Despre Trinity House

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"As Rev. Barbara Heck and Rev. John Larson barbecued and prepared a salad for dinner, students began to filter in through the door, greeting one another.

A few minutes later, they grabbed plates and utensils from the kitchen and headed outside to help set the picnic table.

This was the atmosphere of the Trinity House late Wednesday afternoon - friendly, relaxing and, most of all, inviting.

"They're very welcoming," said Robyn Shoaff, a School of Social Work first-year student. "I really feel like I have friends here."

The Trinity House, located at 89 College Ave., is a campus ministry hospitality center where students of the Christian faith gather for worship, discussion, food and various activities.

The facility is rented from the New Brunswick Theological Seminary and serves as a center for Lutheran Campus Ministry and Rutgers Protestant Campus Ministries Inc., said Heck, a Presbyterian campus minister.

The Protestant Campus Ministries has four denominations: American Baptist, Reformed Church in America, Presbyterian and the United Church of Christ.

Heck said that though particularly Lutheran and Protestant, the Trinity House welcomes students of all faiths.

"Some students may think we want them to conform," Heck said. "But we embrace some pretty broad values in which people can be themselves."

"This is a place for students to come, to walk through the door with a good sense of themselves and engage in a variety of topics," she said. "It's a chance to interact with us to grow spiritually, as well as socially and intellectually."

On Sundays, students are offered a ride from the Trinity House to All Saints Lutheran Church near Busch campus for bible study, fellowship and worship.

Weekly gatherings at the Trinity House include free lunch on Mondays and Thursdays from 12:15 to 1 p.m. and bible study from 3 to 4 p.m. On Monday, bible-study discussion focuses on "Unveiling Revelations" and on Thursday, "The Good News of Matthew."

Free dinner is offered on Wednesdays from 5 to 6:30 p.m., and there are forum discussions from 6:30 to 8 p.m. The discussions vary each week, as new topics, projects and speakers are introduced.John Reid, a Livingston College senior who said he has been coming to the Trinity House since his sophomore year, participated in the Habitat for Humanity project.

"It was a really enjoyable experience," Reid said. "It's nice to help other people; it makes you feel good about yourself," he said.

Douglass College junior Erika Jones is another student who has been frequenting the Trinity House for a while now. She said she has been coming since fall of her first-year student year.

Jones currently serves as the Trinity House's official peer minister, a position instituted last year and given to someone who works closely with the ministries, according to Larson.

Jones said this semester she wishes to pilot programs within the Trinity House that would convey more continuity between the University's campuses, such as bringing Douglass College closer with Rutgers College.

She said she really enjoys the overall cordial atmosphere of the Trinity House and the conversation that takes place within.

"It's a nice change of pace from other student organizations," Jones said. "It can be a quiet place - a great place to study,"

Heck said the Trinity House provides students a place on campus to be Christian and assimilate themselves within the religion.

"It's a great opportunity for leadership, as well as nurturance," she said. "It's a place for them to discover their own call to ministry."
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