Vestry members at Trinity Episcopal Church in St. Louis' Central West End are dreaming of their future and mapping out a plan to make those dreams a reality.
The Rev. Dr. Mary Korte, Interim Rector at Trinity, and her husband Tim Korte facilitated a Vestry retreat April 19-24, 2024, using the Appreciative Way program from the Clergy Leadership Institute.
The group shared dinner together at SqWires Restaurant and then spent the following day developing the Vestry's vision of the future, especially the next three years, based on "Dream: Exploring What Might Be."
"This was the first Vestry retreat in many years," said Tim Korte, "and based on their hard work, they have developed a possible provocative purpose statement that supports the Core Values and the Mission Statement of Trinity Church."
According to its website, the Appreciative Way program is based on the idea of discovering what works and gives life to an organization and building an organization based on these properties. The method has five phases:
1. Define: Awareness of the need for development.
- Preparing for an appreciative process.
- Committing to the Positive
2. Discover: What in God's name is going on in your church?
- Interview process and gathering of life-giving experience within congregation.
- Valuing the Best of What Is
3. Dream: What is God and the community calling us to be?
- What would our church look like in 5 years time? Developing common images of the future.
- Visioning the Ideal
4. Design: Aligning ideals, values, structures and mission
- Developing achievable plans and steps to make the vision a reality.
- Dialoguing What Needs to Be
5. Deliver: Doing Christ's Work in the World.
- Co-creating a sustainable, preferred future.
- Who, What, When, Where, How?
- Innovating What Will Be
Trinity is one of several churches in the Diocese of Missouri going through a transition. This assessment will help guide them as they build their parish profile and search for their next rector.
Learn more about the Appreciative Way from the Clergy Leadership Institute.