Reaching stewardship goals through reminder letters

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT

For many years now, parishes in Western Washington have been encouraged to send periodic stewardship reminders to their parishioners. They were encouraged to do so because:

1. Parishioners need to be thanked frequently for thei...

Giving birth to stewardship

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 05:00:00 GMT

One Sunday morning I sat in Mass trying to find inspiration in the homily. A couple of seats away was a woman who kept looking at her infant daughter in her carrier, finally picking her up and cradling her until communion time. With a mixture of s...

Introduce your parish to eco-stewardship

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 05:00:00 GMT

When you hear about efforts to save the environment, what do you think of? Al Gore’s movie? The Sierra Club? A Hollywood star pushing the cause-of-the-day? Do you ever think of Catholic stewardship?

Stewardship for Ca...

Make stewardship matter to the folks in the pew

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 05:00:00 GMT

You have an urgent call. It must be returned immediately. This is not like the e-mail message that you’ve no doubt received from a friend or colleague marked only to find that the sender was simply being impatient. This call is not like ...

Building on the Foundation

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 05:00:00 GMT

We have been abundantly blessed as a parish. When our founding pastor was transferred, he was replaced by a pastor who also embraced stewardship as a way of life.

Our new pastor put a structure to stewardship.

Focus on abundance to create a mission-centered parish

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 05:00:00 GMT

In order for stewardship to be taken seriously, the parish must be mission-centered, rather than need-centered. In this age of consumerism, it is tempting for parishes to follow the consumer model and allow self-interest to replace the common good...

Making Connections, Building Community

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Whenever someone in our parish is sick or there is a death in a parishioner’s family, the staff goes to work to draw on parish connections.

What committees are they on? What Mass do they usually attend? Who have they ...

Planned giving

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Paying attention from the pulpit to how we act with money can teach about adult discipleship because good stewardship requires planning. “Tithing” denominations are often far ahead of Catholics on this, offering financial plann...

Transparent finances are essential for effective stewardship

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 05:00:00 GMT

It is imperative that the pastor, along with his leadership team (especially the parish business manager and the parish finance council), exhibit the highest standards of integrity and responsibility in handling the parish’s temporal ass...

Building Stewardship

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 05:00:00 GMT

In our experience here, the three most important building blocks for nurturing a stewardship parish are spirituality, hospitality, and gratitude and generosity. Let me say a few words about each.

Spirituality

Let’s Talk More About Money!

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Ever since my ordination I’ve liked to talk about money from the pulpit. I get the sense that this makes me unusual. So I’d like to tell you about my experience of talking about money. Our parish has been committed to the bisho...

Move from a volunteer mindset to a ministry mindset

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 05:00:00 GMT

I once was talking with a pastor whom I didn’t know very well, and to make conversation I asked him how many people volunteered in his parish.

“We don’t have any volunteers,” he responded...

Pledging is a critical key to stewardship

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 05:00:00 GMT

It is difficult to imagine a good steward who has not made a commitment.

Our Mainline Protestant friends ask their congregation members to make a commitment by pledging. Pledging is not a popular concept among Catholics, who vi...

Use parish community-building activities to stimulate stewardship

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 05:00:00 GMT

A basic axiom of fundraisers is that people give to people. While a parish might be able to rally its members around a particular need (“the boiler in the church broke down, and we need to replace it”), sustained, long-term giv...

Todays Parish

Reaching stewardship goals through reminder letters

Giving birth to stewardship

Introduce your parish to eco-stewardship

Make stewardship matter to the folks in the pew

Building on the Foundation

Focus on abundance to create a mission-centered parish

Making Connections, Building Community

Planned giving

Transparent finances are essential for effective stewardship

Building Stewardship

Let’s Talk More About Money!

Move from a volunteer mindset to a ministry mindset

Pledging is a critical key to stewardship

Use parish community-building activities to stimulate stewardship