A dream comes true

“Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be” (Job 8:7 NIV).

It was late in 1993 when a handful of women met with their pastor about the possibility of beginning a new Christian school in the Fayette/Coweta community. The problems initially seemed insurmountable. No one in the small group had any prior experience with establishing a Christian elementary school, funding would be a major problem, the church building would have to be modified at considerable expense, the establishment of a Christian school was nowhere in the church’s plans, and the congregation had just gone through some difficult times.

Still, the women were undaunted and willing to do whatever work needed to be done so the pastor took the request to the church board. Initially, there wasn’t much support for such an ambitious venture. The problems with such a project were numerous. Much discussion, study, and prayer were to take place in the following months. A study committee was formed and, after considerable debate, the church board gave the green light to begin the process of the school’s formation.

In the fall of 1994, Trinity Christian School, under the auspices of Trinity Fellowship Assembly of God in Sharpsburg, would enroll a mere 17 students in grades 1-3. The first administrator of the school was Regina Garrett, one of the mothers who first proposed the concept of the school. It was a small beginning, to be certain, and no one knew if the school would succeed or not. The tuition was kept ridiculously low to attract students but the pay for teachers was absurdly low as well.

Still, there were those who were willing to sacrifice if it meant that a Christian institution could be birthed. From the beginning, Trinity Christian School was envisioned as an interdenominational endeavor. Meeting in the church’s Sunday School rooms, there were more students from outside the church membership than from within. Slowly the school took its first awkward steps and hoped and prayed for the best. One of the prayers was that the school would grow. And grow it did.

As time went on, the school added classes and grades, filling up nearly every available Sunday School room. The normally quiet halls of the church soon rang with the shrieks, laughter, and organized chaos of little children. During the second semester of 1996, Frances Ashe, a retired public school teacher, became the first principal of the school, a post she would hold for the next seven years.

The school outgrew the church facilities and trailers were brought on to the property to accommodate the expanding student population. In 2001, a separate modern school facility was constructed and, in 2005, a large expansion, called The Newton Center, named for the late Bill Newton, the church and school custodian, and his wife Dottie, was constructed.

In January of 2003, Frances Ashe retired (again) and Dean Demos became the school’s new principal. The little start-up school that began with 17 students has swollen to 300 students in grades K-8, not including the more than 100 children in the church’s pre-kindergarten program. The church has a faculty and staff of 46 and uses the A Beka curriculum. TCS offerings for students include music, sports, physical education, art, foreign language instruction, computer courses, and strings instruction.

The school recently announced that, beginning in the fall of 2005, a high school division will be added, a development that surpasses the vision of the original core group that met in the pastor’s office. What began as a shaky and risky venture has blossomed into one of the most successful stories in Christian education in the area.

At the intersection of highways 34 and 54 in Sharpsburg, near the Fayette and Coweta county line, is where you will find Trinity Christian School and, soon, Trinity Christian High School. And to think, it all began, when a few mothers were concerned about their children’s education, had an impossible dream, and had a meeting with their pastor.

“ ... if you have faith as small as a mustard seed ... nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20 NIV).