Wareside, Holy Trinity version: 1

Things seen about our local community

• Despite the efforts of some, there is not a strong shared sense of community in our village.
• Local people exhibit a lack of interest in getting involved in the life of the church.
• Our society has moved significantly away from the Christian foundation from which it has benefited.

Three things we have seen about our church

• We are a very small, predominantly elderly congregation, struggling to make ends meet.
• We are connected to the Church School, but this connection is largely maintained by the Rector.
• Relationships between village residents and Church members are not strong.

Vision (for five years' time)

We have struggled to articulate a five-year vision this year because our work on "Our Looking" has identified we need to be much better connected with the village and better informed about its views, fears and aspirations. Our first priority, therefore, is to continue our investigation into our current situation. It is our hope that this time next year, when we are better informed about our present circumstances, we will be better able to cast a meaningful longer term vision.

Priorities (for the next five years)

• To obtain a clear picture of our setting and our purpose within that setting.
• To be financially stable.
• To be a more effective force for commun ity transformation.

Goals (for the next year)

• To canvass the views of church members about our vision and mission.
• To conduct a village-wide survey to ascertain public attitude to Christianity and our church.
• To organise a stewardship campaign.
• To run one event to reach out to the village in a new way.