Ministry Initiatives at Trevecca Conclude Busy Summer Schedule

Trevecca’s ministry teams and grant-supported initiatives took part in a number of encouraging events throughout the summer. Here’s an update on many of those activities and other ongoing efforts.

Calling Cooperative

What an incredible summer it has been! Across our region and field, the Calling Cooperative has had the profound joy of witnessing firsthand what God is doing in the lives of our young people.

Our summer journey kicked off at youth camps in the Georgia and Midsouth districts. It was deeply encouraging to engage in vibrant conversations with students as they actively discerned God’s call to ministry. We invite you to join us in praying for these students as they find the courage to say "yes" to Jesus wherever the Spirit leads.

From there, we headed to the East Tennessee district camp and NYI convention, where more than a dozen students communicated exploring a call to ministry from that district alone. God is undoubtedly still calling the next generation!

Later in the summer, the Calling Cooperative participated in NYC through our More and Better Preachers Program, alongside two of our current students who helped facilitate meaningful conversations. We are currently following up with more than 25 students who proactively sought us out—a number we expect to grow as we finalize details with the NYI office.

We wrapped up the summer with camp in the Maine district, where we connected with six more students pursuing a call on their lives. Seeing how the Lord is moving across such diverse communities is nothing short of thrilling.

Behind the scenes, we’ve also been hard at work applying for three major grants to help secure future funding for our mission.

If you want to partner with us in this vital movement among students answering God's call, you can give online at www.trevecca.edu/calling-cooperative.

Also, please keep our upcoming FUEL Youth Workers' Retreat in your prayers as youth leaders from across our region gather together from September 11–13. Visit our website for more details!

Center for Pastoral Health

The Center for Pastoral Health is excited to announce that the Finishing Well service is now available. Finishing Well is for pastors contemplating retirement or leaving a pastor role. It is led by retired pastors who have successfully navigated the transition. Individual pastors can join online group conversations, or districts can schedule a weekend (Friday/Saturday) retreat if they have enough interested pastors.

Online cohorts will meet once a month for up to a year for conversations and intentional planning for flourishing in the next season of life.

You can find more information at trevecca.edu/finishing-well.  

Center for Wesleyan Holiness

We’re excited to share that a film Trevecca faculty and students produced last year on location in Greece will soon be premiering! Please join us Sept. 28 for a screening of “Upside Down: Paul’s Message of New Creation.” This 30-minute documentary on Paul’s message and ministry in Philippi, Thessalonica and Corinth was filmed on location in those cities. The historical, political, cultural and theological background included in the documentary give rich texture to understanding the good news in Paul’s letters to those cities. The red carpet begins at 6:15 p.m. and the screening starts at 7 p.m. in the Boone Convocation Center.

If local churches would like to explore hosting a screening of this documentary on Paul’s message and ministry, followed by a discussion by faculty and student filmmakers, contact Tim Gaines at TRGaines@trevecca.edu.

More and Better Preachers

We have recently completed a busy few months of activity for the preaching grant. One of our most important annual events is the work we do at TNT at TNU, which occurred this year in April.

In 2024, when we began our partnership, we gave $24,000 to six of the 18 students who competed in the preaching competition. The number of participants grew to 32 in 2025, and we awarded $33,000 to 8 students.

We were quite pleased with this significant growth in participation and hoped to maintain it in 2026. To our great surprise and delight, 45 students competed in the preaching competition in 2026. We again recognized eight outstanding preachers, all of them young women, who received a total of $31,000 in scholarships to Trevecca. The award recipients included:

Senior Youth Scholarship Recipients  
$5,000 Nariyah McCullogh – Florida                                      
$4,000 Molly Rector – MidSouth            
$3,000 Chloe Feinstein – MidSouth                               
$2,000 Rholeena Noel – South Florida                                               
Early Youth Scholarship Recipients
$5,000 Ava Mei Schwarz – MidSouth 
$4,000 Autumn Rivers – MidSouth
$3,000 Matilyn Cole – MidSouth
$2,000 Avery Adams – Florida  

Mike Jackson also represented Trevecca and the preaching grant at 10 of our 11 districts in the Southeast Region: Mid-South, North Alabama, Central Gulf Coast, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, East Tennessee and South Carolina. We had a great time connecting with the leaders of the church in our region! One of the highlights for me was interviewing 24 former Trevecca students who are now serving in ministry across the Southeast. Those interviews are now posted on our YouTube channel. Please follow us!

Many thanks to Caroline Foster for video editing and managing our social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram and YouTube). Caroline not only serves as one of our preaching ambassadors, but is now our preaching assistant and media coordinator. We are so glad to have her on the team.

A second highlight of our summer was partnering with PALCON 2026 at Trevecca. We offered a preaching track of six preaching workshops. Forty-five pastors and leaders completed the track and 85 people attended at least one of our workshops. Recordings of five of those workshops are also available on our YouTube channel. Here’s a teaser: 
“Not Missing the Forest for the Trees: Preaching Holiness within the Old Testament” by Tim Green.  

Other workshops were led by Steve Hoskins, Tim Gaines, Craig Shepperd and Mike Jackson. We also partnered with Grant Miller, pastor of Nashville First Church of the Nazarene, for a workshop on Holiness from the Epistles of Peter. A pre-conference workshop focused on genre-sensitive preaching. If you’d like to request the PowerPoint, email mjackson@trevecca.edu.

A final highlight of our summer of ministry was representing Trevecca and the More and Better Preachers grant at NYC (Nazarene Youth Conference) in Salt Lake City. Mike Jackson, Craig Shepperd and ambassadors Caroline Foster and Isabelle Rector joined more than 10,000 young Nazarenes for a week of worship and service to the community. It was an amazing time!

Worship Groups

As we wrap up another incredible summer of youth camps, Trevecca is grateful to so many churches for allowing Trevecca Worship to be part of what God is doing in the lives of students across the region. This summer has been filled with meaningful worship, incredible ministry opportunities and countless moments where we have seen students encounter Christ.

Our students have been honored to serve alongside church leaders and camp ministries throughout the summer. Every church and camp is different, but our goal remains the same—to use worship, relationships and ministry to point students toward Jesus.

As you begin planning your spring calendar, we would love to continue partnering with churches. Our fall calendar is already full, but we have availability in the spring and would be happy to send a Trevecca Worship band to your church to lead worship for a service, retreat, special event or other gathering.

Our bands are made up of talented Trevecca students who are passionate about worship and ministry. Beyond leading music, they desire to connect with students, share their testimonies, represent Trevecca and ultimately create an environment where students can encounter Christ.

If you are interested in having a Trevecca worship band join you this spring, we would love to hear from you and see if we can find a date that works for your church.

Thank you again for allowing us to serve with you this summer. We are praying for your students, your leaders and the ministry God is continuing to build through your church. We would love to worship with you again this spring!