1

Spirituality of Parish Stewardship

Dr. Dolly Sokol

Office of Development

Archdiocese of Santa Fe

2

Duties of Parish/Finance Councils

• To care for, develop and share parish resources

• To assess and set goals for improvement and/or development of parish resources

• To be accountable to parish and archdiocese for effective use of resources

• To act humbly, charitably and respectfully toward all God’s people and all creation

3

Stewards

• What is a steward?– Steward cares for part of the home/household– Manages property that belongs to someone

else; manages people hired by another– Poor steward – negligent, wasteful, uncaring

• What’s the difference between an owner and a steward?

4

Owner vs. Steward

Owner Steward

• Valid legal claim to something

• No legal claim to anything

• Exclusive rights to goods and property

• No rights to goods or property

• Belongs to the owner alone • Takes care of the goods or property/business of the owner

• Trusts the steward; holds steward accountable

• Respects the owner; is accountable to owner

5

Stewardship: God and Us

God Us

• Owner of creation; creator of all

• Stewards or caretakers of God’s creation

• Giver of gifts, talents, time and resources

• Sharer of God’s gifts, talents, time and resources

• Holds us responsible for developing and using gifts

• Accountable for the way we develop and use God’s gifts for others

• Lovingly gives • Gratefully receives and shares

6

What is Christian stewardship?• Taking care of and sharing all God’s gifts • An attitude of mind and heart (like hospitality)

expressed in action• A way of life for followers of Christ • An intentional, planned, proportionate giving of

time, talent and treasure in response to God’s generosity to us

• “As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1Peter 4: 10)”.

7

Who is a Christian disciple?

• One who responds to God’s call to holiness/wholeness by

• Shaping one’s life in imitation of Christ – Paschal Mystery (dying to self to live for others)

• Practicing stewardship of time, talent and treasure gives us opportunities to live the Paschal Mystery

8

Characteristics of a Christian Steward

• Is grateful for God’s gifts• Is generous in developing and sharing

gifts with others• Is accountable for his/her use of God’s

gifts• Is willing to return gifts to God with

increase– USCCB – Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response

9

Gratitude• Attitude of gratitude

– Toward all God’s creation– Human life, living things, environment, etc.

• Thanksgiving for gifts and blessings– Prayers of thank you vs. “gimme”– Morning/Nighttime Prayers, Meal Prayers, etc.– Eucharistic Prayer at Mass

• Gratitude is our response to receiving gifts from God• Moving away from our hurts and wrongs to thankfulness

for what we have been given• How can we become more grateful – as individuals,

families, parish and archdiocese?

10

Responsibility and Accountability

• For the use of all our gifts– How do we use our time?– How do we share our talents?– How do we invest our treasure in the work of

God’s church for the sake of building God’s kingdom?

• To whom are we accountable?

11

Generous Sharing• Giving without asking “WIIFM”?• Vision of the Kingdom of God – just

distribution of world’s resources• Dead Sea and Sea of Galilee

– Images of taking and giving• How can we encourage and invite people

(starting with ourselves) to be more generous?

12

Return with increase• “What did my (God’s) investment (gifts) in you

yield”?• Grow and develop our gifts• Recognize gifts of others and call them into

service of God’s people• Bring out the best in others• What are some appropriate ways to express our

willingness to give back to God with increase – as individuals, families, parish and archdiocese?

13

Christian Stewardship Calls for Conversion

• Each baptized person is called to be a disciple and follower Christ

• Mature Christians make a conscious decision to act as a disciple; paschal mystery – die to self so to live for others

• Experiences conversion – change of heart – commits oneself to the Lord; lifelong process

• Stewardship is an invitation to continually re-assess our priorities

• “What do I own, and what owns me?”• How we spend our time, use our talents and share our

resources is an indication of our progress in living Christian stewardship.

14

What is a Stewardship Parish?• A community of faith striving to mature in

our discipleship to Christ through prayer, learning and action

• Working at changing the way we live to imitate Christ’s Paschal Mystery – dying to self to live for others

• Actively sharing time, talent and treasure with the parish, community, world

15

Measuring our Stewardship Success - Gratitude

• Are we more grateful than we were? How?• Have we matured in our celebration of

Eucharist, the great prayer of praise and thanks to God?

• Do we thank God daily for God’s gifts?• Do we complain and criticize less?• Do we covet others’ possessions less?

16

Measuring our Stewardship Success Accountability and Responsibility

• Are we more accountable than we were? How?• Do we admit our mistakes and try to learn from

them?• Have we accepted our baptismal responsibility

for the evangelical mission of Christ?• Do we reach out to others through hospitality

and through solidarity with the poor and all those in need?

• Do we celebrate the sacrament of Reconciliation regularly?

17

Measuring our Stewardship Success Generosity

• Have we grown in our willingness to share our time with God and others?

• Have we grown in our willingness to share our talents with others?

• Have we grown in our willingness to share our financial resources with others?

• Are we warmer, more caring and more generous now than we were?

18

Measuring our Stewardship Success Giving back with increase

• Have we taken the gifts that God has given us and helped them to grow and develop or have we buried them out of ignorance, apathy or fear?

• Have we brought out the best in our parish community and its members?

• Are we growing in holiness, prayerfulness, service to others?

19

Organizing for Stewardship• Pastoral Leaders role

– Steward for parish community– Care of souls (share with others)– Care of temporal affairs (share with others)– The four “I”’s (share with others)

• Inform• Involve• Inspire• Invite

20

Organizing for Stewardship• Inform/Form

– Inform and educate parish about stewardship• Adult education and sharing• Bulletin articles

– Form parishioners through• Preaching about stewardship as the lifestyle of a

mature Christian• Prayers of gratitude and thanks• Special attention to Eucharistic Prayer• Faith-sharing discussions

21

Organizing for Stewardship• Involve/Invest

– Create an active faith community; energy and joy for sharing the Gospel of Christ

– Remind people of their gift of personal presence to God and one another at Mass

– Participation at Mass rehearses us in participating in the life of the parish and beyond; get people to move outside themselves

– Organize outreach to the world through corporal works of mercy in community; create opportunities for people to act

– Prayer – presence – participation – outreach– “Don’t just sit there, do something” - Action– “Don’t just do something, sit there” - Contemplation

22

Organizing for Stewardship

• Inspire– Tell stories of sharing time, talent and

treasure; stories of conversion– Give opportunities for lay witnesses to share

their stewardship journey at Mass– Tell parables of Jesus in the context of

gratitude, accountability, generosity and giving back with increase

23

Organizing for Stewardship

• Invite– Ask parishioners to assess and if needed, re-order

their priorities in life; priorities change over time• “What do I own and what owns me”?

– Ask parishioners continually to share their God-given gifts, to pray, to be personally present at Mass/prayer, to get involved in the work of building the kingdom of God

– Follow up on those who have volunteered and integrate their gifts into parish ministries and services

24

Stewardship Councils

• Read about and understand overall stewardship message rooted in scripture and the tradition of the Church

• Be responsible for developing parish Stewardship of Treasure initiative (Nov and ongoing)

• Use the 4 I’s – Inform, Involve, Inspire, Invite• Explore various methods for parishioners to give: EDT,

on-line, stock/securities, estate plans/wills• Explore possibility of grants for specific projects

25

Stewardship Council

• Read about and understand overall stewardship message rooted in scripture and the tradition of the Church

• Use the 4 I’s – Inform, Involve, Inspire, Invite• Be responsible for developing parish

Stewardship of Time and Talent initiative– Brochure and Assessment– New parishioner welcome packet– Ministry Fair– Ministry training

26

Duties of Finance/Pastoral Councils

• To care for, develop and share parish resources

• To assess and set goals for improvement and/or development of parish resources

• To be accountable to parish and archdiocese for effective use of resources

• To act humbly, charitably and respectfully toward all God’s people and all creation

27

Spirituality of Stewardship

• Stewardship is the spirituality of every Christian and of every parish organization.– What is your council doing to live Christian

stewardship?– How do your meetings express self-sacrifice

and sharing for the good of all?– How effectively are you stewarding parish

resources?