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Parish Stewardship -
Parish: The First Model of Stewardship
“Live the way you want your children to become.” Gandhi
As parishes begin the process of adopting a Stewardship perspective it is very important for them to model for their parishioners what they expect of them. If the parish wishes to promote and encourage good stewardship in their individual parishioners, then they need to demonstrate for them how they expect disciples of Jesus Christ to live. The parish must be the first model of stewardship. How can the parish do that?
1. Inventory of Gratitude: A Christian Steward is one Who Receives God’s Gifts Gratefully . . .
Stewardship focuses our attention on gratitude. All is gift given from God. We encourage individuals to be aware of all that God has given them, creating an inventory of gratitude. What is it in my life for which I am grateful? The parish must then do the same. Create a list of all the gifts of your parish, becoming more aware of all the people, time, talent, treasure that are given to make your parish what it is.
The parish may ask itself:
Who are all of our parishioners?
(This may call for a census on a regular basis.)
Who are all the people that assist the work of the parish?
(This includes everyone: staff, catechists, teachers, youth ministers, committee people, those providing luncheons for funerals, those taking care of altar linens, those visiting the sick and homebound, office help, liturgical ministers, teacher’s aides, play ground helpers, those cleaning the church, homebound willing to pray for parish, and the list can go on.)
How much time do all these people put into the work of the parish?
How much time do we spend in worship, prayer and formation of all parishioners (adults, youth and children)?
What are the various ministries and forms of outreach that we have?
What are our resources of treasure (money, buildings, property, tangible gifts other than money)?
The first step in stewardship is to sit in awe of God’s generosity. This listing of gratitude can be used on a yearly basis for an annual report that parishes often times do. Many parishes will be quite surprised at how much God has blessed them. Parishes can also take this inventory and create a liturgical opportunity for the community to publicly and collectively give thanks to God. Essentially, this is what we do each Sunday with Eucharist, but sometimes we need to formally bring forth our inventory of gratitude.
2. Survey How Well The Parish Is A Good Steward Of It’s Many Gifts: Cherishes And Tends Them (Gifts) In A Responsible And Accountable Manner . . .
It is good to be aware of the many gifts from God, but then we have to care for them in a responsible and accountable manner. Looking at it’s inventory of gratitude the parish asks itself:
How well do we take care of all these gifts?
How do we show our appreciation to all, for all they have given in time/talent/treasure?
Do we manage our people (paid/unpaid), time, money, and buildings well?
Is our attitude that of abundance or scarcity?
Do we appreciate what we have or do we complain because it isn’t enough?
(If we appreciate what we have, we trust that it will be enough. If we complain it isn’t enough, it will never be enough! We will never have enough people helping or enough money to do what we think we need to do.)
God has blessed each one of our parishes with many good things. It is our responsibility to care for them well, to use them well, appreciating all their goodness. It is also our responsibility to be accountable for them and to them. We need to let our parishes know our list of gratitude and let them know how well we tend to them. An annual report should include all of the parish resources and how well they have been used.
3. Evaluate How Outward Looking Our Parish Is: A Good Steward Shares In Justice And Love With Others . . .
Stewardship reminds us of all the wonderful gifts given by God and the challenge to tend to them well, but then we are to also share everything we have in justice and love with others. In our inventory of gratitude we can say that we care in a responsible manner for that which is given, but do we look at stewardship as something that serves only our parish or does it include making our gifts available to the larger community. Questions to consider:
What is the charism of our parish for the larger community?
How do we, as a parish, serve those in the larger Church and wider community?
How do we, as a parish, use our gifts of time/talent/treasure for the larger Church and the world?
If we ask our parishioners to tithe, then does the parish tithe its resources?
If the expectation is for the individual parishioner to share their gifts of time, talent and treasure then we, as parish, must model by sharing our gifts of the parish of time, talent and treasure. One of the purposes of the parish is to care for, support, nurture the people of the parish not for the sake of being self-serving, but to encourage and prepare them for going out to bring Christ into the world. The mission of the parish is the same as Christ’s mission, to bring the good news of salvation to the whole world.
4. Creating an Environment of Overwhelming Hospitality and Evangelization
Another way in which a parish can be the first model of Stewardship is by being a place of true hospitality and welcome. Jesus dined with tax collectors, talked with prostitutes, and welcomed the marginalized. If we model our parish’s life after Jesus, then we, too, must be overwhelmingly welcoming and hospitable. All are welcome and all have something to share in response to their gratitude. Our spiritual home must be a place of refuge or care for all, but especially for the stranger and the marginalized. Assess the parish’s hospitality by asking these questions:
Do we treat those coming to our parish as if we would welcome them to our homes
When new people come to our parish do we notice them, greet them, invite them to be a part of our community?
Are all people invited to use their gifts of time, talent and treasure?
Do we welcome diversity of people, cultures, and traditions in our community?
Do we take advantage of being hospitable to fallen away Catholics or ecumenical families during obvious connecting points such as sacraments, funerals and other family celebrations?
Hospitality and welcome seem like such simple or ordinary things, but it is many times these make all the difference. Often I have asked people from parishes, “How many of you invite people to your homes and then never make eye contact with them?” This usually gets many laughs, but then I ask, “Why then do we do this in our churches?” We walk by all these people and even share a pew with them, but refuse to make eye contact or greet the people around us. Our hospitality must be that of Jesus Christ.
Hospitality goes hand in hand with Evangelization. Evangelization is the extension of our hospitality to those within our parish and to the larger community. It is the constant invitation within a safe and comfortable environment to have a personal and communal relationship with Christ. How we receive people, meet people, treat people, invite people challenge people in our everyday life speaks to people of our own personal and communal relationship with God. Evangelization is the responsibility of the baptized, the faithful in other words, all the members of the parish.
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