(Orangevale, CA) Jeff Pitnikoff had served as pastor in the Sacramento area for 18 years when he and his wife Angela sensed that God was calling them to a new season.
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"My wife and I started feeling God knock on the door of our heart. In that season, He started introducing me to some individuals that were helping FCA grow in the Northern California area. There was no FCA area director in the Placer County/North East Sacramento area. We have three teenage boys that are passionate about sports and I'm a coach at heart. I understand that it can be a huge conflict for Christian families who have kids in sports because so much is happening on Wednesday nights or Sunday mornings.
That's what led us to taking a step of faith...to stepping down from our pastoral positions and joining the mission field and jumping into this full time."
Jeff is now serving as the FCA area director for Placer and North East Sacramento Counties.
"The Fellowship of Christian Athletes, otherwise known as FCA, has ministry happen on over 100 different countries. I get the privildege of serving in the Placer and Sacramento County areas in Northern California.
FCA's mission is to bring every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ...and so we get to be an extension of the church in the sports world, in schools, in the community...really, anywhere where people are," Jeff explains.
Jeff has had the opportunity to minister in more than 40 high school campuses with more than 2000 kids have made the decision to follow Christ just since the beginning of the 2024-25 school year.
Recently, a beloved student athlete at Orangevale, California's Casa Roble High School tragically lost his life in a car accident. Jeff made sure to join youth pastors as well as his son, Jackson Pitnikoff (President of FCA at Casa Roble High School) to minister to the students. More than 500 kids were in the quad for the time of prayer.
"We're on campuses almost every single day. We're encouraging coaches and athletes that already have a relationship with Jesus...training them, equipping them to really activate their faith and their beliefs on the sports field...but we're also rubbing shoulders with non-believers. Students that are curious, coaches that know that there's something so much more out there for them, more than just coaching a sport."
Jeff often gets a chance to bring pizza to high school kids during lunchtime FCA club meetings. He also gets to share the gospel.
"I would easily say that half of the students in the room don't have a church that they attend. There's a lot of students that are open to God. We, as the church, we have the opportunity to bring it right to where they are."