2010 MINISTRY ASSESSMENT PROCESS (MAP) REPORT

This is the third and final report on Holy Trinity’s Ministry Assessment Process. MAP, which every parish in the diocese must complete, began for us early in 2008. Nearly two years of planning, surveys, parish consultations, and discussion later, in November 2009, Holy Trinity’s MAP team presented their recommendations for maintaining a vital and sustainable ministry in our parish to the church. We recommended that we should educate ourselves about our area’s needs, make our building more practically useful, and develop both our lay and clergy ministries. We also reaffirmed our worshipping, pastoral care, and youth ministry strengths, and promised to consult with the congregation before making any radical changes of course.

These recommendations, which were endorsed by the congregation and formally approved by parish council, were presented to Bishop Michael Ingham in January 2010. Bishop Michael accepted the recommendations with some modifications, chiefly that we should ourselves conduct an analysis of community needs, rather than commissioning a survey, and that we should partner with St Mark’s (Ocean Park) in conducting the community analysis. He also asked Holy Trinity to consider jointly with St Mark’s how both churches could serve the growing population of the Morgan Creek area.

We formally accepted the Bishop’s advice in April 2010, and proposed at the same time that the implementation of the agreed MAP recommendations should now pass from the MAP committee’s hands into the realm of ordinary parish business under the direction of the Rector, Wardens, and Parish Council.

A Parish Ministry Review took place on the evening of May 5th.  This was a Diocesan review of our parish, looking at our stewardship of human, financial and physical resources as well as the effectiveness of our current ministry.  It was very helpful to have an external and disinterested assessment of our parish health complementing the internal work of MAP.  Our PMR showed that Holy Trinity is indeed a vital and sustainable parish church, already making a positive difference in the lives of its members and local community, and that it has the leadership and resources to develop ministry and mission further.

With regard to our physical resources, we have already addressed the major issues in our building survey (particularly the moisture apparent outside the Flower Room), and less urgent matters are now going into our “to do” or maintenance schedules over the next few years.

At its 2010 Vestry, the parish agreed on a set of principles by which the Griffiths Hall could be made available to community groups. Parish Council has since been asked to look at a number of outreach options, including usage by some particular local groups identified by Council members, but it will proceed only when it is fully aware of the implications for our budget, staffing, insurance, and security. This will take a little time.

A number of parishioners attended workshops in April and October 2010 about community involvement (e.g. “Moving back into the Neighbourhood”) and have noted the advantage of consultation and research. We are making helpful connections with other parishes about this, but this too takes time. 

We have met a couple of times with St. Mark's Outreach Group and have agreed on a joint approach to a formal process of community needs assessment.

Things are moving. If you would like to be more closely and actively involved in the implementation of our MAP commitments, the best place to be is on Parish Council, where the options are debated and the decisions made. To remind yourself of what those commitments are, please ask Jann in the Church Office for a copy of the MAP committee final report (in white covers), “MAP Stage 4: The Decision: ‘Come, Holy Spirit, and Lead your church’ - Our Future”.

Respectfully submitted
Peter Johnson