The Band of Christian Athletic Gentlemen is new to our campus this year thanks to Joey Wilmot, a junior Elementary Education major and men’s lacrosse player. Wilmot “saw a need for Christian athletes to step up and be Christian role models, not just on my team, (but) in all athletics.”
Wilmot is a member of the Leadership Grant Program at Eastern, but he knew he did not want to fill his leadership role by being a Resident Assistant, so he decided to start his own organization.
Every other Friday, members of the group meet in the dining commons to have breakfast with one another. Male athletic teams are represented by at least one team member who has decided to dedicate his time to try and increase the team’s spirituality. This person is designated as the team’s spiritual leader, and at each of the breakfast meetings they report back to one another on how their team members are growing.
Since membership in the Band of Christian Athletic Gentlemen is restricted to male athletes, it is not funded by the Student Government Association. However, that has not stopped the group’s members from motivating each other to spread the word amongst the various male athletic teams, creating their own Bible study group, which they call “Bro-group,” and planning a cookout on the volleyball courts behind the gym in April.
“I wanted to do something for a purpose that I thought needed to be done,” Wilmot said, and that is exactly what he has done.
Currently in Bro-group, team members are studying Hebrews, and thanks to the team spiritual leaders, guidance for other team members is available.
As far as the future of the club, Wilmot said, “I really want to see all the male teams have a Bible Study and time to spiritually bond. I’d like to see an overall spiritual growth. Every team has guys that have interest.”