Episode Details

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes had worked the same way with high school and college athletes since 1954. 

Then someone asked a question in a leadership meeting that nobody could answer well, and it started a decade of change.

Shane Williamson became the CEO in 2017. The reset came down to three words: engage, equip, empower. 

I was surprised that the vision and the mission then changed to match, not the other way around. And it was a radical expansion of their work to new age brackets, and many more types of sport. They began working with leagues for six-year-olds, as well as surf camps and motocross, radically different from their first 60 years. 

That smells like mission drift to some people. 

Shane says the why never moved, and the how and the where are supposed to.

Shane Williamson is President and CEO of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which has 3,500 staff and about 1.5 million volunteers. FCA reported $262 million in revenue in fiscal year 2025, up 138% since the reset.