Spiritual Life Department Makes Huge Impact

Story by Addriene Rhodes

Pine Forge Academy (PFA) was founded in 1946 and was envisioned to be a boarding school in the North where African American high school students could attend without the racial issues taking place in schools in the South. As a co-educational Seventh-day Adventist school, PFA has been committed to providing a Christ-centered curriculum in a safe, caring environment to prepare students spiritually, intellectually, physically and socially for service to God and humankind. One of the ways in which the academy’s commitment is actualized is through its Spiritual Life Department.

Spiritual Life, currently led by Chaplain Ja’Chin Holness and a prayerfully handpicked team of students, seeks to consistently create an atmosphere and biome that personifies and presents God to those who experience campus life. The Spiritual Life culture is inhabited by team members who play a role in cultivating organic community, instinctive collaboration and synergistic chemistry. Student leaders who serve on the Spiritual Life team each commit to an area of leadership. The different leadership positions include programming leader, marketing leader, Bible study leader, production leader, outreach/in-reach leader, podcast leader, and student administrative assistant.

Together, the Spiritual Life team strives to fulfill its mission to serve, equip and edify, in an effort to foster an environment that encourages a more holistic lifestyle through Christ. Since the conception of the Spiritual Life team under Holness, more than 40 students have committed their lives to Christ through baptism in the past three years.

Spiritual Life’s The 361 Podcast, currently available on Spotify, functions as a way for students to discuss life through the lens of wisdom, faith and love, while focusing on topics concerning today’s youth. While the podcast is new, it has already covered topics pertaining to success as a student and how to grow in faith. Some notable guests on the podcast include Max Gomez, pastor of the Hilltop Community Worship Center in Columbus, Ohio, and Kory Douglas, chaplain of Oakwood University (Ala.). The podcast continues to grow, expanding the reach of the campus beyond its physical address.

Being nearly two years removed from the brunt of the pandemic, Spiritual Life now sets its eyes on connecting with and serving the neighboring communities in Pennsylvania. It is the desire of the Spiritual Life members to not just learn about Christian principles but to put Christian service into practice. Spiritual Life no longer wants PFA to be someone’s “best-kept secret” but become an entire school best known for its success, service and submission to the Spirit of God, says Holness.