A refinery is a place where ordinary, raw elements are converted into something of value. While the typical raw elements eventually become precious metals, there’s a thriving “refinery” on the campus of UNC Charlotte that is transforming elements of more eternal value.
Launched one year ago, the “49er Refinery”—a nod to Charlotte’s athletic nickname—has played a huge role in developing passionate, all-in student leadership within FCA. Nineteen students entered the burgeoning program last fall, prepared for a rigorous eight-month course where FCA leaders poured deeply into their lives. Sixteen of those students (eight male and eight female) completed their journey earlier this year.
UNC Charlotte Huddle members pray at their 2014 Winter Blitz event.
“The Refinery is one of the most influential, impactful and effective things we’ve been able to develop,” said Ryan Gloer, FCA campus director at UNC Charlotte. “It’s a very intense discipleship and leadership development process involving everything from Bible reading and Scripture memorization to serving and meeting with an accountability partner.”
Alex Kubrick, who served on the FCA leadership team at Charlotte prior to graduating in May, said she grew an “unbelievable amount” through the process of discipling a girl for the first time. Three other girls followed her lead and began discipling others as well.
“It’s awesome,” Kubrick said, “because we were replicating ourselves for the sake of the gospel going forth into the nations.”
Juanita Leto, a senior sprinter and hurdler on the 49ers track team, said the eight months of digging deeper into God’s word made her more comfortable with the idea of God using her to lead others to Him. She became a Huddle leader at FCA Camp and was one of 23 Charlotte students who took part in international missions with FCA over the last year.
“Many of my fellow students are still trying to decide their major, their career, who they really are,” Leto said. “But me, I know who I am and what I want to do with my life. I’m a child of God called to proclaim the excellencies of God. It’s who I am, so that’s what I’ll do.
“FCA has played a major part in this whole process. I’m more aware of the power of God that lives in me. I’m bolder and more strategic with my time to make disciples and really multiply myself.”
Through Christ’s power the “49er Refinery” is undoubtedly taking ordinary things and making them valuable, but it’s only part of the blossoming FCA ministry taking place at UNC Charlotte. The university’s rapidly growing student body is being radically transformed by Jesus.
Natalie Capone, the starting shortstop on the 49ers softball team and one of six women serving on Charlotte’s FCA leadership team, said there’s an incredible group of men and women who are consistently involved. She’s watched her peers invite more and more friends and go out of their way to make sure everyone gets to the meetings and hears the Gospel.
“I love knowing I can bring anyone and they’ll always be welcomed,” Capone said. “I love that we don’t just get together every Monday night, but we’re always trying to hang out. Whether it’s just a girls’ night or a bowling night with everyone, we’re always trying to find ways to get people involved.”
* * *
Gloer and his wife, Brittney, had served with FCA in Georgia, but in January 2012 they fol-lowed God’s calling to launch FCA at UNC Charlotte, the state’s fastest-growing university—but also a place where they didn’t know a single athlete or coach.
There was already a huge ministry presence on campus and countless churches in the surrounding area, but Gloer saw a glaring need for a ministry geared toward the athletes and coaches. FCA’s ministry at Charlotte was born when Gloer sat down with a stranger-—a random guy on campus whose number Gloer had received from someone else.
“The next thing I knew, we’re having Bible study with a group of four college guys who had come by, seen our Bibles open and sat down,” Gloer said. “A couple of them were two of the best student-athletes on campus.”
Each of those guys brought a friend the following week, doubling the group’s size, and then, two months later, FCA held its first-ever Monday night Huddle.
* * *
Samantha Slade, starting second baseman on the softball team, came to Charlotte as an agnostic. She’d been to church a couple times in her life, and only went to her first FCA meeting because her roommate “tricked” her into going.
“She knew I’d go because I'm so outgoing, so she didn't mention it was a Christian event,” Slade said. “That’s where I heard the Gospel presented clearly for the first time.”
Influenced dramatically by the fact that her friend was willing to reach out to her like that, Slade found new life in Christ in November 2012 and says now that’s it’s the best decision she ever made.
“God has continued to provide, protect and guide me,” she said. “I can say with confidence that the only reason I am where I am is because of His good grace.”
“FCA has played a major part in this whole process. I’m more aware of the power of God that lives in me. I’m bolder and more strategic with my time to make disciples and really multiply myself.” -UNC Charlotte senior Juanita Leto
It’s the welcoming spirit at Charlotte FCA that makes it “one of a kind,” Slade said. She loves the unity everyone has despite their diversity. Two Iranian students even started coming at the end of the spring semester because of an invitation from Kubrick.
“Many people who come to FCA say the thing they loved most at first was how welcoming everyone was to them,” Slade said. “They felt like part of the family right away.”
Slade, Capone and Chelsea Ingersoll first came to Charlotte as softball teammates but now share a spiritual bond that will last far beyond their playing days. Capone was one of the first female athletes Gloer met when he arrived at Charlotte, and he praises God that He used Capone to lead a few of her teammates to Christ (including Slade and Ingersoll, who now serve on the leadership team).
Together with Allison Pleiman, the girls live in a house right across from campus, and it's become more than just a place to live.
“It’s a place the girls use for outreach," Gloer said. "They’ve held several ‘Ladies' Night of Fellowship’ events there. It’s been awesome to see the athletes use their house for ministry.”
Capone added what the message has been when they gather.
“One of the most important lessons any woman can learn is that your worth is found in a mighty and wonderful Creator, not what man thinks about you," she said. "We don’t have to fear when standing up for Christ. Even though we’re promised that we’ll be persecuted, God provides so much joy and peace that transcends all understanding [as He said in] Philippians 4:7.
“Jesus is worth it. He is worth everything, our entire lives.”
* * *
Charlotte played its first-ever season of football in 2013, bringing an entirely new group of student-athletes to town. Many had enrolled at Charlotte the previous year to practice, build the program, and bond with each other before actually playing any games, and a number of them began attending FCA events.
Several Huddle members served on mission trips to Spanish Wells, Bahamas.
“Bringing on football has definitely changed the culture in and around the university,” Gloer said. “Our female leadership is very strong, and the guys they are close with have been pushed, stretched and challenged by them to grow in godliness. God has really done a deep work in several of the guys we now have serving, and they’re effectively leading in a godly way. I believe part of that stems from the way the females exemplify and live out what it means to be committed followers of Christ.
“It’s been very humbling to watch the chemistry develop between them. The guys and girls feed off each other and really challenge each other while holding one another accountable.”
Gloer said Zach Bumgarner, Matt Johnson, Justin Bolus, Steve Muscarello and Brandon Strupp (the first athlete to come to know Christ through the UNC Charlotte FCA ministry) have made huge spiritual impacts within FCA and alongside their football teammates. Bumgarner and Johnson have served internationally, while Strupp is joining FCA staff within the Charlotte area.
“Brandon, Justin and Steve all came to know Christ through the ministry here, and the transformation in their lives is clearly evident,” he said. “Several of the guys live together now, using their house as an outreach to their teammates as well as for a football-player Bible study.”
“I pray that God uses FCA at UNC Charlotte to develop transformational leaders who multiply." -Ryan Gloer
From its initial launch in a meeting of strangers, UNC Charlotte FCA now hosts more than 60 students every Monday night at 8:49 p.m. There are seven campus/team Huddles, and more than 130 athletes, coaches and students have participated in FCA camps.
In February, more than 50 current students attended the FCA North Carolina College Conference—almost a third of the gathered crowd—while three Charlotte alums have come on staff with FCA and a fourth is volunteering heavily in a similar role. Despite what he’s already seen, Gloer feels like God has just begun to reveal His work on Charlotte’s campus.
“I pray that God uses FCA at UNC Charlotte to develop transformational leaders who multiply, that the nations would feel the ripple effects of what the Holy Spirit does in and through the lives of the athletes and coaches we have the opportunity to impact," he said. “All glory to Jesus. What a humbling thing to be a part of His great work at UNC Charlotte. I praise Him daily for allowing me to be a part of the movement He has generated here.”
Photos courtesy of Ryan Gloer and Sam Roberts/FreezeFrame
--This article appears in the September/October 2014 issue of FCA Magazine. To view the issue in its entirety digitally, click here: Sept/Oct 2014 Digital
–Want FCA Magazine in your home or business? Subscribe here: fca.org/orderthemag
–For daily faith and sports content follow @FCAMag on Twitter (www.twitter.com/fcamag) and “Like” FCA Magazine on Facebook (www.facebook.com/fcamag).