The University of North Georgia’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes organization will be hosting its second FCA Dinner on April 25. The event will begin at 6:30 in the Convocation Center on the Dahlonega Campus. Entry is free to all students, athletes, and community members. Dinner will be provided by Longstreet Café, a southern-style diner located in Gainesville.
The focus of the event will be the three speakers touching on various topics throughout the night. UNG President Mike Shannon, junior point guard Sutton Smith and junior shooting guard Livi Blackstock all plan to share their testimonies.
All attendees will have the chance to win multiple raffle prizes, which is also free to enter. Local businesses have donated many items to be given away including Atlanta Braves tickets, Beats headphones, a one-night stay at the Dahlonega Glass Cabin, free oil changes and much more. There is a variety of prizes available for any member of the community.
Although FCA is a sports-based ministry whose mission is “to lead every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His church,” Josh Haymore, UNG FCA representative, voiced the clubs desire to reach more than just student-athletes.
“Throughout this semester, and with this event specifically, we have tried to get athletes to reach out to non-athletes to invite them to FCA,” Haymore said. “In the college setting, we get a bad rap sometimes for being all athletes, but FCA is for all students. Everyone is welcome.”
“Events like these are important on campus because it invites everyone to hear the Word. I feel like when people hear FCA, they think they have to be an athlete to be involved and that’s not the case at all.”– Livi Blackstock, Junior Guard for UNG Women’s Basketball
This will be President Shannon’s second time speaking at an FCA Dinner. Blackstock spoke on how impactful his participation will be at an event like this.
“I feel like it is very rare to have someone with that much authority to speak out about their relationship with Christ,” she said.
Going forward, FCA expressed a desire to transition from a dinner setting to a more inclusive “Fields of Faith” style event. The club hopes to reach more of the younger generation through this new approach to the event.
