November 5, 2008

Trinity Church has become a part of the Natural Church Development process. Based on data
collected from over 100 churches in 32 countries, Christian Swartz has summarized 8
characteristics, that when practiced in local congregations, point to healthy communities of faith.
Those 8 characteristics are Empowering leadership, Gift-Oriented ministry, Passionate spirituality,
Functional structures, Inspiring worship service, Holistic small groups, Need-Oriented evangelism,
and Loving relationships. We were assigned a coach and the work of transformation began.

Last spring a cross section of our congregation responded to a survey that represented those
factors of church health. The survey team was diverse in age and years of involvement at Trinity.
Included were charter members, people who had been active for less than 2 years and all ranges
in between. Our lowest areas were in structure and evangelism. The group who participated in
the survey made the decision to begin working on the organizational structure of Trinity. In
September an implementation team, led by our Lay Leader Bill Missimer, met to begin the
process in earnest. The NCD Church Health team will help us journey and set in place a
functional structure for the future. The team is now ready to have conversations throughout the
Trinity Family for the purpose of shaping our structure for the future. As you are contacted
about interacting please know that you are making a difference.

I invite you to pray for the NCD team as they meet, evaluate and make shifts to improve our
organizational structure. If you wish to learn more about NCD please feel free to visit the
NCD International website and to watch for more information sharing as they move us forward
in the process.