“The results of my efforts must result in His glory. Let the competition begin. Let the glory be God’s.”
Every week, these words echo inside Ashland University’s Redwood Hall at 9 p.m. every Tuesday. On this little campus in Ashland, Ohio, students attend the Fellowship of Christian Athletes(FCA), a volunteer-based ministry dedicated to serving college students and teaching them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Current Athletics Chaplain Joe Maggelet comments on the mission statement of AU’s FCA ministry and the role of the Athletics Chaplain: “Our role is to reach, disciple and equip athletes at Ashland University so that they can influence all the other students to know Christ and to make him known,” Maggelet said.
Maggelet passes this mission and ministry down to the next generation, with his successor being former AU student-athlete Austin Brenner.
“When Austin was a student here, I was discipling him, training with him, working with him,” Maggelet said. “He basically checked all of the boxes for being faithful, available and teachable for giving his life away” as a servant of Christ for this ministry.
Brenner explains how he came to the conclusion that he wanted to pursue the job of AU’s Athletics Chaplain.
“I really just have a huge heart for the Lord because of the work that he’s done in my life,” Brenner said. “I love connecting with people, building relationships, encouraging people, pushing people and just watching people grow.”
Brenner recalls his time as a student-athlete at AU and how it has shaped his love for the ministry. “That was when I really got plugged into the community and started to actually get discipled,” Brenner said. “That’s when my faith really became my own.”
Throughout his college career, Brenner faced various challenges, along with plenty of blessings. During his second year on AU’s football team, he was named second-team all-conference prior to injuring his hip labrum and undergoing hip surgery. The following year, he started the season top of the nation in passing yards and touchdowns before breaking his leg.
“Dependence on the Lord, through the good, to be anchored and through the bad, to be strengthened was really what brought me to why I have such a huge heart for ministry,” Brenner said.
As Brenner works under the current Athletics Chaplain, he sets goals he wishes to achieve while pursuing his ministry: “As the Lord shows me the work that he has for me, I hope to walk in it,” Brenner said.
“God has work prepared in advance for all of us to do. For me, I want to walk in that work and faithfully be obedient.” Furthermore, he hopes to “win people for the Kingdom” of heaven and to “train and equip every athlete to know Christ and to be on mission to make him known.”
As Christian faith continues to rise on campus, FCA helps aid in this revival through its focus on discipleship.
“[FCA] is only the tip of the iceberg of the real work that’s being done by the students,” explains Brenner. “The real work is being done by students building up other students… The Lord has so much more life and joy and purpose and work that he wants you to be a part of.”