Five longtime supporters and partners of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes will be inducted into its Hall of Champions later this year.
Jake Bostrom, Wayne Gordon, Anne Graham Lotz, Bobby Jones and Ken Marks have worked tirelessly for decades to further the FCA vision: to see the world impacted for Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes.
“It’s always a special time when we welcome a new class into the Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ Hall of Champions,” said FCA President and CEO Les Steckel. “The five members of the Class of 2015 are amazing testaments to selfless service and a commitment to helping to impact coaches and athletes for Jesus Christ. We are so thankful for Jake Bostrom, Wayne Gordon, Anne Graham Lotz, Bobby Jones and Ken Marks and all they have done to help change lives through sports, FCA and the grace of God.”
John “Jake” Bostrom has been committed to FCA as a volunteer for more than a half-century, serving the Wisconsin FCA for the first two decades of its existence—and impacting countless coaches, athletes, volunteers and staff with his selfless service. In the late ’60s and early ’70s, Bostrom was invited to serve at FCA conferences in North Dakota, Indiana and Michigan. Many considered him well-suited as an FCA staff member, but God knew he would be more effective as a volunteer. Early Wisconsin FCA initiatives can trace their origins to Bostrom’s efforts.
Throughout the years, he organized a number of “Weekends of Champions” events, father/son banquets, FCA rallies and FCASundays for area churches. He also tirelessly raised funds for these events as well as for summer conferences and camps. In fact, more than 1,000 young athletes have attended FCA Camps because of Bostrom’s involvement. Now nearly 76 years old, Bostrom still excels in this area, raising $6,000 in scholarships in 2014 and personally paying for others to be able to attend FCA Camps. Bostrom also chaperones transportation to and from camps and serves in many other capacities to make the FCA Camps program successful.
Bostrom has also served extensively on state and local FCA boards and leaders within Wisconsin FCA say the ministry there would not be what it is without his influence.
He and his wife, Shirley, have two daughters, Kristin and Kari, and two grandchildren.
Wayne Gordon was one of the founding staff members of Chicago FCA in 1975 and a former Chicago FCA board member. He continues to serve as an advocate, mentor and champion for the Chicago FCA urban ministry. Gordon served as an FCA Huddle Leader and coach at Farragut High School in the Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago from 1975 to 1982. The inner-city boys in that group wanted to start a church in their neighborhood with Gordon’s help, and today, 30 years later, the Lawndale Community Church on Chicago’s west side serves the community not only through the church, but also through a clinic with 30 doctors that serves 100,000 patients a year.
Raised in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Gordon came to faith in Jesus Christ through FCA in high school and graduated from Wheaton College in 1975. While at Wheaton, Gordon served as a leader in the Wheaton North High School FCA Huddle, formed and led by FCA Hall of Champions coach Jim Rexilius. Following a call by God to serve in the inner city after graduation, Gordon moved to North Lawndale, which, at that time, was the 15th poorest neighborhood in the U.S. While there, Gordon was a teacher, football and basketball coach and started the first inner-city FCA Huddle at Farragut High.
As an adjunct professor at several seminaries and graduate schools, Gordon heads up the Lawndale campus of Northern Baptist Theological Seminary. He authored the inspiring book, “Real Hope in Chicago,” which details the power of God working in a community in need and references the impact FCA had on his own life. Currently, Gordon is mentoring and housing Chicago FCA urban staff who are serving and living in the inner city of Chicago.
Gordon and his wife, Anne, still live in Lawndale and have three children.
Anne Graham Lotz,
Anne Graham Lotz, the daughter of evangelist Billy Graham, has been involved with FCA for decades since her early days as a middle and high school Huddle Leader. For the past 25 years, she has been a keynote speaker at more than 50 FCA-related events, including numerous FCA Camps, President’s Weekends, Tom Landry Weekends, the 40th and 50th Anniversary Celebrations, women’s events for coaches’ wives and FCA auxiliary members, couples retreats, on university campuses and at multiple fundraisers around the country.
Called “the best preacher in the family” by her father, Lotz also speaks around the globe with the wisdom and authority of years spent studying God’s Word. The New York Times named her one of the five most influential evangelists of her generation. Her “Just Give Me Jesus” revivals have been held in more than 30 cities in 12 different countries, to hundreds of thousands of attendees.
Lotz has given out the word of God for more than 30 years at the Black Mountain, N.C., FCA Camps for coaches and athletes. In the past few years, Anne’s daughter has taken over this charge that was close to her mother’s heart.
Lotz’s husband, Danny, passed away in 2015 at the age of 78, and was also a longtime supporter of FCA, being inducted into the Hall of Champions himself in 2002 in recognition for starting FCA in North Carolina. Anne and Danny have three children: Jonathan (and wife Jenny), Morrow (and husband Traynor Reitmeier) and Rachel-Ruth (and husband Steven Wright), who have all been active in FCA. Three granddaughters complete the family.
Bobby Jones, a retired NBA star who played with the Philadelphia 76ers, has served as an FCA banquet speaker around the Carolinas region, as well as a counselor and connector for FCA area staff. His wife, Tess, has also been instrumental in leading FCA’s Women’s Roundtable in an effort to effectively reach high school girls with the FCA ministry.
Over the past 20 years, Jones has been a popular guest speaker at many FCA basketball camps and coaches clinics, as well as a humble servant at events. As a coach, Jones always offers a Bible study to his team and consistently aims to be a servant leader. He often shares stories of how he has seen God at work in his own life and in the lives of others.
While Jones stays in touch with the NBA by mentoring Christian players in the league, his preference over the years has been to coach middle school and high school basketball teams. This grass roots impact has allowed Jones to influence young players on a personal level.
Jones, who was born in Charlotte, and Tess have two children and four grandchildren.
Ken Marks has served the Permian Basin FCA in the Midland, Texas, area for decades as a Huddle sponsor at Midland Lee High School and an FCA board member. He has been the face of FCA for hundreds of students over the years when Lee High School FCA did not have an area director or FCA staff on which to rely. Marks faithfully served as the Huddle sponsor for more than 30 years alongside his wife, Mary Lee.
A committed member of the board for the Permian Basin area, Marks has consistently provided wise counsel thanks to his long-term involvement with FCA. He has a strong spiritual commitment to the coaches, students and families he touches year after year. Many athletes over the past three decades or more can attribute the beginning of their relationship with Christ to Marks. He has also been a faithful giver to the ministry both financially and prayerfully, but most of all, with his time.
Marks was a member of the Midland ISD School Board in the ’80s when Spike Dykes, the Head Football Coach of Midland Lee, who went on to become the Head Football Coach at Texas Tech University, came to him requesting that an FCA Huddle be started on their high school campus. Since then, Ken and Mary Lee have hosted and led countless FCA meetings in their home, formed relationships with coaches and their teams and have taken athletes from Midland and surrounding schools to summer FCA Camp.
Ken and Mary Lee have three children and many grandchildren.
FCA’s Hall of Champions members serve to fulfill FCA’s vision, mission and values: to see the world impacted for Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes; to present to coaches and athletes, and all whom they influence, the challenge and adventure of receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, serving Him in their relationships and in the fellowship of the church; and through relationships that demonstrate steadfast commitment to Jesus Christ and His Word through integrity, serving, teamwork and excellence. There are now 91 godly athletes and coaches plus board members and volunteers who have received this special tribute.
The Class of 2015 will be honored with a photo and biography at the newly redesigned Hall of Champions at FCA's National Support Center in Kansas City. A special glass plaque will be presented to honorees later this year.
Click here to read more about the Class of 2015 and to view a complete list of previous Hall of Champions inductees.