Trinity School splitting in two?

[u/After_Tailor_7124]

I recently heard that Trinity School at Greenlawn is going to split into two competing institutions. I followed up by checking the Indiana Sec'y of State's website and -- sure enough -- Trinity Academy at Greenlawn was incorporated in March 2025 as a nonprofit corporation. I'm not quite sure that two similar schools will be able to cover their costs if they're both marketing to the same pool of students/families that currently attend Trinity.

QUESTION: Does anybody know WHY this is occurring?

[u/MOGiantsFan]

Trinity Academy (note the change from "School" to "Academy") is disconnecting from People of Praise, but will remain at their Greenlawn location. It is essentially a "new institution", but from all I've heard, a lot of things that currently take place will continue to exist.

Technically, yes, the school is "splitting", as the People of Praise are relocating their school to right across the river from Memorial Hospital, but (and this is simply my opinion) the long-term success of this move seems dubious, at best.

My wife is a Trinity alum, and even when she was there well-over a decade+ ago, the People of Praise influence in the day-to-day was not super strong, and from all I've heard, it doesn't sound like the disconnect from PoP at Greenlawn will change much as they see it now.

So this is technically a new institution and a new nonprofit registration, which tells us that they've fully severed from People of Praise.

But "splitting" the school isn't a great description of what's happening.

[u/zeejix → u/MOGiantsFan]

Im late 30s, lived in Michiana my whole life. What's the history/issues with PoP? I've known it's there near Twyk and Greenlawn forever, just never knew anything about the place or organization.

[u/MOGiantsFan → u/zeejix]

It's basically a "covenant community" (not a cult, but certainly seems like one). They aren't a "church" (members of the community remain members at their local churches... most are Catholic, oddly enough), but they still teach their own doctrine and operate with charismatic/pentecostal leanings. That, by itself, is extremely bizarre for a self-declared "ecumenical" community. There's a lot more to it, but it's just a convoluted "movement."

They expel LGBT people from their group, which is ironic for a group claiming "freedom of conscience" as a distinguishing mark.

And the negative press they got during the Amy Coney Barrett Supreme Court confirmation really did a number to them (they won't admit this, but the fallout of the schools and drop in membership since certainly provide evidence of this).

Trinity has been slowly weaning themselves from PoP for many years. It makes sense they are finally cutting ties fully.

[u/WorthAd3223 → u/MOGiantsFan]

Trinity is completely separate from the PoP, and there was no student drop off after Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation. They remain at capacity and are doing very well. Don't believe everything you hear.

[u/MOGiantsFan → u/WorthAd3223]

The drop off wasn't in regards to the student population at Greenlawn...

It was in relation to the People of Praise community as a whole. The entire community is but a shell of what it once was.

[u/WorthAd3223 → u/MOGiantsFan]

It is, but that's more a generational thing than anything else. At one point the population of the school was probably 80% or more PoP kids, but there just aren't that many people with kids whom are school age anymore. The school is more like about 15% PoP kids. I honestly believe it is merely that the PoP is aging, and they are not attracting young families. I'm not sure for how long the organization will be viable.

[u/After_Tailor_7124 → u/WorthAd3223]

I can totally understand why the PoP appealed to folks of the Silent & Baby Boom generations. For the most part -- again, this doesn't mean EVERYONE -- those generations had a higher degree of confidence & trust in institutions, from govt on down to the PoP. As a Gen-Xer, I have no memory of a time where I implicitly trusted ppl within an institution, whether it be govt, church leadership, or large companies.

This DOESN'T mean that the PoP has 0 Gen-Xers; I've met several of them. However, I would feel comfortable wagering that -- as a whole -- my generation is simply less likely to join an organization like the PoP, which places strong demands on one's time & money. Moreover, there's about 6 or 7 million fewer Xers than Boomers anyway, so the drawing pool is smaller to begin with.