Best Practices in Stewardship

Stewardship_pin_wpEvery parish should strive to envision its future existence in providing and serving the needs of its parishioners. This is also our goal St. Margaret Mary.

In general, it should be the goal of every parish, within its vision and mission, to assure that in the hearts, minds and eyes of all parishioners their parish is and/or seeks to truly become a place of hospitality, prayer, formation and service, where a stewardship way-of-life culture is woven into the very fabric of the parish.

“For lasting results in stewardship,” says Leisa Anslinger, a national leader in parish engagement and stewardship, “a strong process for adult conversion and formation must be in place. Otherwise, you get a fund raising flash-in-the-pan!”

Use the below links to fill out the Time (prayer), Talent (ministries) and Treasure sign up forms.

Please complete all 3 portions:
1. Time
2. Talent (check the ministries that you are interested in, and those that you are currently involved in)
3. Treasure

Notes:
* make separate entries for each participating family member
* use/re-use a parent’s email address and phone number for minors

What is a Stewardship Parish?

A stewardship parish, within the unique demographics of each, seeks through regular participation in the celebration of the Eucharist, to spiritually form the lives of its parishioners. Parishioners are invited, encouraged, sent forward and given the opportunity to become actively engaged and involved. This invitation, opportunity and involvement then tends to facilitate a real life experience and sense of hospitality, prayer, formation and service within the parish community while recognizing that “Stewardship is the grateful response of a Christian disciple who recognizes and receives God’s gifts and shares these gifts in love of God and neighbor.”

USCCB Pastoral Letter on Stewardship

“United Catholic Stewardship”

United in our Catholic faith, we are invited and encouraged to recognize, receive, share and return our God-given grace and giftedness in love of God and neighbor. It is our desired goal within our parish to instill a sense of hospitality, prayer, formation and service by first fulfilling the mission of this parish community, and in unity to extend generosity, gratitude and service to the diocese and to the wider needs of the universal Church.

This unity helps to:

  • Recognize, strengthen and support the role of the family in the life of the Church.
  • Stimulate and broaden local parish life, bringing about the formation and unity among parishioners as they share generously, sacrificially and proportionately their varied grace and God-given giftedness of time, talent and treasure.
  • Provide the invitation, encouragement and opportunity for all to experience, respond to and fulfill their Baptismal call to discipleship.
  • Identify, plan and provide for the needs of the parish community by establishing mission statements, related goals, objectives and action plans along with the pastoral and operational structure to facilitate, support and maintain the process.
  • Recognize the parish as the primary and ordinary recipient of the sharing of our individual and family God-given giftedness from which the parish would support its mission while also proportionately sharing and providing for the ordinary and special needs of the diocese and the wider universal Church.

TOGETHER – We gather. We learn. We serve.

As with any council or committee, the membership consists of a variety of personalities, cultures, talents and opinions. In addition, one will typically find different levels of spirituality, education, and experience. With this potential and possible variety of traits and characteristics, it is imperative that the members of the council spend prayerful and quality time seeking to bond spiritually and socially to become “family” in the sense of knowing and understanding each other, including spouses who may not be serving on the council.

This manner of bonding will serve to provide a meaningful working relationship, understanding and appreciation of other council members and their sense of commitment to the parish. Bonding in this manner will also serve to avoid the potential for meetings to be nothing more than a meeting of strangers with no common vision or mission.

The Formation of Christian Stewards, Forming Grateful Hearts. Diocese of Wichita 2009