When a School Assignment Helps You Uncover a Deeper Connection by DeMya

When a School Assignment Helps You Uncover a Deeper Connection by DeMya - October 2026 Scholarship Essay

Growing up at True Light Fellowship Church, I knew the sound of our worship services, the faces of our leaders, and the comfort of belonging to a church family. However, when my 12th grade college prep class gave me the opportunity to study the church’s history and organization, I realized how much I had never thought to ask. Who made decisions beyond Sunday worship? How did the church’s leadership structure develop? What did being an independent, non-denominational church actually mean? Those questions turned a familiar subject into an academic project that sparked my curiosity.

My central research question became: How do True Light Fellowship Church’s history and leadership structure shape the way it serves its congregation and community? To explore that question, I examined information about the church’s beginnings, its leaders, and their responsibilities. I also considered how those details connected to what I had observed as a member. The project required me to move beyond describing my church and begin explaining how it operates.

One of the most interesting discoveries was how much preparation came before the church’s founding in April 1995. Dr. Wesley Pinnock, a native Jamaican, had served as a youth Bible teacher at Deliverance Evangelistic Church in 1973. His responsibilities expanded to street evangelism, ministry to seniors, and leadership on the Ministerial Board. Before this assignment, I mainly understood him as my senior pastor. Learning about his earlier service helped me see how years of teaching and working with people prepared him to establish TLFC.

The project also gave me a deeper appreciation for my godfather, the late Pastor Mark Humphries, who passed away in October 2024. I knew him personally, but studying his involvement helped me understand his place in the church’s history. As a young person, he participated in choir, drama, youth development, and street evangelism before becoming a licensed minister. He later followed Dr. Pinnock to help build TLFC and served as ministries coordinator. Reading about his early commitment made me think about my own involvement in church. The responsibilities young people accept can prepare them for work they do years later.

My curiosity grew as I studied church governance. I had heard the terms “non-denominational,” “Pentecostal,” and “elder-led,” but I had not fully considered the differences among them. I began to understand that beliefs, worship practices, and organizational structure describe different aspects of a church. Pentecostal beliefs help explain our expressive worship, while being independent and non-denominational relates to our relationship with outside religious organizations.

This part of the project also taught me to be careful with conclusions. Having elders does not automatically make a church Presbyterian, and being independent does not automatically mean the congregation votes on major decisions. Understanding a church’s formal governance requires examining its governing documents and how authority is assigned. I learned that research sometimes reveals what still needs to be confirmed.

Another discovery was the amount of coordination required to support church life. Spiritual teaching, administration, music, finances, and ministry planning involve different responsibilities. When I see a choir sing or attend a community event, I now think about the rehearsals, schedules, communication, and decisions that made it possible. This connects to my interest in business, marketing, and event coordination because I enjoy understanding how people organize an idea and carry it through.
The project changed how I view the church I have attended throughout my life. I gained a clearer understanding of its history and a greater appreciation for the people who helped build and sustain it. I also learned to ask more precise questions, distinguish personal experience from documented information, and recognize the limits of what I could conclude.

What began as an assignment about my church became an opportunity to study leadership, service, and organization. It reminded me that familiarity does not mean complete understanding. Sometimes the subject that teaches us the most is one we have been surrounded by all along.