Following your faith

Following your faith Rev. Eric Reece Not long after I was called to Robbinsville I met a talented teacher/coach at our school, Kaitlyn Carringer-Adams. I was grateful for her leadership with our students and glad to support them. Beginning in 2019, she coached both the middle and high school boys and girls cross country teams with much success. This was done while teaching history full time in the classroom. In June of 2023 Maryville College called her as the first full time cross country coach. Our loss was their gain. As she continued coaching for the Scots God had a surprise for her. While coaching she was called to serve as an Ambassador for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Maryville College. Founded in 1954 by college basketball coach Don McClanen, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes has grown to become an international ministry (115 countries) with chapters in high schools and colleges. One of its early supporters was baseball Hall of Famer Branch Rickey who broke the color barrier in MLB by signing Jackie Robinson to the Dodgers. Their mission is "To lead every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His church." They are guided by four values backed by scripture: integrity, serving, teamwork, and excellence. They accomplish this by a threefold strategy of engaging, equipping and empowering coaches and athletes to know and grow in Christ. Once at Maryville Kaitlyn started a Bible study for female coaches. Soon, she was leading devotions for the cross country athletes. As God continued to speak to her, she prayed for guidance and found out FCA was looking for a woman leader to join the team at Maryville College. Maryville FCA had been praying for three years for a woman leader. God brought them together. Kaitlyn will be leading a weekly FCA meeting on campus with guest speakers, food and information from local churches. FCA is not a ministry that substitutes for church, it encourages students to be in a local church. She will head leadership meetings, devotional groups and women Bible studies. In addition, she will help plan and implement banquets, summer camps and the student lead Fields of Faith. Why is her work so important? First, it is dedicated to sharing the Gospel of Christ to students. Second, when young adults graduate or leave school, they head for the next phase in life. As they join the workforce or continue their education many drop out of church. During this time as much as 66% of Protestant young adults drift away from church. It may not be planned but routines and connections change and with less contact with the church you stop attending. The time in church is replaced by time elsewhere. God has called a number of people from our area to Christian service. I am grateful for Kaitlyn's Christian service to youth and young adults at a time when they need support and spiritual guidance. Please keep her ministry in your prayers. For more information go to https://www.smokymountainfca.org. Rev. Eric Reece is the pastor at Robbinsville United Methodist Church.

Following your faith

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