Category: Church News

Oakleaf Groundbreaking

Trinity Baptist Church is pleased to announce on May 16, 2022, our Oakleaf campus broke ground to start building a new campus! Trinity Oakleaf, one of three Trinity locations in the Jacksonville area, is laying roots down at 710 Oakleaf Plantation Parkway in Orange Park, Florida. As many are aware, Trinity Oakleaf members faithfully congregated for the past seven years at the Enterprise Learning Academy’s school cafeteria waiting for the opportunity to build. We now can rejoice because the time is finally here!

Led by Campus Pastor Daniel Riddick and Connections Pastor Zac Hardy, Trinity Oakleaf will span over 16,500 square feet and include the following:

• Auditorium for 350 people
• Community plaza (with café seating and couches)
• Indoor playground
• Four multi-purpose rooms
• Six classrooms
• Outdoor field space

The indoor playground will be open to the public during the week and the meeting rooms and classrooms will serve as dedicated space for small groups and ministries (such as Trinity Kids). The outdoor field space will also serve as a venue for church gatherings and outreach events. This development project will include construction of a new parking lot with 186 spaces that will add to the existing parking already on the perimeter of the building site. Lastly, the building will sit on a lush property across eight acres, in the heart of the Oakleaf Plantation community.

The ground-breaking ceremony was attended by hundreds to celebrate this monumental milestone. “We sang, reflected on God’s provision, and conducted a shovel ceremony – afterwards we had inflatables and snow cones for kids and families,” said Pastor Daniel. “We are thrilled about the opportunity to have a permanent home for the ministry that will open up potential ministry opportunities during the week that we currently are unable to accommodate. More importantly, it will allow us to more than double in size—more people finding Christ is what it is all about!”

Trinity Oakleaf, launched in October 2014, is the second location for Trinity Baptist Church and recently celebrated seven years. “I have enjoyed seeing the unity this season in our church,” said Pastor Zac. “There are people in our church who have been dreaming of this for seven years alongside people in our church who have just begun the journey. We are all dreaming of seeing God finish this work in our church.”

Pastor Zac and Pastor Daniel hope that Trinity Oakleaf will continue to be an anchor in the community, one that God will use to reach and disciple the Oakleaf area. They expressed sincere gratitude to the church leadership and congregations across all Trinity campuses for their endless support to make this a reality. As they move forward, they ask for prayers that God would use this expansion to reach people and continue to provide financial provisions. “We have made a lot of progress toward meeting the financial need, but we still have more progress to make in order to fully fund the project,” said Pastor Daniel.

You can give to Multiply Mission HERE.

Trinity Oakleaf looks forward to having its first service on Easter 2023, so make sure to mark your calendars now! To stay in the loop on newest developments with Trinity Oakleaf, visit the website or follow us on Facebook at Trinity Baptist Church or on Instagram at TBCJax.

 

Kaleidoscope Story

A kaleidoscope is probably one of the most fascinating toys you may own as a child. Seemingly pretty simple upon first glance (and lacking in the fun factor), as you lift it up to your eye you are surprised by what you see. Dazzling colors that cause your eyes to zigzag back and forth transporting you into a world full of beauty, joy, and child-like wonder.

The same can be said for the Kaleidoscope Program at Trinity Baptist Church. Kaleidoscope is our ministry for special needs children and their families that promote beauty, joy, and cater to child-like wonder. The program is committed to loving our special needs children and their families; teaching the word of God through pictures, stories, songs, and crafts; including our children in the E-Theatre as much as possible; and providing a safe and happy environment for our children to thrive. The program is only available at our Hammond Campus during the 10:45am service and is directed by Susanna Zekas.

Recently we were able to sit down with the parents of Savannah, one of our Kaleidoscope Kids. Here’s their story:

“We started bringing Savannah to Kaleidoscope special needs class when she was three years old. Like many children with special needs such as autism, we knew it would be difficult for her to be supported in the typical children’s environment at church. Without a ministry such as Kaleidoscope, we would have been unable to attend church or one [of us] would have to care for Savannah while the other came to church.

Savannah represents a true fulfillment of Kaleidoscope’s two-fold mission to (1) love and care for children while their families attend worship and (2) help the children engage in TrinityKids to the extent that they are able to do so. Savannah, strong in her own right, has conquered many challenges over the past eight years and has blossomed into a smart, beautiful preteen. She needs almost no support in E-Theatre (children’s church), loves to do the motions during worship, and even participates in games!

Up until a couple years ago, Savannah (an only child) did not tolerate the large group well and remained in the classroom for all or most of her time at church. Now we are so excited that she eagerly attends E-Theatre, joins in the singing, and listens attentively. In small group time, Savannah enjoys crafts, painting, coloring, and watching her favorite DVD of old-school Sunday School songs (Father Abraham, anyone?). Some of her favorites are Frozen, the color blue, and “Mackeydonalds” (McDonald’s) – a reward she receives when she is good at church, which is every week these days! Overall, we truly enjoy being a blessing and encouragement to our other families who have children with special needs, simply by sharing our story and offering a kind word and smile. We enjoy volunteering in the Kaleidoscope classroom once a month and are so thankful that this family calls Trinity their church home.”

Interested in learning more about the Kaleidoscope Program or how you can get involved like Savanah’s parents to pour into our sweet children? We would love to have more volunteers to be able to help more families! Please visit https://tbc.org/kaleidoscope/ or reach out directly to the director, Susanna, at szekas.sz@gmail.com to get connected.

Reaching Out with New Move-in Gifts - We’re thinking outside the BAG! 

Andrew Carr, Outreach Director at the Hammond Campus, and Josh Evans, Oakleaf Connections Pastor, recently came together to develop a very creative method to reach and connect with people moving to our community.  The ingenious idea was the creation of a “new move-in bag.”  What better way to welcome new families to our area than with a thoughtful and useful gift?   Research indicates that literally hundreds of families move to our area each year and the new home construction around us bears this out. 

Beginning with our official Trinity logo gift bags (that was the easy part), the team explored many ideas to make a successful outreach tool.  The result was to place a small potted succulent plant in the bag as a gift, as well as information about our church and a note of welcome to the community.  

Assembly lines began putting together the bags, and the next step was creating a plan to distribute them.  So, how did this unfold?  Announcements during services invited our church family to participate by picking up gift bags to deliver to their new neighbors. Word was spread on social media. Trinity’s members were eager to participate, and bags were quickly picked up after church, far exceeding our expectations. Our people were so energized that multiple bags were taken, and our teams were pressed into producing more bags than were originally anticipated.

explains Josh.  “It didn’t take a lot of convincing because our people, our church family, are passionate about outreach. It was encouraging to see everyone excited to get involved.”  

In the short span of a few weeks, over 300 gift bags have been distributed.  Many receiving the gift bags have called to say thanks and to ask for information about our church.  Andrew and Josh believe this will result in further interest over the coming months, and that the effect will be long term as families settle in and look for a church home or perhaps have a need.  

In terms of numbers, this campaign appears successful.  However, the greatest success might be seeing so many people in our church engaged in connecting with those outside our church.  Andrew sums it up this way,

“Success is not really how many bags were distributed, but it’s God’s people stepping up, stepping out, to show the love of Jesus to our community. We’d love to see everyone in our church mobilized as the hands and feet of Jesus so that those we encounter will say, ‘Wow, those people really care’.”

A Message From Our Pastor – The Death of George Floyd

The death of George Floyd at the hands of police is deeply disturbing and also reinforces the fear that justice is not always applied equally among people of color. We pray that justice will be pursued quickly and fairly.

It is important to acknowledge our appreciation for law enforcement that put their lives on the line, sacrificially and in service of others, but at the same time we need to be grieved when the use of force goes too far. It is particularly egregious when the use of force is somehow applied based on color of skin. These are conversations that we must have and we must be willing to listen to the experiences, fears, and concerns of those that believe that there is not equal treatment or protection under the law.

The scriptures could not be more clear about the fact that human beings are distinct in the fact that they are made in the image of God. All humans, male and female, regardless of ethnicity, color, and age are image bearers of God and are valued and loved by Him – equally. We must, along with scripture, both Old and New Testament, condemn murder, injustice, and mistreatment of others, particularly the most vulnerable among us. Today, we grieve with those that grieve, we weep with those that weep, and we long for and work toward a world that values all human beings and is fair and just for everyone.

I believe that words are not enough in this moment and that our church must find ways to work toward racial reconciliation that reflects our deeply held gospel beliefs.

– Pastor Tom Messer