A Vision for Holy Trinity Episcopal Church South River
- Focus on spiritual growth as the priority for the parish
- Communicate a vision for creating a culture of helping all people to grow spiritually
- Educate about spiritual growth and invite people to reflect on their spiritual journeys
- Resource Christian formation for all ages
- Include scripture in all church gatherings, including social and business meetings
- Vestry models integration of scripture into meeting agendas
- Offer guidance
- Provide Bibles and other resources
- Support spiritual growth through participation in small groups
- Learn from successes such as Burger Church and The Good Book Club: small groups are more likely to succeed when they are organic, spacious, engage life issues and encourage authenticity.
- Encourage groups to gather both in and outside the church: homes, cafes, anywhere
- Partner with other churches to expand and sustain opportunities
- Invest in relationships
- Pray with and for one another
- Mentor, coach, train and encourage people in their ministries
- Invitation: create a culture of personal invitation to encourage participation in programs and events. Focus on personally inviting newcomers and people not actively engaged in ministries.
- Gratitude: give thanks to God and thank people for their gifts of time, talent and treasure
- Care for people around their challenges, disappointments, failures, grief around changes and losses in the church, and hurts suffered in interactions with other members of the parish: Listen, acknowledge, seek healing and work for reconciliation.
- Set apart time for the Leader’s Heart
- Attend spiritual retreats such as the annual women’s retreat
- Adopt a Rule of Life for personal spiritual growth
- Covenant for support and accountability
Endorsed by the Vestry May 2018.