Follow Jesus Together 
Love God + Others
Make Disciples

Someone who learns through apprenticeship to be like Christ. And then disciples others by coming alongside them and encouraging them to make Jesus their Lord & Savior while teaching them God's word. This results in a disciple-making disciple.

This means that in everything else, that is anything not essential for salvation, we respect each other's opinions and do not engage in argumentative or divisive attitudes. We are not into agendas, non-salvific theological debates, party politics, or religion.

We have a core value of Unity in Christ, Diversity in Everything else because we want to allow all of the family of God to join together even if they have different theological views, as long as they believe Christ is the only way to a relationship with the Triune God.

Anyone who considers Trellis Church their church is automatically a member.
You can belong before you believe, so you do not need to be a Christian to be a part of our community. We ask that all members serve Trellis Church to the best of their ability and not share your agenda. We encourage everyone to share Jesus and his love but to avoid trying to sell products or promote other things.

In order to join our church team, you will be required to go through 2 classes: Hermeneutics (also know as How to Study the Bible) & Spiritual Gifts and attend for 6 months before being brought onto the team and given an area of responsibility. To join the team you must be approved by the Elders and agree to our team agreement. In the meantime, you will be able to serve and assist any other team members. Your area will be determined by what you believe God has called you to and the gifts he has given you. As soon as you finish the classes, you will be able to start teaching or preaching, if you feel God leading you to do so.

After joining the team, you will be able to start the ordination process in January of the following year and be ordained 1 year after joining the team. You may also choose to remain a church team member. Each team member or pastor will focus on an area of ministry and may change areas as the Spirit guides them with the approval of the Elders.

Our goal is to support you in any area of ministry God has for you!
We also hope to support more church plants and help planters.

The church plant began with a vision our teaching pastor and church planter had in January 2001. At that time, the pastor was working at another church and working towards finishing a Master of Divinity from Southeastern University which is now complete. As God called this pastor to plant a new church, he gave a vision of a Greek cross with a vine moving on it. The vine had 3 parts and symbolized the Trinity. A year later, the Spirit led to the start of a Hermeneutics class with a group of young adults led by our teaching pastor and church planter. Out of that class, the church poured forth and the Elders were formed along with the first team members. The church began meeting in houses but now has found a permanent space.

Come join us for our gatherings in Sarasota or any event to meet new people and make friends. We are always excited to meet new people and welcome them into our community. We often go out for food after our gatherings. We also like to hang out after and chat, so stay late and get to know some people! We recognize the importance of a healthy community in our isolated, lonely world and actively try to connect people. You do not need to do life by yourself. Instead, let us be there for you.

6:30pm

We are casual, so wear whatever you are comfortable wearing.

We are non-denominational. However, we believe in the importance of outside accountability and therefore have an accountability board of pastors from other churches. You can see a list of them on our About page.

Not at this time, but children are welcome to attend.

• 1. Take the initiative
  While it's easy to sit back and think, “If you don't care enough to talk to me then I'm not talking to you,” that's a very unhelpful approach to community and won't win you many friends. Instead, try taking the initiative and saying hello with a smile. Chances are the other person was either preoccupied or just as nervous as you were.
• 2. Show up early and stay late
  Our church gatherings try to start on time and I can't tell you often I hear the door click after we start. Many people show up just in time or within the first ten minutes, then when church is over they walk straight out to their cars. While that may make church more efficiently fit your weekend schedule, it does not help you make friends at church or grow relationships. Instead, try arriving at least 15 minutes before we start. We typically offer some snacks. It will give you an opportunity to mingle and become a more familiar face to everyone. Do the same after church. You'll be surprised how many friendships organically develop.
• 3. Get involved
  If you want church to be easy and only a place you visit each week to get fed spiritually, making friends will be slow. To speed up the process you can help us out during our gatherings! Most churches rely on a lot of people to keep things running. By finding a place to serve you'll be joining a team you can work beside and get to know. Those people can become your church friend base. Where should you get involved? A great way to start is just try different things. You could also take our How to Study the Bible class that ends with discovering your spiritually Gifts which helps you to see where God has gifted you and then serve in that area. We encourage you to search for ways to serve how God designed YOU. Some examples would be teaching, preaching, outreach, worship, welcome team, set up & tear down, etc.
For more details:
• 10 Ways to Make Friends if You are Lonely at Church
• Help! I Want to Make Friends at Church.