The Launch and Impact of FCA in Zionsville Schools
If you’ve spent any time around Eagle Church, chances are you’ve crossed paths with Clyde Bodkin. His story here isn’t new, but the story of why FCA – the Fellowship of Christian Athletes – in Zionsville looks different now, is one worth telling. FCA is a visible representation of how God is moving in our youth.
Clyde’s first involvement with FCA in Zionsville was in the mid-1990s. When a teacher/football coach, who was also the FCA Huddle Sponsor, left Zionsville Community High School to take another position in northern Indiana, the FCA Huddle fell dormant.
Driving over from neighboring Carmel, where Clyde and his wife, Jill, and daughters lived at the time, Clyde helped restart the Zionsville FCA Huddle. He credits Ali King, who was the Youth for Christ Campus Life Director then, for helping him with the restart. Even though they worked for different para-church organizations, Clyde says that early ministry partnership with Ali was the beginning of a friendship that still matters today. FCA was a student ministry rooted in a common goal – building God’s Kingdom.
FCA ministry flourished in Zionsville through the remainder of the nineties and for the next two decades, reaching hundreds of students. But like so many student activities, FCA fell prey to the isolation of Covid-19. Unfortunately, FCA went dormant a second time.
In 2024, Clyde and a former small group member, Ben Weidner, a ZCHS 2020 alum and recent DePauw graduate, restarted FCA at ZCHS a second time. Weidner had been instrumental in launching an FCA Huddle at DePauw University in Greencastle, IN. There, he witnessed the college huddle grow from just five inaugural members to over 150 in just two years. Clyde knew Ben would be a key to the FCA relaunch in Zionsville.
“When I asked Ben if he would help me relaunch FCA, he didn’t hesitate one moment,” Clyde said. “Let’s do it, Bodkin!” Weidner replied. From there, Clyde contacted ZCHS Assistant Principal in charge of clubs, Matt Walter, and discussed the restarting of FCA. Clyde didn’t know how FCA would be received. The public school climate had changed, and he knew bringing a Christian ministry back into the building might not be easy. As Clyde describes it, when asked, Mr. Walter paused briefly and then responded affirmatively, “Clyde, what do you need, when do you want to start?” That moment was a turning point. It wasn’t just permission — it was a door opening wide to a new beginning for FCA in Zionsville.
In the September 2024 relaunch, FCA started with about 80 students. By the end of the 2024-25 school year, however, that number had grown to 125 plus students involved. Still in a volunteer capacity, Clyde had served as a volunteer for FCA for over 30 years. First, as a Huddle Sponsor in Carmel, an Advisory Board Member in Central Indiana, and then a member of the FCA State Board.
The response from Zionsville students to FCA, FCA’s ministry to athletes, coaches, and families, and the building of Christian community in their public school was overwhelming. “It really gave me pause”, said Clyde. “Very early on, it became apparent that students were seeking answers; they wanted capital T truth. Students were seeking purpose and meaning for their lives. Everywhere I turned, doors were opening for student ministry in Zionsville”, Clyde added.
It has been described as convergence... More than 30 years of life in Zionsville – business ownership, volunteering in student ministry in the community, coaching middle school and varsity football, and serving at Eagle Church – was converging into a dream opportunity for Clyde with FCA.
It was in a casual conversation with an old friend, Todd Townsend, then the Multi-Area Director for Central Indiana FCA, that a more formalized role with FCA was first discussed. I had told Todd that, “God has allowed me the joy of living in one place for a lot of years. I’m doubling down in Zionsville...I’m pushing into the middle of the table all my relational equity. The Lord had given me 30 years of experience and relationships in Zionsville schools, churches, and throughout the community. I want to invest that in reaching this generation of students and their families for Christ.”
By August 2025, Clyde had joined the staff of Central Indiana FCA as an Area Director for Indianapolis Northside. But his heart is clearly in Zionsville. “When I was hired,” Clyde said, “I told Todd something that I have stood by ever since – I want to build a volunteer team and structure, along with the finances, that will ensure FCA never goes dormant again in Zionsville. This ministry must last and even flourish long after Clyde Bodkin. The next FCA staff person here probably won’t have lived in Zionsville for 30 years. I want to help fund Christ-honoring ministry through FCA long after I’m gone.”
This past fall of 2025, the FCA kickoff at ZCHS drew 185 students, and they’ve averaged about 158 every week since. The numbers aren’t the goal, however. Students who have started a relationship with Jesus Christ, deepened the discipleship of their faith, and are being trained up in Christian leadership is what matters. Student leaders are starting Bible studies on their athletic teams, leading pre-practice and pre-game prayers, participating in Team Chapels, and forming FCA Small Groups are further evidence of FCA’s impact at ZCHS.
A typical Friday morning FCA Huddle looks like this: student leaders show up early to review the morning plan and pray together. Then the larger group plays a quick “mixer” to get moving, laugh together, to connect and catch up. After this, student-led worship follows, where the larger group routinely crowds the stage in heartfelt worship and praise. A short message is presented by a student leader followed by “Timeout Groups,” where students talk through the message and pray together. These are honest conversations where students spread out in groups across the small auditorium to discuss the morning’s message, re-read Bible passages shared in the message, and to ask questions and genuinely process what they learned, all before they take on their busy high school day.
The goal is “know and be known”, by God, by volunteer leaders, and other students.
Clyde says the Time Out Groups are his favorite part of the morning. “I love seeing students – even freshmen boys – engage in real conversation. They don’t just talk, they wrestle with the message, they relate it to their lives, and they pray together...not just because they have to, but because of the love they share for God and each other.”
FCA isn’t only for athletes. It’s the love of sports and competition that provides a common ground. Students come to FCA to join their friends in celebrating their faith inside the walls of their public school. FCA will continue to pursue all levels of athletics within ZCHS, but also with an eye on serving other student groups like marching band, the choral program, robotics, and Best Buddies.
Clyde also talks about FCA as a bridge between the local church and public schools. He believes the public school is one of the greatest mission fields in our country, an institution that builds and influences our youth, and he wants churches to have access to that space. FCA gives churches a way to enter schools to reach young adults in a way they otherwise couldn’t.
He wants students to connect back to the local church, too. FCA is not the “end all be all”. FCA’s role in God’s kingdom is to come alongside in support of the local church. He wants FCA to be a pathway to deeper discipleship in the student’s home church. And he’s already seeing moments like that happen.
Clyde shared that several students first begin their faith journey through coming to FCA. With a simple invitation from their friends, they prayed to receive Christ, and later they were baptized. Some even took that step after hearing a baptism testimony at an FCA Huddle.
Clyde’s vision for the future is clear: relaunch FCA at both Zionsville middle schools in February 2026, expand FCA Small Groups, and create a Christian community for students before they become freshmen in high school. He wants students to have a support system already in place before they face the inevitable pressures that high school brings.
For Clyde, the FCA mission and vision sum it up...
Mission: To lead every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His church.
Vision: To see the world transformed by Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes.
And that’s why he’s inviting the Eagle Church family to join him in the mission.
God Is On The Move!
Ellie Livingston
Communications & Office Administrator