Trinity Students Share Faith and Culture at Faith Without Borders Conference

The annual Faith Without Borders conference once again unified Trinity believers without racial or denominational borders. Held March 6 and 7, the conference brought 75 students and faculty together for a time of worship, discussion, and various workshops.

Student leaders Kristin Thomas ’11 and Tatyana Smith ’11, both of Chicago, Illinois, continued the work of Trinity alumna Susana Medina-Lopez ’09 who started the event on Trinity’s campus as a smaller version of the annual National Christian Multicultural Student Leaders Conference (NCMSLC), Inc. The conference gained immediate support from NCMSLC as seven Trinity students involved in Faith Without Borders were awarded for their intentional efforts and commitment to support multicultural programming throughout campus.

The conference was implemented as a way to empower student leaders and encourage cultural diversity on campus, offering two different worship services, multiple workshops, and discussion.

The two worship services were lead by the Living Hope Church worship team and featured guest speakers. The Saturday workshops offered special presentations from Trinity faculty.

“Guest speakers challenged us to work together as one body of believers and see the need for one another,” Smith said.

The Saturday morning speaker, Pastor Craig Barnett, engaged his audience, drawing them closer to God.

“Craig Barnett was an excellent choice for the morning session,” commented Professor Pedro Aviles, assistant professor of church and ministry leadership. “His words of wisdom, his exposition of the scriptures, his honesty, and humor were insightful and an inspiration to me.”

Saturday events concluded with students joining together for an ethnicity caucus intended for deeper insight into themselves and those around them; and a showing of the movies “Crash” and “The Blindside,” which portray racial tension and integration success. 

Through the conference, new opportunities for Trinity students to openly discuss their faith and culture have been started, allowing more room to grow with one another.