From Passion to Purpose: A Semester of Growth at TCJ

This semester started on the heels of a trip to Passion Conference in Texas. 

A group of students and staff attended the conference over the holiday break. They returned to campus with a fresh perspective on what it means to live with purpose, convicted over changes they needed to make in their own lives.  

One student shared how the dedicated time at the conference to focus on Christ has impacted her:

“Going to Passion taught me so many things, but the most important lesson I learned was the importance of abiding in the Lord — trusting that He is in control of my life and orchestrating even the smallest, most intricate details for His glory and my good.”

Carlin Poyner, Student Life Coordinator at Trinity College of Jacksonville, was part of the team who attended.  She says that since the conference, she has noticed that this core group of students be purposeful in how they approach their priorities and relationships.  Even more exciting is their obvious desire to “bring others with them” as they pursue Christ. 

Intentionally building new friendships, showing up for each other, and actively looking for ways to lead their peers has begun to make an impact on the campus as a whole. 

Carlin says that she is seeing a change in how students interact with each other. Some groupings tended to be self-contained and exclusive based upon their specific personal interests. Now, they are mingling and taking time out of their schedules to support one another.  In one instance this semester, the entire baseball team drove an hour and a half to support the basketball team because they had an unexpected opening in their schedule.  Our Lady Eagles basketball team was present as well. That support and energy was amazing to see at an away game.

More importantly, students are demonstrating greater spiritual interest overall. 

They are asking themselves how they can invest in each other’s lives in a way that glorifies God. Groups have organized weekly evangelism trips in the city of Jacksonville and prayer walks on the TCJ campus.  Individuals ran for student body government positions for the specific purpose of challenging and uplifting their peers spiritually. Wednesday night Trinity Young Adults (TYA hosted by Trinity Baptist Church) has seen an uptick in attendance and participation.  

The growth is personal and exciting. 

For us, these are not just facts. Each individual story of growth represents a name, a student we already know.  That is one of the special things about TCJ: we know each of our students by name and have the privilege of knowing their stories and seeing first hand the work God does in each of them!  

It is our greatest desire to see God glorified through what takes place on this campus. We are honored to continue in our mission to prepare students for life and ministry.