THE FUTURE OF TRINITY ????               		   Pastor Bob Chroninger 
Trinity C.U.  5-24-98 P.M.   		 Acts 19:1-12    		A:\ACTS19-1	
	 Do you know that 85% of U.S. churches are under 200 in average 
       worship attendance?  Trinity's average is under 100.  Trinity is 
       growing very well!  From 1994- 95 ... 26.8% increase.  1995-96..
       17.3% increase. 1996-97... 23 % increase.  And... so far this year 
       1997-98 11 % increase. A Good annual growth rate is from 5% to 12%.
       Trinity has doubled the average Worship attendance in 4 years.
	Let's Look at Some Facts... that Will Determine Our Future...
I.  MANY CHURCHES ARE WHERE THEY ARE SIMPLY BECAUSE 
	THEY PLANNED TO BE NOWHERE ELSE... 
  A. They Have No Clear Mission Statement.. 
    1. The Christian Union...  "Evangelism, Edification, Fellowship" 
    2. Trinity's..  "We are banded together as a group of believers in 
       Christ for the purpose of Christian Fellowship, Worship, Education,
       and Evangelism."
  B. They Have No Growth Goals..
  C. They Have No "Scoreboard"... the object of the game... 
  D. They Are Caught in the "Activity" Trap.. 
    1. Caught up in busyness of ministry...
    2. Caught up in "gonna do" instead of ... "get 'em done" 
  E. They Have No Business Plan for Growth 
    1. Personnel... Trinity has been open to... 
	- Youth Pastor... which has helped a great deal 
	- We need a Christian Education Director... and one is in our midst. 
    2. Programs... 
	- Our Sunday School is growing also... 1995-96 20%; 1996-97 8%; and 
        1997-98.. 18% so far. 
	  - We do need greater emphasis on outreach... prospects; follow-up 
          (absentees, guests, professions of faith, etc.) 
      - We do need new classes.. ??
	- Our Worship is Growing... doubled in four years...
	   - But remember... 80% full is full.
	- Our Parking.. we are just about maxed out at about 100 
	- Our Facilities.. you have done a great job in bringing them up to
        very respectable !!!
	- Our Finances... "rule of thumb"... $10 per person per week... 
	  - Trinity should average about $830 per week.. Are We? 
	- Our Youth Program... Acquire the Fire.. is Doing GREAT... 
	- Our Children's Program (Wed. eve) is getting off the ground. 
	- Our C.U.W.F. is active.. and growing
	- Our C.U.M.F. is getting started... 
II. MANY CHURCHES HAVE NO CONTINUITY IN GROWTH PROGRAMS... 
  A. Pastors Stay only for 3 - 5 years... 
  B. Churches focus only on "maintenance" programs.. "we've always..."
  C. Most Churches in America.. (90%) lack a Master plan for growth for 
     their entire site. 
III.  MANY CHURCHES HAVE LITTLE OR NO SENSE OF URGENCY... 
  A. Too many people make "church" a third priority
  B. Too many have negative attitudes... 
    1. "Let's wait and see" 
    2. "We can't do it now.." 
    3. "Maybe the attendance will go down like it used to be... and we 
        won't need to do anything." 
    4. "We are large enough... if we get too big it won't be a "family" 
    5. "We don't have the money...".. hey... look at the cars outside... 
  C. Too many have no goals and no plan of action... 
	(No Goals + No Plan of Action + No Sense of Urgency = NO RESULTS) 

THIS IS WHERE WE ARE... WHERE DO WE WANT TO BE... 
	WHAT IS IT WE BELIEVE GOD IS SAYING TO US????? 
WHAT IS OUR FUTURE? 
	HOW WILL WE DECIDE?  HOW WILL WE GET THERE?