Trinity Church Commits

To Growing With Intention

By Kaaren Valenta

Trinity Episcopal Church had a problem, but it was one that many churches would like to have.

The congregation had grown so much that the facilities and the church staff were being stretched. Yet the Rev Kathleen Adams-Shepherd realized that if the congregation wanted to continue its growth and to reach out to share its spiritual programs with the community, decisions would have to be made.

“Change is inevitable, growth is intentional,” she said. “When the size of a congregation reaches a certain point, it hits a glass ceiling. We were adding 75 to 100 members a year, but we weren’t going above 650 to 700. If we had a big Sunday where the people were really packed in, the next week there would be 50 to 100 less.”

 Adding staff and expanding the space was an option, as was adding another Sunday service, but first the congregation needed to decide the direction the church would take. Years ago Trinity had been a leader in community outreach, founding the Family Life Center (now known as the Family Counseling Center) and helping to launch Newtown Youth Services and the Interfaith AIDS Ministry in Danbury.

“About four years ago we began looking into what our future would be,” Pastor Kathy said. “The congregation decided we didn’t want to be known simply as the pretty church by the flagpole but rather to be a center for spiritual development for adults and children. Trinity is known for its awesome youth program and awesome music ministry, but we are also becoming known for our Christian formation of adults. It’s a very exciting time.”

But with growth there would be challenges, she said, so the decision had to be one that the entire congregation supported.

“It was a very democratic process,” she said. “The congregation had to decide if this was something it wanted to do, because if we continue to grow, we will outgrow this building.”

Trinity held a vocational discernment year to look at the towns from which it draws its membership — Newtown, Brookfield, Bethel, Danbury, Southbury, New Milford, and Monroe — to see if they were “fertile grounds for growth,” which they were. The survey showed that Newtown is expected to grow at a rate of five to eight percent per year over the next five years, that more than 70 percent prefer a historic Christian tradition, and that 40 percent of the noninvolved are receptive to faith involvement. The Vocational Discernment Committee also discovered that the size constraints of the church’s facilities act as a ceiling that prevent further growth.

The next step was to establish a Growth Accommodation Team (GAT) chaired by Beth Hoolehan that met weekly over the past year to keep the congregation involved every step of the way with the planning.

Accommodating

Physical Growth

The team started by contacting the Alban Institute, an ecumenical, interfaith organization that offers consulting services and research, to get advice on how to handle the corresponding growth of the church. GAT members studied the book One Size Doesn’t Fit All, by Gary McIntosh, shared it with the congregation, and held periodic forums for review and discussion. Suggestion boxes were placed throughout the church facilities to encourage participation.

The committees looked into how to accommodate physical growth of the worship space, office space, church school classrooms – which could be out of space in as little as two or three years — and parking. “We’ve looked into modular space, looked for rental space, looked into buying property, and into expanding the current facilities,” Pastor Kathy said. “The church can’t be made larger, but we do have room for growth on the existing grounds.”

Staffing needs were also evaluated. GAT considered the impact of growth on both paid and volunteer positions in the church. The Rev Carol Westpfahl became Trinity’s assistant rector,  there is a deacon, the Rev Carolyn C. Legg, and a third priest, the Rev Carolyn Dukenski, also helps out occasionally; the youth pastor went from a half to a fulltime position, as did the music ministry. The office secretary became a fulltime position, and a bookkeeper was added. The committee also recommended that additional staff be hired during the next two years.

More volunteers would be needed, however, for the church school, altar guild, ushers, lay readers, chalice bearers, and other functions.

“We decided the best solution is to add a [Sunday] service and continue to plan for the future,” Ms Hoolehan said.

GAT recommended three Sunday worship services — at 7:30 am, 8:45 am, and 11:15 am — with church school and adult education between the second and third services. It also recommended that a continental breakfast be served from 8 am to 11 am on Sunday morning for a nominal fee.

“This provides an opportunity for families to get out the door and not worry about breakfast,” Pastor Kathy said. “We worked hard to put a full hour of education into Sunday morning.”

An architect who is the son of a member of the congregation studied the parking issue, and relined the parking lot to create additional spaces. Overflow parking is available at the Booth Library, which distancewise is the same number of steps to the church, Ms Hoolehan said.

During Labor Day weekend, a 54-by-9-foot banner reading “Come Grow With Us In Christ” was hung from the front of the church. It reflects the church’s new motto: Trinity Church, Where Tradition Embraces the Future.”

“This isn’t about the building, it is about the people, fellowship, and spiritual development, so there is no building on the banner,” Pastor Kathy said. “We have almost 700 persons in the congregation and 250 in our youth program. The youth in our parish are integrated into the leadership, fellowship, spiritual program, and outreach. They preach for the vestry. Their opinions matter and they know it. I really think they are our energy.”

An adult ministry also has developed, with many attending the WorkCamp that is held every year and participating in the spiritual journey that is held every other year.

A $1.7 million restoration of the church was completed and paid for several years ago, but Pastor Kathy, who has been the pastor for ten years, sees the current campaign as even more exciting and its implementation has provided a welcome challenge.

“The church looks nice but we want to offer the gifts that God has given us to others,” she said. “Why not share what we have with people that do not have it? God says there is plenty of need out there.”