Heartbeat of a Huddle

Huddle: a group of students and leaders meeting regularly to study the Bible and enjoy fellowship together

Back in the late 1970s Minnesota FCA was leading around 30-40 huddles.

Today, that number has grown to over 200 across the state.

FCA seeks to engage, equip, and empower coaches and student athletes to know and grow in Christ and lead others to do the same. Huddles are one of the most common ways we utilize this method.

So, what's a huddle? And what happens at a huddle?

Hebrews 10:24-25, “ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. ”

This is just one of many examples found in Scripture where we are encouraged to meet together, grow together, and be in community. This is what a huddle does. It provides a space for students to gather together and find other like-minded students who share their faith. It provides a space to laugh and participate in ridiculous games or community focused service projects. It provides students a chance to get to know each other, learn and grow together, and stand strong in their faith together. Cultivating personal, alone time with Jesus is fundamental and irreplaceable, but there’s a reason the Lord gave us each other and why the Bible talks about One body with many parts (1 Cor. 12)! There’s something about praying in groups – big or small. There’s something about worshipping in the presence of our Savior collectively, as the family we are. It draws us together as we fix our gaze on the face of Jesus.

But the heartbeat of a huddle isn’t the games. 

It isn’t the attendance statistics week to week. 

It isn’t the service projects. 

It isn’t even the worship. 

The heartbeat of the huddle is each individual student – going after what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Their desire to grow, learn more about Christ, to soak in His word and share the truths and promises within fuels the huddle. The dedicated huddle coaches – teachers, coaches, parents – help point these students to Jesus through hospitality, devotions saturated in the Word of God, and by just living their lives for Christ and being consistently present for their students.

Individual student journeys spur each other on to more growth. Sometimes that growth looks like reaching out to more students to come check out the huddle or inviting them to a game night to get to know them better. Sometimes it looks like having the courage to bring up hard topics with their friends or talking about Jesus with them. Sometimes it looks like meeting individually with a mentor, and even peer to peer discipleship, as seen in Sophie’s life (see video).

Personal growth. Discipleship. Outreach. All of these things flow from transformation happening at the individual heart level of the students and leaders who attend these huddles.

You better believe that’s how the Gospel spreads.