ATHLETES FOR THE CROSS

13 Jul 2025

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Greetings AFC Families!

 

Back in 2007, Bethany Church founded a sports ministry.  The goal was straightforward:  spread the Gospel through athletics.  The concept was to go out into the world, connect with people outside of the traditional church setting, and invite them to come to Bethany Church to learn more about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

In the past 18 years, our ministry has evolved – a lot.  We’re now known as Athletes for the Cross, or simply AFC.  Our families participate in youth team sports – flag football, soccer, basketball, and cheerleading. 

• We’ve become a destination for families belonging to many churches, not just Bethany Church.

• Our families have invited their friends – many of whom are not yet believers – in accordance with our ministry’s original goal.

• Our teams play in secular leagues – consistent with our ministry’s original goal of going out into the world.

 

Our originally envisioned outreach ministry is now functioning as a mission.  In coming to that realization, we’re ready to take the next step in our evolution.  We are pleased to announce that AFC is becoming part of the Push The Rock sports ministry!

 

PTR’s mission is like ours – to create life changing experiences through sports to introduce people to Jesus and help them live and play for Him.  Our programs complement each other – AFC has youth team sports, PTR currently has summer camps, homeschool PE programs, and a club volleyball program in the Lehigh Valley.  It’s an exciting opportunity for more kids to have more options – all under one umbrella!

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What does this merger mean for our family, our kids, and their teams?

• AFC teams will become PTR teams on a staggered schedule:

  • Basketball:      Winter 2025/26

  • Flag Football:  Spring 2026

  • Soccer:           Fall 2026

  • Cheerleading:  Fall 2026

• Our purpose stays the same.  AFC and PTR vision, mission, and values are fundamentally similar.
  More details are available here: https://pushtherock.org/mission-values/

• Our leadership stays the same:

  • Our AFC Director, Jessyca Varell, is now on staff at PTR as a full-time missionary.  Bethany Church is supporting Jessyca’s mission.

  • Our existing AFC Governing Board will become the PTR Team Sports Leadership Group, under Jessyca’s direction.

  • Our existing AFC Sports Coordinators will become PTR Team Sports Coordinators, under direction of Jessyca and the PTR Team Sports Leadership Group.

 

There’s nothing for you to do now (other than just continue to sign up and play, of course!).  We’ll keep you posted throughout the transition – including social media for both organizations.  When the time comes for us to move each sport from AFC to PTR:

• We expect to have you register on the PTR website instead of the AFC website.The registration timelines will be the same as they are today.

• We expect to order new PTR uniforms for each player to replace your AFC uniforms.

• We expect to play in the same leagues as we do today.

• We expect to set up our practice nights, practice locations, and game locations on a season-by-season basis, just as we do today.

 

We’re excited by the upcoming alignment of these two great programs.  The PTR team is looking forward to including our AFC families – and we’re looking forward to becoming part of the PTR family!

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Jessyca Varell                                                             Adam Smeltz
AFC Director                                                               AFC Governing Board Secretary
PTR Director, Lehigh Valley District