Building a Sustainable Future for a Thriving Cathedral
God is giving us a season of remarkable vitality.
Our task now is to make our financial model as healthy as our ministry.
Trinity Cathedral
To Love and to Serve
I feel
Our Mission, Vision & Hope
Our Mission
To Love and to serve
Our Vision
Everyone, everywhere, spiritually alive
Our Hope
A Cathedral that is spiritually, financially and environmentally sustainable.
Why does Trinity Matter?
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Spiritual growth
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Community Engagement
groups
People who know you and you know
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We impact Sacramento
It’s an adventure!
A Story of Vitality
This is not a story of decline.
God has been bringing new life.
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We have rebuilt after COVID-19
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Worship attendance has grown
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Children’s Ministry is thriving
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Newcomers continue to arrive
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Ministries are flourishing
The future we are building
“
Before we talk about challenges, let’s remember what we’re trying to protect.
If
Imagine the Future
01
Today’s ministry is supported by today’s generosity.
02
Our buildings are alive with ministry every day of the week.
03
Staff and volunteers can focus on ministry rather than financial uncertainty.
04
Legacies build the future instead of funding the present.
The Honest Challenge
“
Loving something means telling the truth about it.
But
Today’s ministry isn’t yet paying for itself.
01
For decades we have relied on reserves and investment income to sustain current ministry.
02
The model has served us.
03
It is no longer sustainable.
How do we support ourselves?
And where are our challenges?
How We Sustain Ministry
Total
100%
78%
Pledges
8%
Rent, Fees & Other Income
8%
Non-Pledge Operations
6%
Investments
0%
Legacies & Special Gifts
Note: All numbers are approximate. We were not blessed with a legacy gift in 2025; these gifts come as they are given, in their own season.
We are very pledge dependant!
New people are investing in Trinity.
01 / Support
On the Rise
Non-pledged giving is growing
03 / The Gap
Outpaced
Despite this growth, giving has not risen fast enough
02 / Non-Pledge Giving
A Good Sign
New people giving before pledging, but also worth more exploration
Growth Metric
+83%
Increase in non pledge giving
The first 6 months of 2025: $39,042
The first 6 months of 2026: $70,938
Why Now?
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A significant gap remains
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We cannot ignore it.
Budgeted Deficit
$329,000
Expected Deficit
$175,000
After additional giving noted on previous slide and endowment support of approx $70,000.
Current Unrestricted Reserves
$399,820
We are also blessed to have restricted reserves.
Our responsibility
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Previous generations sacrificed so we could inherit this Cathedral.
Our calling is to leave an equally healthy Cathedral to those who come after us.
That will require difficult decisions.
And the encouraging news is…
we have already begun.
And in fact…
We didn’t wait
1
Sustainability Task Force
Convened in November 2025
2
Report Out
in February 2026
3
Recommendations Underway
Reviewed at Vestry in March and again in June 2026
4
Finance Review Continuing
Ongoing efforts to ensure long-term stability
There is no single solution
There is no silver bullet.
No single decision will solve this. Many decisions, taken together, will.
01
Stewardship
02
Property
03
Energy
04
Staffing
05
Rentals
Stewardship - renewing, redoubling and educating
Renewing our efforts with Stewardship
Stewardship is about caring for our ministry collectively.
Retooling our pledge campaign
Gathering ideas and learning from our best recent years of fundraising.
Legacies remain important
Renewing our legacy society continually, and communicating to those committed to making legacies.
Educating new members
Redoubling our commitment to communicating our funding model to new members.
Property - worship and beyond
Asking More of our Building
This is called a flywheel
Everything reinforces everything else.
01
Concerts & Lectures
Position Trinity as a cultural destination, drawing newcomers who wouldn't otherwise walk through the doors.
02
Community Events
Anchor the Cathedral in neighborhood life and deepen local relationships.
03
Rentals & Bookings
Generate direct revenue while filling seats, further raising the building's profile.
04
Member Acquisition
Drive new member enrollment and increased pledge commitments from active participants.
05
Financial Sustainability
The Cathedral becomes financially healthier, freeing reserves for mission-critical work.
Cathedral
Flywheel
01
Visibility
02
Participation
03
Revenue
04
Growth
05
Sustainability
Energy - good for creation, good for our budget
Better for Creation and our Budget
01
New HVAC
02
Solar
03
Lower energy costs
Evolving ministry - staffing creatively and sharing ministry
Ministry keeps evolving
Children increasingly worship in church.
Volunteer-Led Model
The nursery will adapt to current patterns by becoming volunteer-led, as our paid teen workers will not continue in September.
Versatile Space
The room remains fully open for childcare and will also be utilized for other collaborative cathedral ministries.
Reimagining Together
Families and Canon Alex are actively redesigning this program. Please connect with Alex to share your ideas.
Staffing is Evolving
We’re reshaping staffing to protect ministry.
Music Leadership
Interim position designed to be three-quarter time.
Assistant Priest Partnership
Replacing a full-time position with a half-time subsidized position.
Shared Leadership
Collaborating efficiently through robust committee structures.
Building Care
Maintaining an ongoing review of the physical care of our facilities.
What we have done so far is just the start, we are continuing to review our staffing model.
Rentals - what is their highest best use?
Making better use of our Real Estate
Our duplexes need some thought
Caring for them
So that they can generate better income, and so we are good landlords
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Imagining the best highest use
What could this space be used for in alignment with our mission and in service of our sustainability goals.
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Walking Together
Sustainability isn’t a project.
It’s a shared practice.
Therefore
Our Commitments
01
We’ll communicate openly.
02
We’ll explain our decisions.
03
We’ll keep learning together.
How can each of us help?
01
Pray
02
Volunteer
03
Make a pledge
04
Fulfill your pledge
05
If you are able, increase your pledge
We are not preparing Trinity to survive.
We are preparing Trinity to flourish for generations to come.
Thank you.