Arthur Hawkins’ ministry has taken a number of twists and turns, from the football field to the pulpit and many points in between. Through it all, he has remained true to his calling to share
The Gospel with others.
Even when Arthur Hawkins whispers, his voice carries.
With the passion of a football coach, the mindset of a school administrator and the cadence of a charismatic preacher, he relays his convictions about Jesus Christ anywhere he goes. For the former college football player, coach and Fellowship of Christian Athletes director, the desire to share The Gospel has often manifested on the football field or among high school athletes in football locker rooms.
However, it also applies to the waitress taking his order at IHOP.
“What’s your name, ma’am?” Hawkins asks. “You’ve got children? I tell you what, you all come and be our special guests at Church Without Walls. We’ll be glad to have you.”
Church Without Walls is the non-traditional ministry Hawkins leads, where he speaks into the lives of attendees, whether in person or during Zoom calls. It is just one of the ways the coach-turned-pastor introduces people to Jesus and the impact He can make on those willing to submit to Him.
No matter where Hawkins’ career has taken him—from Clarkesville, Tennessee, where he began his work with FCA, to LaMarque, Texas, Salem High School in Conyers or Newton High School in Covington—he has always taken The Gospel with him.
“A lot of my foundation for things is just based on how I was raised.”
Arthur Hawkins
“It’s a journey that started when I was 23 years old when I first got saved and went into the United States Army after college,” Hawkins said.
That came after a three-year stint on the football team North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina, where he played for two Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championships and competed with and against multiple opponents who would go on to play professional football. Hawkins was not afforded such opportunities, and for a time in his life, that reality bothered him.
“Back then, you know, I’m asking God, ‘Why is he getting drafted?’ and, ‘He blocked for me, and I’m not getting drafted?’ And God says, ‘I’ve got other plans for you.’ You don’t understand at the time when you’re in your 20s, but now you do.”
Those plans have included an eight-year tenure at Salem, where his non-profit organization, Men and Women of Action, served as the start of his work with Sid Calloway, who asked him to come on staff part-time with FCA. While there, Hawkins ended up working with the football team but then stepped away to take on some administrative duties at the school. He remained chaplain of the football team.
“I had some great experiences there,” Hawkins said. “They took me to a [FCA] camp at Gardner-Webb [University], and it was so good. I coached quarterbacks there. I was blown away. I did my first Black Mountain camp, [with] 500 athletes from all over the country [and] Bobby Bowden and Tony Dungy speaking. I took 10 guys from Salem. It was a great experience.”
Those experiences only solidified what Hawkins knew he was called to do: To bring the light and love of Christ to young teenage athletes, regardless of their backgrounds or what life had done to them. His passion for it was derived from his own upbringing. Hawkins was born the only child to a teenage mother, and he remembers some of the difficulties and challenges they incurred. It was enough to bring tears to his eyes.
“I get emotional when I think about it,” Hawkins said. “My mom was a single parent. Fourteen years old. What do you know about being a parent at 14? I love my mom. I remember the sacrifices. I remember the impact. I know it was God that kept us, and I just want young men to know that same God while they’re young.”
If you are a Newton High School football fan and Hawkins’ face looks familiar, it should. He spent 10 years sharing The Gospel and providing spiritual guidance to the athletes and coaches, primarily on the Rams’ football team. Now, he operates another non-profit called All the Way and Then Some. It has given Hawkins the ability to extend his ministry beyond Newton County—to places like Stockbridge and to the football team at Jackson High School, where he spends most of his time now. His story features tons of unexpected twists and turns that may not be seen as conventional for many who are called into ministry. Though he gave his life to Christ initially at age 23, Hawkins did not get baptized until he was 43 years old. Ten years later, he was married in the same church where he got baptized. At age 63, he was ordained as a minister of The Gospel. He may be 71 now, but you would never know it based on how he looks, moves or speaks. He carries a workout regimen as if he were still an athlete. Hawkins says he takes care of his “temple” so he can stay in good enough health to continue doing the work God has commissioned him to do.
“A lot of my foundation for things is just based on how I was raised,” he said. “I was raised by grandparents who couldn’t read or write. I was in a community who saw us playing football and basketball and would come to support. I saw that, and it made a difference. I wanted to be a part of facilitating that kind of support.”
His mission for All The Way And Then Some is a simplistic yet profound embodiment of the elements of nurturing that helped him succeed, despite the odds.
“Changing the culture, empowering youth, changing lives,” Hawkins said. “That’s what we’re about. That’s what happened to me. That’s what I want to continue to make happen for others for as long as I can.”
For information on All the Way and Then Some, visit www.all-the-way-and-then-some.ueniweb.com.
Click here to read more stories by Gabriel Stovall.
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