On March 20 and April 17, Newsome’s Fellowship of Christian Students (FCS) Club, along with students from local youth groups, hosted two nights of Christian worship in the Newsome auditorium.
“Night of Worship was birthed in the hearts of two Newsome senior students who attend Fishhawk Fellowship Church,” said Paige Eilertson, an Area Representative for Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). “Chris Pinedo and Juliana Valdes had the vision and asked for the support from Newsome’s FCS Club.”
The pair promoted and organized the Night of Worship through Newsome’s student-led club FCS, another title for FCA. Both nights of worship lasted for an hour and emphasized simplicity—worship music, a message and prayer.
Valdes said, “Chris and I printed and cut out hundreds of cards to give to people, and it also blew up on social media, especially Instagram.” She continued, “But I feel like the reason we had a big turnout is because we had been praying about this event from the start.”
Eilertson continued, “I’m happy to support and pray for students as they shamelessly take the lead in lifting the name of Jesus.” She continued, “I am excited that several students from other schools and homeschool attended. The nights were a huge success.”
Newsome’s Night of Worship continues to generate excitement across social media and is paving the way for other schools to follow suit.
Eighth-grader Tyler Eads, the FCA president at Mulrennan Middle School, is organizing a Night of Worship for all middle schoolers on Friday, May 11 at 7 p.m. at Mulrennan.
Valdes expressed, “It was so great when Tyler reached out to us after hearing about our Night of Worship, and he is now planning one at his school. I hope other schools will do the same.”
Valdes also spoke about the future of Newsome’s Night of Worship and said, “We felt it was important to do another one for the graduating seniors. We plan to make Night of Worship a quarterly event and have plenty of juniors ready to take this over next year.”
Since 1945, the FCA has been making a positive impact in the schools and community. For more information about the local FCA, visit www.fcatampabay.org. For further questions on upcoming events, please contact Paige at Peilertson@fca.org.
