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Frequently-Asked
Questions
as originally published at the start of the campaign
Index: (Click on the question to retrieve
the answer)
Q: What is the purpose of this campaign?
Q: How much money are we raising, and how will it be
apportioned?
Q: What was the rationale for allocating the funds the way
we did?
Q: What is the history & transition from FTV to ITV?
Q: How does ITV fit into the building master plan?
Q: What is the breakdown of the $1,615,000 in facilities
improvements and repairs?
Q: How was the Missions component determined?
Q: What happened to the $500K Mission Component from
Fulfill the Vision?
Q: What is the status of plans to call an installed
(permanent) senior pastor? And why is it appropriate to move ahead now while we have an interim pastor?
Q: Why are we launching a large capital campaign when
we just went through staff reductions and other budget cuts?
Q: Why don't we pay off the mortgage first before doing
anything else? Will we take on new debt to build the Children's Ministry Center?
Q: Why isn't building the Children's Ministry Center
our first priority?
Q: When does the campaign start and how long will it last? Can I
make non-cash gifts?
Q: When will the funds be received and what is the expected
timing of paying for the various elements of the campaign?
Q: What happens if we raise less than the targeted $7 million?
What if we raise more than $7 million?
Q: How will the congregation be kept informed of the major
activities and decisions regarding the campaign funding and use
of proceeds?
Q: How can I get more information so I can better understand
Trinity's financial position, vision and needs?
WHAT?
Q: What is the purpose of this campaign?
A: The purpose for this campaign is to foundationally prepare
Trinity for the growth in ministry that we know our Lord has purposed
for us. Our Session has set these specific goals before us:
-
To continue building out the Master Plan for our campus by building
the Children's Ministry Center, so that we can better serve
the needs of our community.
- To retire our current $1.7M debt from the
previous campaign so we can move ahead in new ministry at Trinity
without financial encumbrance.
- To prepare our church campus for growth by taking care of
long-deferred maintenance and renovation, and to restore a prudent
financial reserve so that the work of the church may not be
hindered.
- To focus on preparing our congregation to share the Good
News of our Lord Jesus Christ with our friends and neighbors.
- And to give back the first fruits of our blessings to the
work of the Church throughout the world.
Q: How much money are we raising, and how will it be
apportioned?
A: The financial goal for this campaign is $7 million. As the
money is received, it will proportionally be used to fund our various
goals as follows:
| Use
of Funds: |
Percentage: |
Total
Amount: |
| Retire
the debt on the Fellowship Hall |
25.1% |
$1,758,396 |
| Campus
Repairs & Maintenance |
23.8% |
$1,663,604 |
| Evangelism
& Discipleship Grant |
12.1% |
$
878,000 |
| Children's
Ministry Center Building |
37.1% |
$2,600,000 |
Q: What was the rationale for allocating the funds the way
we did?
A: To answer that question, we need to start with our vision for
Trinity's future. We started this campaign planning process with
the desire to establish a firm foundation for growth at Trinity.
Trinity's membership has been flat for decades, and worship attendance
(a key indicator) has been trending slightly down. We know there
are some vital things we need to take care of as we prepare the
foundation for Trinity's future.
-
We (the church membership) need to re-learn how to be invitational.
We need to be engaging our friends and neighbors in spiritual
discussion and reaching out to those in our community who need
a Savior. To help us learn to be an engaging, relational congregation
that is connected with our community, we will provide a 3-year
financial grant to support the operating budget to bring in
staff and programs that will lead us in (re) learning personal
evangelism skills.
- One
of the reasons that we need to work through this grant process
is that our Operational budget is tight. The budget is tight
because we have a mortgage on the Fellowship Hall that requires
payments of $23,000 per month to service that mortgage. So -
the clear strategy is to pay off that mortgage over the 3 years
of this campaign, so that our Operating budget is free from
this constraint and we can focus fully on our mission to our
community.
- Trinity
has many tired, worn-out, obsolete buildings and infrastructure
that hinder our ministry. Part of the process of building a
firm foundation for growth at Trinity is to fund some strategic
renovations around our campus that will multiply our effectiveness
in ministry. This includes things like outfitting the sanctuary
for better sound and for video, adding electronic display messaging
to our marquees, renovating some bathrooms, installing a new
children's playground, just to name a few. These things don't
cost a lot of money, but they do cost more than we currently
have in the bank!
- This brings up the next priority - financial
reserves. Our reserves for the many repairs and upgrades an
older campus like ours requires are at very low levels, and
part of the vision for a firm foundation for growth is to have
prudent financial reserves to cover the periodic repairs and
maintenance that are always around the corner for a large facility
like Trinity. We absolutely don't want to have to sacrifice
ongoing missions or ministry activities to replace a roof or
air conditioner and we don't want to leave this to our children
to struggle with.
- The largest component of this campaign is the Children's Ministry
Center. Children's ministries is at the very heart and soul
of who we are as a church, and the new Children's Ministry Center
will provide adequate space for ministry for generations to
come. The Barna Research group tells us that 85% of all Americans
who come to a saving faith in Christ do so between the ages
of 5 and 15 years old. This is the "sweet spot" for ministry,
and therefore is the next key focus for our campaign. So here
we are - ready to take this next step of faith in building for
the Kingdom of God.
Q: What is the history & transition from FTV to ITV?
A: We actually began with our Embrace Trinity campaign in the late
90's. Around $750,000 was raised in that campaign for major capital
repairs, and this money was folded into the Fulfilling the Vision
(FTV) campaign that started in October 2000. To date, we have raised
approximately $3 million under FTV. On April 1st, we will officially
close the books on FTV, and all new capital funds that we receive
will be applied to the Ignite the Vision. Its ALL about Christ!
Campaign. A full accounting of the income and expenditures for the
Embrace Trinity and Fulfill the Vision campaigns is available at
www.trinityconnection.com/ITV/FTV_Review
Q: How does ITV fit into the building master plan?
A: Funds raised during FTV were used to build the Fellowship
Hall and to develop a complete campus master plan. Funds that we
raise during this campaign will be used to build the Children's
Ministry Center (CMC). The original master plan called for building
the CMC first, but proper building sequencing indicated we would
need the space available in the Fellowship Hall to temporarily house
the children's programs and other ministries during further construction,
so Fellowship Hall was built first.
Other elements of the original master plan include building a stand-alone
pre-school, new administration and early childhood buildings, expanding
the choir room within the Sanctuary, a gymnasium, new walkways and
parking areas, as well as a few other campus upgrades and improvements.
It is important to note that the Building Committee, composed of
long-time Trinity members who have been working on this project
for over 7 years, is continually looking at the master plan and
working on ways to meet the evolving needs of Trinity as cost-effectively
as possible. As needs and plans change they will be reflected in
the building master plan so that Trinity's campus will provide efficiently
for the needs of future generations and we will be faithful stewards
of our physical and financial resources.
Q: What is the breakdown of the $1,615,000 in facilities
improvements and repairs?
A: Based on targeted pledges of $7 million, the facilities
component is as follows:
- Building
Capital Repairs and Reserves - $620,000 (general repairs and
reserves for such things as: Sanctuary and building heating
and air conditioning replacement; water, gas, electrical lines
and pipes replacement; termite- extermination and repair; parking
lot re-pavement; furniture and fixtures replacement; doors,
frames and dry-rot replacement; and other major capital replacement).
Paying for these items as they are needed would remove a significant
burden on the operating income, allowing Trinity to fund more
ministries and missions efforts.
- Technical
Capital Budget - $219,000 (phone system upgrade, computer equipment
and web site work and other technology needs that arise yearly).
- Modernization
Projects - $400,000 (See "Modernization Projects". The largest
single line item would be Sanctuary audio and video upgrades
to improve the sound system and install video equipment.)
- Reserve for Roof Replacement - $376,000 (this
would only cover a portion of the cost to replace the roof,
which is well over 40 years old and will eventually need to
be replaced. Prudent reserves would help us to avoid a major
financial emergency in the event roof replacement was imminent.
Q: How was the Missions component determined?
A: Session decided to allocate a total of 10% of the combined
campaign proceeds from this current campaign and the previous campaign,
"Fulfilling the Vision", which started in October 2000. The Fulfilling
the Vision (FTV) campaign had designated $500,000 for missions as
10% of the expected campaign funding of $5 million. This campaign
raised about $3.2 million. Therefore, to balance out to a 10% funding
from the combined campaigns, we will begin designating 10% of the
current campaign proceeds after approximately $1.8 million has been
received.
Q: What happened to the $500K Mission Component from
Fulfill the Vision?
A: The goal of the $500,000 Mission Component was to leverage
Trinity’s commitment to mission by forming a long term partnership
that would engage members of Trinity in grass-root mission initiative.
The initial partnership we entered into was with Grace Presbyterian
Church of Paramount (Long Beach) As Rev. Steve Yamaguchi put it,
“Grace was in a desperate place in a horrible and dangerous facility.”
Our goal was to help them move to a safe and welcoming location.
The pledge of $500,000 from Trinity started in motion a unique series
of events that eventually led the congregation of Grace to merge
with Lakewood First Presbyterian Church, and the combined congregations
have now formed Grace First Presbyterian Church of Lakewood. In
the process, the elders of Grace returned the $500,000 with sincere
gratitude for helping Grace accomplish it’s goal of moving into
a safe and promising facility.
Trinity’s Session directed our Mission Committee to develop a new
use for the funds that would be in the same spirit as the original
gift: developing partnerships in which Trinity members could participate.
This was done and approved, and the use of funds is currently allocated
as shown in this document:
Mission Components
WHY NOW?
Q: What is the status of plans to call an installed
(permanent) senior pastor? And why is it appropriate to move ahead
now while we have an interim pastor?
A: Our Presbyterian policy requires that we complete a Church
Mission Study prior to calling a Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC).
This has now been completed, with Session accepting the Church Mission
Study Report on January 18th. Session has also appointed a PNC nominating
committee to collect and present names for the PNC. The church will
vote on the slate of candidates for the PNC at an all-church meeting
on February 26th. For more information on this, see the Session
News for January (available at
www.trinityconnection.com).
Once the PNC is established, they will prepare and publish a Church
Information Form (CIF). The CIF is essentially a job description
for the new Senior Pastor, but it builds on the information collected
in the Church Mission Study. This is important because we want to
clearly present our vision and personality as a church to the candidate
pastors. Then the search process begins in earnest. It typically
will take a year to 18 months to complete the search, interviewing
and calling process.
It is critically important and prudent to move ahead with the capital
campaign while we have an interim pastor because there is much that
needs to be done at Trinity now. It would very difficult for a newly-called
Pastor to manage a major capital campaign right away. It would be
much better to call our new Senior Pastor with our capital campaign
well underway so that finances and the tremendous effort of a capital
campaign will not be a concern for our new Leadership Team. We want
our new Senior Pastor to be able to focus on Ministry with a firm
financial and congregational foundation for growth already in place.
Waiting for the Senior Pastor to be called and then starting the
capital campaign would probably result in a delay of up to 3 years
in retiring the debt and making much needed repairs and building
improvements, which would have a serious negative effect on our
financial condition. It would also seriously postpone the momentum
we already have to expand our ministries and mission.
Q: Why are we launching a large capital campaign when
we just went through staff reductions and other budget cuts?
A: In essence, this is precisely why we need to run this campaign
now! There are always tough financial decisions to be made in operating
a ministry and campus like Trinity. Without the funds raised from
this campaign Trinity would soon be making a large mortgage payment
as well as paying for numerous costly capital repairs out of operating
funds, which would likely result in further cuts in ministry, missions
and staff. Also, while Trinity's income has been increasing in the
past few years, overall attendance in worship has not grown and
overall membership has, grown only modestly, and it is imperative
that we make investments to grow our congregation. The investments
made from the capital campaign should help to achieve church growth.
Q: Why don't we pay off the mortgage first before doing
anything else? Will we take on new debt to build the Children's
Ministry Center?
A: Actually, we will pay down debt substantially before paying
for the Children's Ministry Center due to the timing of expected
receipts and the time it takes to finalize the architectural, planning,
permitting, and contractor processes. Delaying the building until
the entire debt is paid off will cost us far more due to increases
in construction costs as well as delay the addition of much-needed
resources for our children's ministry. The more balanced approach
approved by Session helps to solve multiple needs in a cost-effective
manner.
Q: Why isn't building the Children's Ministry Center
our first priority?
A: Building the Children's Ministry Center is a very high priority
among numerous important priorities. While there are various ways
to accomplish this, we must proceed with prudence to address all
of the needs of Trinity with both a short and long-term perspective
so we can maximize our investments in people, programs and facilities
and provide a firm financial foundation for Trinity.
WHEN?
Q: When does the campaign start and how long will it last? Can I
make non-cash gifts?
A: The campaign was launched on January 29, and the primary
campaign period will conclude March 26 - Celebration Sunday, when
we will receive pledge cards. We are asking people to make a generous
pledge to be paid over a three-year time period. And yes, we have
means for receiving stocks, securities and other non-cash contributions.
Please contact Elizabeth White at the Trinity office.
We will continue to do a "follow-up" campaign to connect with new
members as well as communicate important activities and issues to
the congregation. Funding will be received over a three year period
and we expect to use the funds over a three to four year period.
Q: When will the funds be received and what is the expected
timing of paying for the various elements of the campaign?
A: Pledges will be received March 26, with the first payments
being received from the congregation beginning Sunday April 2 ("First
Fruits" Sunday). Giving would continue for three years. Session
has declared that if we receive pledges of $5.5 million and above,
we would use the proceeds as follows:
- Children's
Ministry Center: we would immediately move ahead with
planning (final architectural work, permits, contracting, etc.)
and would expect to begin construction hopefully by the end
of 2006, with completion by the end of 2007. Most of the payment
for this work would occur in 2007.
- Debt
Reduction: we would begin right away in amounts to
be determined based on the timing and amount of receipts. Our
goal is to completely pay off the debt within 3 years.
- Facilities
Improvements: we would begin right away after the Facilities
Committee or another group selected by Session has had a chance
to prioritize and do appropriate research and planning, and
it is hoped they would be completed in 2006. Other capital improvements
would be completed as needed from 2006 through 2009.
- Evangelism
Grant: we would begin some time in the first year after
appropriate planning has been completed.
- Missions:
funding would begin after receipt of the first $1.8 million
(see Missions question above), with investment of these funds
made at the direction of the Missions Committee and Session
some time thereafter. The timing of receipt of these funds would
be dependent on the total amount pledged, but we would expect
to begin accumulating the mission component some time in 2007.
WHAT IF…?
Q: What happens if we raise less than the targeted $7 million?
What if we raise more than $7 million?
If pledges amount to between $5.5 million and $7 million we will
still move ahead immediately with the Children's Ministry Center,
with smaller, but significant, debt reductions. Other elements of
the plan will be proportionately reduced, with most or all of the
capital reserves eliminated and some of the capital repairs reduced
or delayed. Some of the capital repairs would eventually have to
be funded from operating accounts.
If pledges amount to less than $5.5 million, Session would review
priorities and options to determine if and when any of these amounts
would be paid out. Session has approved the proportions for each
category of costs as identified in the campaign materials. In deciding
how and when to spend the funds, Session would consider the total
amount pledged and timing of expected receipts and could include
deferring or eliminating some elements of the proposed use and restructuring
the debt to reduce the monthly payments and extend the note.
If pledges are over $7 million, we will first praise almighty God
for his providence and then thank and congratulate Trinity members
for their generosity and faithfulness. Excess funds would be put
into a reserve account and discussions would joyfully begin with
the congregation and Session as to the best way to expand our church's
ministry both locally and abroad.
Q: How will the congregation be kept informed of the major
activities and decisions regarding the campaign funding and use
of proceeds?
A: A Follow-Up Team has been formed to insure there are frequent
reports and regular communications via Trinity News, Session updates,
Town Hall meetings, the trinityconnection.com web site, letters,
pulpit announcements and other mediums.
MORE INFORMATION:
Q: How can I get more information so I can better understand
Trinity's financial position, vision and needs?
A: We will be conducting numerous meetings called Vision Briefings
and other events throughout the campaign as well as publishing some
additional information. We are committed to providing all the information
needed to make sure everyone understands the long-term vision and
ministry opportunities we are trying to facilitate!
For more information, please visit the campaign web site at
www.trinityconnection.com/ITV
We hope this rather lengthy answer gives you more insight into why
we are doing what we are doing in the Ignite the Vision.
Its ALL about Christ! capital campaign. Much prayer and
discussion has gone into the planning for this campaign. That doesn't
make it perfect - and there is always room for new ideas and thoughts.
What do you think? How do you see God leading Trinity? Please share
your thoughts with us directly, or drop us a note.
We would love to hear from you! For a list of names of campaign
directors or team leaders please visit the web site at www.trinityconnection.com/ITV/teams.
Campaign directors and Dennis Tarr's contact information is:
Pastor Dennis Tarr: 714-544-7850, ext 104; dennis@tupcsa.org
Gene Longobardi: 714-731-1919; genelongo@pacbell.net
Jason Joy: 714-679-7969; jjmrjoy@yahoo.com
Cindy Straeter: 714-936-4156; cstraeter@aol.com
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