“This year, we had 59 kids at the first meeting and 56 kids at the second one, and that’s just Illinois College students,” Sweatman states.
That increase in interest among young athletes is cropping up in other locations as well, with one that started at Jacksonville Middle School in 2024, which was in addition to huddles that have already been taking place at Jacksonville High School since the early 1980s.
“I think part of the increase in groups can be traced back to the programs we offer,” he comments.
He also references the annual mission trip the Western Illinois FCA has offered since 2016. “That trip [first] consisted of six kids and this year we had 44 kids,” he says. “So we extended the trip into two weeks instead of one.”
Sweatman says he believes the growth in the number of athletes going on mission trips has a direct effect on more students joining the FCA.
“Those students come back from the mission trips and sometimes take on leadership roles, inviting friends to come to huddles,” he comments. Some of those who go on trips now lead their own Bible studies in their dorm rooms on IC campus as well as attend regular Western Illinois FCA meetings.
Sweatman explains that to lead a Bible study or camp, the student who volunteers must go through a certification and short training.
It’s not just student-to-student outreach that’s responsible for the growth in interest in the FCA, Sweatman shares, referring to the local churches who host meals for various sports teams. It’s those churches’ sponsorships that have allowed for more partnering with the FCA, according to Sweatman.
He’s a member of Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church (LABC) in Jacksonville, which is one of several local churches that is a member of the Jacksonville Area Conference of Churches (JACC), an ecumenical organization whose focus is community service and ministry projects. Sweatman comments that the Western Illinois FCA began partnering with the JACC about 10 years ago.
It’s those churches, along with others, who Sweatman aims to make visible to students who may be looking for one to belong to.“The [Western Illinois] FCA wants to act as a conduit so that kids have a place to go and share their faith.”
The Western Illinois FCA and the JACC put on events annually to draw students together, such as annual banquets featuring guest speakers for the last several years.
“Last year, we had Ben Zobrist from the Cubs and the year before we had Tommy Edmond when he was with the Cardinals,” Sweatman says. Several professional
athletes have spoken at the banquets over the years, sometimes spending a few days speaking at schools about their own Christian faith.
“We’ve been having these events since 2015 … we missed one year due to COVID[-19],” Sweatman notes.
This year’s banquet on November 1 will feature St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt. For more information on the banquet or to reserve a table, contact Sweatman.
The idea to start having events that would bring in a larger audience was taken from an event at Illinois College.
“We’d do something called Fields of Faith and it used to be at the IC football field, where students would share their personal testimonies and a band would play,” Sweatman recalls. “So we thought, instead of doing that and having 60 students come, why not have a concert somewhere and have 500-1,000 come?”
This year, the concert will be top-selling Christian artist Tasha Layton, who’s been invited a few times to perform in Jacksonville. “We try to have her come every other year,” Sweatman shares. It’s a bit of a personal favor, as his family and Layton have grown a friendship in the last decade.
“She is very relatable and open about sharing her story,” he says, which she’ll do during a women’s conference held Saturday, October 3 at LABC.
It’s the first of many stops on Layton’s first speaking tour that doesn’t officially begin until October 18. “I convinced her to start the tour here,” Sweatman confides.
The women’s conference being held that first weekend in October will include the artist speaking with women about her path to Christianity and giving them an opportunity to do the same; it will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and tickets are $20 and include lunch and a t-shirt.
Layton’s concert will be from 5-8 p.m. the following day, Sunday, Oct. 4, at Twisted Tree Event Hall in Jacksonville.
Admission is free, but attendees are encouraged to donate a non-perishable food item or give a monetary donation to the Jacksonville Food Pantry. The donations will be collected by IC’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee that night.
For more info on the Western Illinois FCA and upcoming events, go to westernilfca.org. Or search “Western Illinois FCA” on Facebook or “Western IL FCA” on Instagram. Todd Sweatman can be reached via 217-370-2008 or tsweatman@fca.org.
