Open to God’s Call

Strategic Visioning at Trinity

Tap on a topic below to jump to that section, or scroll down to explore all our visioning information.

Strategic Visioning: An Overview

Just after Trinity’s second birthday as a congregation, in the fall of 2017, we began our first attempt at developing a strategic vision for our congregation. Starting with about a dozen small-group meetings in homes and at the church, Pastor Chris and our leadership listened to the hopes and dreams of our community. Our committees then took the feedback from those discussions and each developed their own goals and priorities for the coming years. This was finalized during a leadership retreat in the summer of 2018 and presented to the congregation. This document, A Vision for Trinity, gave us our first look at where we felt God was leading our church family.

During the first year of the pandemic our Session spent the fall discussing the book Canoeing the Mountains. This book by Presbyterian pastor and seminary professor Rev. Dr. Todd Bolsinger helped us explore the changing nature of the church and, through the story of the Lewis and Clark expedition, how we can navigate the world once we are “off the map” and in situations where our old ways of doing things no longer work.

Starting in mid-2021, the leadership of Trinity Presbyterian Church began discussing our need to discern God’s call for our congregation over the coming years. After more than a year of life during a global pandemic it was clear that things weren’t likely to “go back to normal” anytime soon, probably ever, and we knew we needed to be thoughtful about how to approach the coming challenges and opportunities.

We decided to take part in the Vital Congregations Initiative (VCI) of the Presbyterian Church (USA) as a way to frame this work. That process began with our leadership in the fall of 2021 and more broadly during 2022 with the congregation as a whole. As part of our vitality work we took part in a congregation-wide survey, the United States Congregational Vitality Survey (USCVS), to help provide more detailed information to our leadership about congregational demographics and perspectives. The feedback from our congregational study on VCI along with the results from the USCVS were explored by our Elders and Deacons at a retreat in the fall of 2022.

Trinity is now at the exciting stage of discerning what comes next in our life together as a congregation. Over the spring and summer of 2023 our leadership will be working with an experienced leadership consultant, the Rev. Dr. David Smazik, a Presbyterian pastor who will be helping us develop a forward-looking, post-COVID vision for Trinity.

Below you can learn more about our work with the Vital Congregations Initiative, results from the USCVS, and our plans for 2023.

Vital Congregations Initiative (VCI)

The VCI is a nationwide program of the Presbyterian Church (USA) helping congregations embrace vitality and their unique mission from God. Trinity began work in the fall of 2021 with VCI and expanded our engagement in 2022 with a summer-long sermon series and adult study. Below you can learn about the three foundational assumptions of the VCI, the seven marks of vitality, and the process of appreciative inquiry.

Foundational Assumptions of the VCI

  • All congregations can be vital.
    Just because a congregation isn’t a “mega church” doesn’t mean they aren’t a vital and vibrant community of faith, and even a congregation that is facing challenges today is still capable of vitality, now and in the future.

  • Size does NOT correlate to vitality.
    We tend to equate “large church” with “vital church” but that isn’t always the case. Size, whether membership and attendance or budget and staff, has little actual correlation to how vital and vibrant a community of faith we might find. Vitality is much more about WHAT we do rather than HOW MUCH we have.

  • God is still at work in the world, and in this congregation.
    God is about the work of transformation, and God is still at work! This is good news which enables us to take bold steps in faith to embrace vitality, knowing we are not alone in the work.

Seven Marks of Vitality

If the vitality of a church isn’t measured by size of budget, membership, or staff, then how can we evaluate the vitality of our church? What ARE the measures that help us understand whether or not we are fulfilling our mission as we understand it? The VCI uses the seven marks of vitality as the guides for what makes a vital and vibrant community of faith. A vital community of faith will demonstrate:

  • Lifelong Discipleship Formation

  • Intentional Authentic Evangelism

  • Outward Incarnational Focus

  • Empowered Servant Leadership

  • Spirit-Inspired Worship

  • Caring Relationships

  • Ecclesial Health

During our summer-long adult study we looked in-depth at each of the seven marks. You can download this handout to learn more about each of the marks.

Appreciative Inquiry

One final key element of the VCI is using a discernment process called Appreciative Inquiry. While the background to this model is long, it is worth noting that it is used by faith communities, non-profit organizations, corporations, and even the US Navy as a way to navigate change in a positive way.

Appreciative Inquiry uses a four-step model, highlighted in the graphic on this page. During each stage of the process the group agrees to hold to a “positive core” — in other words, we will always seek the positive interpretation of a situation or observation. This is based in research that shows that organizations who focus on the positive aspects of challenging situations are more likely to have outcomes they view as positive.

By following the four steps it allows us to slow down while we appreciate and imagine, instead of feeling the pressure to jump right to a solution. This leads to more creativity and better overall outcomes the whole congregation.

Enabling Positive Change: The Four Steps

  1. Discover: Appreciating the best of “what is.”

  2. Dream: Imagining “what could be.”

  3. Design: Determining “what should be.”

  4. Deliver: Creating “what will be.”

United States Congregational Vitality Survey (USCVS)

Over a two week window in the late summer of 2022, Trinity took part in the USCVS. This survey is designed to give church leadership specific data about the congregation and their experiences of the church. It is specifically aligned to the Seven Marks of Vitality explored in with the Vital Congregations Initiative and provides comparative data with other Presbyterian congregations.

Who Took Part

We had 126 participants in the USCVS, which is equivalent to more than half our membership or over three-quarters of our average worship participants. As the survey is considered “statistically significant” at over 20% participation, this means we have a very representative look at the Trinity community.

In the graphic in this section you can see some of the breakdowns of age, gender, and other demographic information from the participants. Not surprisingly, the demographics of the participants roughly match the demographics of our congregation, another sign this is a representative survey.

What Does the USCVS Tell Us

The USCVS looks at a range of topics, mapped to the seven marks of vitality mentioned above. For each of the seven marks the congregation is given a percentage score based on participant’s responses to questions regarding that area. Each area had about a dozen questions, each presenting a statement to which the participant ranked their feelings from “Not True” to “Very True.” Those responses are then aggregated and used to develop the overall score.

The USCVS is quick to point out that scores are not “good” or “bad” — simply a current representation of the perceptions of our congregation in these areas. We might find in these results places to give thanks for our current gifts, and we might also find places God is calling us into deeper commitment and relationship. Both are positive realizations for our community to make as we seek to follow God’s path.

In the graphic below you can see Trinity’s overall scores.

Not surprisingly, Trinity scored highest in Caring Relationships. People report a strong sense that they are loved and cared for by the church and low levels of perceived conflict and “cliquishness.” Another affirming area of note is our score in Outward Incarnational Focus (Mission & Public Witness). While our score of 77% isn’t our highest area, it is significantly higher that the PC(USA) average in this area. This is likely due to our heavy focus on mission and public witness work, one of the key points of identity for Trinity.

On areas where our congregation identifies possibility for growth, the most noticeable is Intentional Authentic Evangelism. Like many mainline and PC(USA) congregations, Trinity has lots of opportunities to grow in the area of telling our personal and congregational story. When asked if they invited others to attend worship or other church events, less than half responded “True” or “Very True” — with 1 in 5 saying “Never.”

Another area of significant possibility is Empowering Servant Leadership. This is an area where our score is not only in the lower range, but we are significantly lower than other PC(USA) congregations. While participants reported very positive feelings about our clergy, staff, and leadership there was a much more mixed response to questions on whether or not the participant felt included in the decision making process of the church. Additionally, a majority of participants reported a low or very low level of involvement at Trinity outside of worship.

Trinity, like all communities of faith (or groups of humans) has areas of great strength and areas where we have the opportunity to grow. There is much more in the survey report (which is 16 pages long), but we hope this gives you a high-level view of what we are learning with this part of our strategic visioning process.

Moving Forward in 2023

Our goal for 2023 is to develop a forward-looking, post-COVID vision for Trinity. We know the world has changed. We know the church has been changing for a long time. Yet, we also know that God is not done with Trinity, so we are taking seriously the task of listening, praying, and discerning what a faithful vision for Trinity might look like.

To help us on this journey, Trinity has contracted with the Rev. Dr. David Smazik, an experienced consultant and Presbyterian pastor with a passion for helping congregations discern their vision. Through the spring of 2023, Rev. Smazik will be spending time in one-on-one conversation with our leadership and staff. He will hold several focus groups and will lead a retreat with our leadership. Rev. Smazik’s role is to help facilitate conversation, ask question, and guide our leadership in exploration and discussion.

We are excited to see where this work leads, for we trust that God has more planned for Trinity than we can know or imagine! Thanks be to God.

If you have questions about our visioning process, or anything in the life and ministry of Trinity, please contact our Office or Pastor. We would be delighted to schedule a time for conversation