Holy Trinity, Wavertree

Holy Trinity church is situated in Wavertree about three miles from Liverpool City Centre. According to the local history society Wavertree is home to the 'Smallest House in England' at 95 High Street. Situated next to the Cock and Bottle pub it measures just 6 ft wide, and 14 ft from front to back and was inhabited until 1925. Wavertree was also home, for his first six years, to one George Harrison.

The parish church is a beautiful Georgian building consecrated in 1794. John Betjeman was impressed, describing it as "Liverpool's best Georgian church". Today Holy Trinity is a busy and vibrant place with a wide range of organisations and activities for all ages. The ministry of the church is supported by a Rector, an NSM, an honorary curate and three lay readers. As part of their Giving in Grace programme Holy Trinity made extensive use of the innovative Godly Play materials. The story and pictures can be accessed from the Godly Play web page.

Holy Trinity Wavertree wanted to engage with Giving in Grace and be a part of the Liverpool diocesan initiative. Financially they were in a reasonable situation so they were able to focus their attention upon the resources for new aspects of ministry and mission in the parish. The planning group was established by a series of personal invitations; this proved more effective than a general request. The group was chaired by the NSM (Non Stipendiary Minister) and the Rector was a member of the group with particular responsibility for the preaching. The group met on a regular basis meeting five times in all with each meeting lasting two hours. They made extensive use of the agendas in the Timetable section of the web site which they found very helpful and also the planning checklists which they felt "essential". The group decided to stay pretty close to the pattern of the programme as set out in the web site.

The case statement prepared by the group was presented to the PCC for consultation. It was not a paper exercise by any means; the case was in the words of the planning group chair, "rigorously debated"! After discussion four areas for the ministry plan were agreed.

The development of Children's, Youth and Family work by the employment of a part time worker
To increase giving in order to develop mission to the community and the world with a financial commitment of 10% of our congregational giving.
A full review of pastoral care and ministry
To ensure that all day to day expenses were met from home

The church followed the Preach Exodus! preaching track with a gradual build up at the all age worship services. This was important because they wanted to include the children. They made extensive use of the Godly Play materials within Preach Exodus! and a review of this can be found as a link from the Godly Play web page. The prayer coordinator produced Giving in Grace prayer cards and bookmarks and also liaised with the intercessors on a Sunday so that the liturgical resources could be used extensively. Over 100 invitations to review giving were issued to congregational members and a presentation was made to various organisational groups in the church.

The programme was largely successful in that three of the four objectives have been met. A youth and families worker has been appointed and the church is committed to giving 10% of congregational giving on mission support and three areas for that mission giving have been identified. A full review of pastoral support and ministry was also completed. The increase in giving represented just over 9% of the total congregational giving for the previous year. This was less than the target set by the planning group but that initial target was felt to be a little ambitious. The church intends to follow up the Giving in Grace programme over the next twelve months.