Connecting Generations on Airport Road
Trinity Church sits on Airport Road in Temple, in the heart of Bell County. Its mission statement - to Christ, to community, and to calling - frames everything the congregation does, and its weekly calendar is built around three overlapping generations: kids in TC Kids, students in TC Youth, and adults of every age and stage in groups and Sunday services. The church's tagline, "Connecting Generations to Christ, to Community, to Calling," is more than a slogan. It is the working vision behind a children's wing, a youth room, a café that doubles as a decompression zone, and a Wednesday-night schedule that fills the building from the parking lot to the nursery.
Pastors Ed and Susan Dowell lead the church today, with a vision to equip believers to fulfill their divine purpose and see families serve the Lord together. They have been married for over thirty-five years and have been in ministry for all of those years. Trinity is also served by an Administrative Pastor, Aaron Massa, who holds an MBA in finance and has worked with multiple non-profits and churches over the years; Worship Pastor Andy Binion, who has faithfully served the church for over twenty years in roles including youth pastor, executive pastor, and worship pastor; Youth and Young Adult Pastor Ron Wilson, a Regent University graduate who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Christian Ministry; Children's Pastor Sarah Oldham; and Pastor Emeritus Wilburn Burns, one of Trinity's founding pastors.
A Pentecostal Heritage in Bell County
Trinity was founded by Pastors Wilburn and Doris Burns, who faithfully taught the Word of God to the body of Christ at Trinity for three decades. Together they brought to the Bell County area the teaching of praise and worship, divine healing, and the authority of the believer - hallmarks that still shape the church's ministry and core beliefs today. The Burnses stepped down as Senior Pastors in 2006 and assumed the role of Pastor Emeritus. Doris has since gone to be with the Lord, while Pastor Wilburn remains involved in leadership and oversight at Trinity Church.
Sundays at Nine and Eleven
Services gather on Sundays at 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM. Each service lasts about ninety minutes and follows a steady rhythm that includes contemporary worship, a greeting time, and a sermon. The atmosphere is contemporary and family-friendly: people wear everything from a suit and tie to a t-shirt and shorts, and newcomers are invited to come as they are. The building opens early enough that greeters, ushers, and the hospitality team in the café can do their work before the music starts.
Those who cannot make it in person can join the livestream every Sunday at 11:00 AM on the church's YouTube channel. A sermon archive and accompanying written notes are available online for catch-up and small-group study, with series ranging across topics like spiritual gifts, Abraham's altars, Advent, first fruits, and the power of the spoken word.
Wednesday Nights for the Whole Family
On Wednesday nights at 7:00 PM, the building hums with overlapping ministries. TC Youth runs in the youth room for grades 6 through 12, with powerful worship, encouraging teaching, fun games, and a quick snack before service starts. TC Kids for ages 4 through 11 meets at the same hour for games, music, and a devotional time. The Nursery is open for birth through age 3 during the same Wednesday evening slot, so parents can be fully present at the midweek service.
The Nursery, a Ministry in Its Own Right
The Nursery at Trinity serves children from birth through age three and is staffed by people who have chosen to be there - not because they drew the short straw. Cleanliness, safety, and the experience of both child and parent are treated as first-class concerns. The space is designed so that a parent's mind can stay on the service while a child is cared for by intentional volunteers who treat the youngest members of the church with the same excellence given to every other ministry in the building. The conviction is simple: babies cannot yet say a name, but they know when they are loved.
TC Kids, Ages Four to Eleven
TC Kids meets on Sundays at 9:00 and 11:00 AM and on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM. On Sunday mornings, children start in the main sanctuary for praise and worship with the adults, then head to the TC Kids Rooms for interactive lessons, games, puppet ministry, object lessons, dramas, and Bible stories designed to help them grow closer to God. Wednesday evenings are more laid-back: games, music, a devotional, and plenty of chances to interact and make friends. TC Kids is led by Children's Pastor Sarah Oldham, whose calling is to see children fulfill the purpose God has for them and to train them for ministry now, not just for when they are adults.
TC Youth, Grades Six to Twelve
TC Youth gathers every Wednesday night at 7:00 PM for a service of its own, welcoming middle and high school students. The night includes worship, teaching, games, and a snack before things kick off. Youth and Young Adult Pastor Ron Wilson, who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Christian Ministry from Regent University and has been in ministry for five years, leads the ministry alongside his wife Chrysta. The team is committed to helping this generation passionately serve God and grow into mature believers in Christ.
TC Young Adults, Ages Eighteen to Twenty-Nine
TC Young Adults meets every other Friday from 6:30 to 8:00 PM at Pastor Ron and Chrysta Wilson's home. The gatherings are designed to be a relaxed, welcoming environment where eighteen-to-twenty-nine-year-olds can explore Christ-centered topics together, grow closely as a body, and seek Jesus in community. Led by the Wilsons, the ministry is built around the conviction that this generation has incredible plans from Him - and that meaningful connections, purpose discovery, and a lot of fun can all happen at the same time.
TC Men
TC Men meets every Tuesday at 6:30 AM in the Trinity Café for fellowship, prayer, and encouragement. The ministry is open to men of any age or stage of life and is built around the call to be men of integrity, character, and unwavering faith - leaders in homes, communities, the church, and the workplace. The early-morning hour is set aside so men can build each other up and answer the call together over coffee and conversation.
TC Ladies
TC Ladies gathers on the third Sunday of every month at 5 PM. Women in every season of life are invited to come for fellowship, laughter, and practical, Christ-centered encouragement on parenting, relationships, and more. Each gathering is a chance to be known, to laugh, and to leave refreshed.
TC Groups: Three Ways to Connect
Community is one of Trinity's main vision points, and TC Groups are the backbone of that vision. Groups fall into three categories. Age/Stage of Life groups - such as Primetimers for the fifty-and-up crowd or Family Life for families with minor children still at home - meet once a month or on a regular rhythm to fellowship around shared seasons. Interest-Based groups can be just about anything: knitting, hiking, cycling, motorcycles, swimming, working out. Anyone can start one. Connect Groups are the third track. These small gatherings meet every other week to dig deeper into the previous week's sermon together. They reset each semester, so the commitment is for one semester at a time. Groups vary by location - homes, the church, parks - and facilitators choose rhythms that work for their people. To keep groups healthy, each facilitator takes prayer requests each week and shares meeting updates with pastoral staff. Connect Groups in particular meet in the spring and the fall, and signing up carries the expectation of finishing the semester with the same group.
Serving: An Opportunity, Not a Need
Trinity frames serving as an opportunity rather than a need. The conviction is that every person has been shaped, gifted, and placed in this season of life for a reason, and that serving is the doorway into something bigger than oneself. Saying yes to a serve team is not agreeing to show up on Sundays; it is agreeing to be part of a story that will outlast you. The first forty-five seconds of a visit shape whether a first-time guest will ever return to a church, long before the sermon and long before the music. The people on Trinity's front-line serve teams are not in supporting roles; they are the first chapter of someone's story with Trinity.
Seven frontline teams carry the ministry forward week to week. The Greeter Team creates the first impression for nervous first-timers. The Usher Team stewards the sanctuary, so the space communicates care before a single note of worship is played. The Hospitality Team runs the café as a decompression zone where people can breathe, relax, and belong before they ever sit down. The Worship and Production Team leads the congregation into the presence of God through music and supports the in-room and online experience with sound, lighting, and screens. TC Kids volunteers invest in the most formative years of children's lives. TC Youth volunteers show up consistently for students during the formation-ground years of middle and high school. The Safety Team stewards the building, the parking lot, the hallways, and the children's spaces so that worship can happen without distraction.
Getting started takes three steps. Fill out a form for the team that draws you. A ministry leader will reach out personally for a conversation, not an interview. Then show up, get oriented to the vision, and step in.
The Safety Team: Shepherds, Not Enforcers
The Safety Team is described as shepherds, not enforcers. The role is not to lurk in corners looking intimidating; it is to be present, aware, and approachable - to watch the parking lot, the hallways, the doors, and the rooms with the attentiveness of a shepherd. Members know the building, know the patterns, know the people, and notice the unfamiliar face, the unattended bag, the person sitting alone who looks like they are in distress. When something requires intervention, the team responds with calm, measured authority. The congregation rarely needs to know what was handled, and that is by design. The vision is that Trinity Church would be a refuge - a safe haven where hurting and broken people can encounter the presence of God - and the Safety Team exists to guarantee that atmosphere physically and spiritually. Every family that arrives on a Sunday morning is making an act of trust, and the team honors that trust by preparing for it.
What Trinity Believes
All of Trinity's teaching and ministry flows out of a set of biblical doctrines rooted in Scripture. The church affirms the Trinity - one eternally existing God in three distinct persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and teaches that God has revealed Himself through His Son Jesus Christ, through holy Scripture, and through all of creation. Jesus Christ is returning one day to judge both the living and the dead and to usher in the fullness of God's kingdom on earth. Salvation is by grace, received by faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, apart from works, and is offered as a free gift that produces eternal life. Divine healing is provided for in the atonement and is received through faith, by the laying on of hands, by the anointing with oil, and by the prayer of faith. Trinity also affirms water baptism, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit as distinct from the New Birth, speaking with tongues as the Spirit gives utterance, the gifts of the Spirit, and the evidence of the fruit of the Spirit - and teaches that all of these are available to every believer. Humans, both male and female, were created in God's image for His glory; the Fall of Adam and Eve fractured all of creation, and Jesus Christ came to reconcile us with God.
Livestream, Sermon Archive, and Sermon Notes
Services are livestreamed on YouTube every Sunday at 11:00 AM. A sermon archive and accompanying written notes are available online, with teaching series across a range of topics: spiritual gifts and the gifts of the Spirit, Abraham's altars and the practice of worship, Advent themes of hope, peace, joy, and love, first-fruits giving and kingdom living, intercessory prayer, the power of the spoken word, names and identity, spiritual disciplines, and what it means to cast our cares on Jesus. The notes are written to be read on their own and to feed small-group discussion.
Giving and Outreach Partners
Giving is available online, in person on Sunday mornings, by mail, and through the TCTemple app. One-time and recurring gifts can be set up by card. Donations can be made by check or cash at Sunday morning services or dropped in the offering box in the entryway; the offices are also open Tuesday through Friday from 9 AM to 4 PM to receive donations in person. Checks can be mailed to the church address. All donations are tax-deductible and an end-of-year contribution report is provided. Trinity's giving supports the local church, local community outreaches, and a number of national and international ministries that the congregation supports on a regular basis.
Plan a Visit
Trinity Church gathers at 3501 Airport Road in Temple, Texas. Sunday services are at 9:00 and 11:00 AM, with a contemporary service that runs about ninety minutes. People wear everything from suits to shorts, and families are encouraged to come as they are. Nursery care (birth through age three) and TC Kids (ages four through eleven) are available during both Sunday morning services and the Wednesday evening service. The welcome team, the ushers, and the hospitality crew in the café are there to make the first minute inside the building count - because for a first-time guest, that minute decides everything.