Campus Ministry has always been a way for students to keep their relationship with God on the right path. In the past months, the number of students who have a pure desire to seek God has increased. Henry Tolbert, director of Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and graduate of Grambling State University, is the program director for Campus Ministry this summer. Tolbert was given the assignment to restart FCA after returning to Grambling from his hometown of Birmingham.
He was eager to work in ministry, so he approached Rev. Connie Breaux and the rest is history. “FCA once was one of the hottest ministries on campus when I was in school,” says Tolbert, “but when other ministries started to grow it became almost non-existent.”
This time around, Tolbert along with his wife, Latoya, are impacting the campus by spreading the gospel with the greatest tool you can use, their lives. “The greatest tool in spreading the gospel is living an inspiring and motivational lifestyle.”
Instead of just preaching a sermon on the given day for meeting, they plan to take ministry a step further by going beyond what they do one night a week. “We seek to impart in peoples lives seven days a week and build a family which is evident through the growth we’ve had.”
One of the biggest obstacles that affects the outreach of FCA is its name. Many people assume that it is an organization only for athletes not knowing that over 50 percent of the participants are not athletes at all. Any and everyone can attend FCA. You can also be apart of the leadership team if you want.
Not only Fellowship of Christian Athletes, but United Campus Ministries as a whole welcomes students no matter what background, race or class they come from. I believe if every ministry on campus worked together they would have the power to impact the campus like never before.
When asked, Do you think campus ministry has been lacking in its attempts to reach students?, Tolbert pondered on the question for a few seconds and his response was, “in order for Campus Ministry to reach full potential its going to take a collaborative effort of all ministries, there should be at least one ministry that every single person can fit into and feel comfortable, but one ministry can’t do it all on its own.”
Tolbert seeks to impact the campus through unifying programs and events to bring all ministries on campus together for one common purpose. This summer with campus ministry he plans to host several interdenominational fellowship activities such as poetry nights, bible studies, games days, cookouts, and multiple community outreach activities. So far they have volunteered and help out the city of Grambling by cleaning the city park, and also host bible studies throughout the week.
If anyone is interested in joining or being apart of the vision that Henry Tolbert has for not only the campus of Grambling State University but also the community of Grambling he is located in Hunter Robinson.