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Trinity Christian College is pleased to announce that it has named Madison Eggert of Mequon, Wis., and Leslie Osorio of Mundelein, Ill., recipients of the prestigious 2020 Founders’ Scholarship. The Founders’ Scholarship is a renewable, full-tuition award available annually to two incoming freshmen.
Eggert attends Eastbrook Academy in Milwaukee, where she has played volleyball for four years. She plans to major in biology at Trinity.
“I am so excited and thankful to attend Trinity this fall with this generous award!” said Eggert. “I fell in love with the Christ-centered community that I found there. I am deeply grateful that I have the opportunity use this gift to help me on my journey to becoming a physician assistant.”
Osorio attends Mundelein High School, where she is a member of the National Honor Society and a student leader in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She is also an executive board member of Puertas, a Latino cultural experience club. Osorio plans to major in nursing at Trinity.
“I am immensely grateful, humbled, and honored to be one of the recipients of the Founders’ Scholarship,” said Osorio. “This award has not only lightened my financial burden, but it will allow me to continue to pursue my educational dreams in healthcare and wellness. With the strong academic programs and a close-knit community centered in faith, I am confident that my time here will form me as a whole person and equip me for my future career and calling to serve others.”
Among other criteria, the Trinity’s Selection Committee for the Founders’ Scholarship considers outstanding spiritual, academic, and social leadership.
Trinity is excited to welcome our Founders’ Scholars for the class of 2024!
Worship leaders, pastors, and other church leaders should be encouraged to recognize the need for worship to be a product of the way we live in our communities and love our neighbors and neighborhoods well, Jonathan Brooks, recruiter and mentor for Trinity’s five-year B.A./M.Div. program with Northern Seminary, told the audience during a seminar at the recent Calvin Symposium on Worship.
During his seminar “Church Forsaken,” which shared a name with his recent book, Brooks, who serves as senior pastor of Canaan Community Church in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, also talked about introducing hip hop as a worship style that the church not only needs to accept, but embrace. “Hip hop is probably the most impactful and globally diverse culture in the world,” he said. “I had Pastor Terence Gadsden, the campus pastor at North Park University, also known as DJ Rock On, who performed with me during the vesper services, join me for the workshop.
“We wanted to show it was about more than music, and that embracing and learning from hip hop is a way that the church can lean into its God-given diversity,” he said.
This is the first time that Brooks has presented at the conference. “But I have been in contact with the Calvin Institute for quite a few years discussing how worship needs to be activated in the community. In other words, real worship can come outside of the four walls of the church and actually be a product of the way we live in the world,” he said. “In my book Church Forsaken, I talk about how my activity in the community and my love for my neighbor has led to a greater and more authentic worship of God.”
Brooks said some attendees were very encouraged by the notion that our worship of God can be enhanced by the way we move closer to our neighbor and are more engaged in our neighborhood. “The premise that our welfare and the welfare of our family is bound up in the welfare of our neighborhood, from Jeremiah 29:7 (‘Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper’), was truly an eye opening reciprocal way of thinking about how we live in the world,” he said.
The annual Calvin Symposium on Worship is a three-day conference sponsored by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and the Center for Excellence in Preaching held on the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary.
The Trinity community gathered last week in the Grand Lobby to celebrate Provost Aaron Kuecker, Ph.D., on the recent release of Social Identity Commentary on the New Testament. Kuecker co-edited the book with Brian Tucker and contributed two chapters.
The book, published by T&T Clark, is a comprehensive Bible resource that highlights the way the New Testament seeks to form the social identity of the members of the earliest Christ-movement. According to the publisher, “By drawing on the interpretive resources of social-scientific theories-especially those related to the formation of identity-interpreters generate new questions that open fruitful identity-related avenues into the text. It provides helpful introductions to each [New Testament] book that focus on various social dimensions of the text as well as a commentary structure that illuminates the text as a work of social influence.”
Along with his editing work, Kuecker wrote the book’s chapters on Luke and Acts.
At Trinity Christian College, our professors are dedicated to sharing their knowledge with students and growing their own gifts and talents inside and outside the classroom. We celebrate with the Trinity faculty who have recently reached career milestones with promotions and the granting of tenure.
Congratulations to our professors on these successes!
Michael Bosscher granted tenure as Associate Professor of Chemistry
Jessica Clevering granted tenure and promotion to Professor of Psychology
Shari Jurgens granted tenure as Associate Professor of Physical Education
Kelly Nyhoff promoted to Associate Professor of Business and Finance
Ben Ribbens granted tenure as Associate Professor of Theology
Ryan Thompson granted tenure as Professor of Art and Design
Erick Sierra promoted to Professor of English
Kara Wolff granted tenure and promotion to Professor of Psychology
When working with children, behavior analysts and school-based professionals need successful collaboration, Trinity’s Assistant Professor of Special Education Karen O’Connor, Ph.D., told audience members during a presentation at the recent Illinois Association for Behavior Analysis annual conference.
“I was inspired to develop a presentation on the topic of improving how we collaborate with school personnel as behavior analysts are often put in this role but we struggle with effectively meeting the needs of teachers,” she said. “As behavior analysts, we need to work to build relationships with school staff, more effectively collaborate to address the priorities of teachers, and use tools to evaluate the impact of our consultation.”
O’Connor was one of several presenters at the conference, which took place Feb. 20-21. “It was very nice to see a variety of talks that had a focus on improving professional practice in our field,” she said.
On Tuesday March 10, our community is coming together to celebrate all things Trinity. It is a day where alums, parents, grandparents, students and friends of Trinity come together to rally support for a place close to our hearts.
We would love to have your support in one of two ways. You can contribute financially, helping us to meet our goal of 660 donors, in recognition of our 60th anniversary year. You can also spread the word about Trinity Tuesday through social media. Your engagement with this day is crucial for our success.
To learn more about the different ways you can be part of this special day, click here.
Trinity Tuesday: 1 Day. 1 Goal. 1 Gift.
Trinity’s Chaplain and Dean of Spiritual Formation Dr. Willis “Bill” Van Groningen was recently awarded the Dana Walling Award for Excellence in Campus Ministry from the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU).
“It is a distinct honor for him to receive the Dana Walling Award for Excellence in Campus Ministry from the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, an honor that, I am confident, Bill will receive with great gratitude, genuine surprise, and a generous humility,” said Trinity President Kurt D. Dykstra, in a letter commemorating the award. “Those are the attributes that we see, every day, in Bill. Those attributes, not surprisingly, are also evident in the ways in which Bill has molded and shaped Trinity’s campus ministries program and its culture.”
Van Groningen, who received the award at the CCCU’s recent Multi-Academic Conference, has been with the College since 2007.
Trinity is a member of the CCCU, a higher education association of more than 180 Christian institutions around the world. With campuses across the globe, including more than 150 in the U.S. and Canada and more than 30 from an additional 18 countries, CCCU institutions are accredited, comprehensive colleges and universities whose missions are Christ-centered and rooted in the historic Christian faith.
Fusion59, Trinity Christian College’s Center for Innovation, is excited to announce they are hosting an exclusive event on March 19th with international author, speaker and business consultant Vicki Fitch.
Fitch is a serial entrepreneur who has built and sold four successful companies, is an award-winning leader, and holds the elite title of Top 10 in Sales & Recruiting worldwide for over a decade in the direct sales industry. Last year she completed her #12Books12Months project, where she published one book per month for an entire year. That series launched her #YouAreEnough Global Initiative that she shares around the world, with the message #YouAreEnough… just the way you are.
“She is bringing her ‘Edutaining’ style of teaching to Trinity to inspire the community to become the best version of themselves while believing in the ability to achieve one’s dreams with a reminder that we need to infuse our thinking with innovation” said Tom Iwema, Co-Director of Fusion59.
Fitch is famous for creating her own vocabulary which she calls “Fitchisms” and even created her own “Fitchtionary” in the back of each of her books. True to Fitch form, her inspirational and motivational talk is called: InFUSIONate: Infusing Innovation with Confidence
Step Up, Stand Out and Break Out of Your Box!
A meet and greet will be held prior to her presentation at 3:30 pm with refreshments. The main presentation will start at 4 pm. A book signing follows the presentation in the main lobby of the Art & Communication Center on campus.
Get your free tickets while they last by clicking here.
During the Spring 2020 semester, Trinity Christian College is celebrating 60 years of God’s faithfulness with alumni and friends around the country.
These events will provide important information about what is happening on campus, engage and re-ignite Alumni and introduce new friends to Trinity Christian College.
There will be ample opportunity for social engagement, as well as a brief update from College representatives. Events are taking place in California, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and throughout the Chicagoland area!
Click here to see all the places we’re going!
If there is an event happening near your hometown, or somewhere that you can easily travel to, we would love for you to join us and encourage others to come too!
Trinity was excited to welcome nearly 30 high school students to campus to participate in the Diversity Scholars Leadership Program last weekend. Along with those who attended in person, 10 international students took part in interviews via Skype.
“The Diversity Scholars Leadership Program exists at Trinity to welcome scholars from different backgrounds to ‘Show Up,’” said Amanda Garcia, Admissions Event Coordinator. “This program is for students who want to experience academic excellence, leadership development, opportunities for advocacy development across the college, and spiritual guidance within a framework of embracing and rejoicing in the gift of diversity!”
Over the course of the weekend, students got to see what student life is like at Trinity by staying in dorms overnight and taking part in Outcry, Trinity’s student-led worship service. The weekend included academic information sessions and campus tours.
Diversity Scholar candidates also attended a banquet with faculty, staff, students, and members of Trinity’s Board of Trustees, where current Diversity Scholar Nicole Faulkner ’20 spoke. They also participated in a leadership session with Keith Reynolds, Associate Director of Admissions at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Mich.