Stewardship

At Holy Trinity we are blessed with an abundance of financial resources.  We have our foundation and the thrift shop, as well as an extensive campus.  However, we believe that the congregation's stewardship of the church is the foundation of our ministry.  As such, our annual stewardship program is a focus point for the clergy, staff, vestry and congregation.

Annual Giving

Stewardship at Holy Trinity reflects our belief that God calls us to constantly consider the personal, corporate and universal gifts he has given us and to strive to become better stewards of those gifts; a process centered in spiritual development. Our parishioners have historically been generous in their support of Holy Trinity and the ministries of our church. Each year our annual campaign has a theme.  The theme is carefully chosen to further engage the parish not only in stewardship but in the life of the church. Our current operating budget is $1,181,300 for calendar year 2023 and is over-seen by the twelve-member vestry. We have consistently experienced a slight surplus and currently have no debt.

“Let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we can receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)

Capital Campaigns

Occasionally the church calls on the Parish to provide capital for major projects.  In 2017, two needs of the church became very clear.  Our historic chapel, while well cared for, was unable to fulfill the needs of the Parish.  The lack of bathrooms and adequate lighting made it difficult to be part of the regular worship of Holy Trinity.  Additionally, while our kitchen was adequate for serving pre-prepared items for coffee hour or funerals, it was inadequate for the vision we had of our parish hall as a center of our community. 

We embarked on our "Nourishing Minds and Body" campaign from 2017-2020.  We had the goals of restoring our historic chapel, adding bathrooms and increasing handicap accessibility, as well as creating a fully functional kitchen.  This campaign raised $800,000 for these purposes.  As a result, we have a chapel that's ready to serve us through its second century.  We also have a kitchen that enables us to realize the fellowship of Christ through breaking of bread with our fellow Christians. 

Holy Trinity Episcopal Church Foundation

While the stewardship of the congregation is the financial underpinning of our church, the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church Foundation provides the ability and security to reach further.  With a value of over nine million dollars, the foundation is a crucial part of the church and its ministry.

In the 1960s the community and church recognized the need for affordable senior housing in the area.  As a result of the combined efforts of our church and community the Trinity Towers in downtown Melbourne were constructed.  After forty-six years of operation with a volunteer board the age of the buildings and complexity of managing the housing became too much.  However, a key goal of the church was to maintain the nature of the housing for the seniors of the community.  A careful search found the non-profit Preservation of Affordable Housing Inc. (POAH), which was able to purchase the towers.  As part of the purchase the original purpose of the towers was maintained. 

The foundation supports Holy Trinity with grants for elder care and the general church fund.  Our staff members who minister to the needs of the elderly are funded by the foundation.  In addition, the foundation tithes its incoming funds to Camp Wingmann, our diocesan church camp.  So far it has provided over $600,000 to the camp. 

The foundation is also able to provide loans to the church.  For example it loaned $700,000 to purchase the adjacent Brevard Rentals property in order to provide the new home for our thrift shop.  This both provided income for the foundation from the loan as well as reducing fees for the church.  The church was able to repay the loan in 2022.

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