Ministry students have the opportunity to take topical, expository, and evangelistic preaching (PSW 200) over J-Term, including a three-day trip to Colorado at the beginning of the month to observe different styles of worship.
There are no prerequisites for the class. This is the second time the trip is offered at Taylor, with the first group of students having attended in January 2026.
During the class, students fly out to Colorado Springs, Colorado, and stay at The Navigators ministry’s Glen Eyrie over the weekend, said Timothy McConnell, director of Taylor’s PREACH Initiative and lead pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs. In Colorado, McConnell will present the class with three different churches, including his own, and four different styles of worship.
Students will also hike through the Rocky Mountains and meet prominent Christian leaders such as Santiago “Jimmy” Melado, the CEO of Compassion International, a Colorado Springs-based humanitarian aid organization.
“They can see how preaching is done, and we can talk about it together, and enjoy Colorado Springs a little bit,” McConnell said. “Then we fly back to Upland and we spend two weeks in the PREACH lab at Reade Hall.”
Throughout the class, students also write and deliver three sermons based on a Scripture passage of their choice with McConnell’s guidance. One sermon is written topically as if part of a larger, themed sermon series. Another is expository, teaching the Bible verse by verse. The final sermon is evangelical, with a clear gospel response call. Through this assignment, students can learn from each other and grow in their confidence to deliver God’s word.
Andrea Perez Johnson, a junior biblical literature major who took the class last J-Term, said the experience confirmed her calling to speak in ministry settings.
“It was through this class that I realized that I love engaging with Scripture and being able to share what I've learned with others,” Perez Johnson said. “I actually got opportunities after the class to speak at chapel. I got to speak at worship events, I got to speak for my floor, and then other opportunities have come up since then, so that I could use what I learned and help other people.”
The trip also introduced Perez Johnson to a more-important ministry partner. She and her fiance, Caleb Forseth, met and got to know one another on this trip. The class gave them an opportunity to see each other’s mutual love for the Lord and for Scripture, Perez Johnson said. The two of them started dating a month after the class had ended and got engaged a few weeks into the Fall 2026 semester, Perez Johnson said.
Many students have heard of this trip’s opportunities and are interested in attending this upcoming January. Adia Newbold, sophomore Christian ministries major, expressed interest in the Colorado J-Term trip after McConnell mentioned it in her introduction to preaching and worship class.
“It's a really cool opportunity to get to go out to Colorado with a group of people, and I've never been able to experience different denominations, styles (or) traditions,” Newbold said. “And that's what this class is focused on: teaching to different traditions. It just sounds really interesting to me, really fun, exciting, fast-paced but also deep.”
Taylor’s PREACH initiative and ministry programming hopes to shape the next generation of ministry leaders through classes like these.
John David Jones, a senior Christian ministries major, has found his classes in the ministry major helpful as he explores his calling to pastoral work. When working with McConnell, it was great to learn from an experienced pastor and more fully develop his own skills as a preacher and pastor, Jones said.
Newbold has enjoyed the ministry department’s emphasis on intentional community between students and professors like McConnell.
“I feel like the profs love the students so deeply and so intentionally,” she said. “We have a class that (contains) all of the sophomores in the ministry department, and it's just awesome because it's all the best people. These are people that are chasing after Jesus with their whole hearts, and they're willing to go into really tough spaces for his name and willing to love people well.”
McConnell hopes to invite more students on this year’s trip. Four students enrolled last year, and he aims to include 10 in J-Term 2027. He hopes to continue equipping ministry leaders to reach the next generation with God’s Word.
“When I was going into ministry, I really didn't know what it was like to be in full-time ministry,” McConnell said. “I didn't have any connections or experience with pastors or people who were Christian ministry leaders, and so it was hard for me to understand what that life would look like if I (was) called into ministry. We want students to meet Christian leaders and see different churches and learn from preaching in different contexts and be more confident and ready to share the Word of God when the time comes.”
