Region XI Stewardship Conference

At the region XI (California) Stewardship Conference recently (where Scott was speaking), a presentation by Matt Manion of Catholic Leadership Institute spoke of looking at Catholics in the following intriguing categories gained from recent survey data.

 

% of US Baptized Catholics not practicing - 50 - 60%

# of US Baptized Catholics not practicing  - 36 Million

 

% of US Baptized Catholics practicing - 23% Monthly

                                                                       10% Weekly

# of US Baptized Catholics practicing  - 15 Million Monthly

                                                             -   6 Million Weekly

 

% of US Baptized Catholics Intentional Disciples - 5 -7%

# of US Baptized Catholics Intentional Disciples  - 3 - 4 Million

 

% of US Baptized Catholics Disciple Makers - .04%

# of US Baptized Catholics Disciple Makers - 25,000

 

The data also showed the following responses from Catholics:

 

I consider myself Catholic, though faith is not a significant part of my life	4%
I practice my Catholic faith, but do not know Jesus personally like a friend	27%
I have personally encountered Jesus Christ and am growing as a disciple	38%
My relationship with Jesus Christ is the most important relationship in my life	31%

Expect to hear more about this as we learn from Good Leaders Good Shepherds and the Catholic Leadership Institute.

Stewardship of Parishioner Data

Because there is a constant stream of stories (and probably will be for a long time) about the theft of personal data on the internet, now is a good time to inform your parishioners about how your parish is a  good steward of the information they share with you.  In bulletin and perhaps pulpit announcements, remind them that you don’t collect social security numbers and that you don’t electronically store any credit card data on parish computers. 

Also, let parishioners know how you handle paper data – that it is kept under lock and key with very limited access and that when no longer needed it is cross-cut shredded. 

Tell them how you safeguard the electronic data that you do keep – that individual parish staff only have access to the data they need for their particular ministry.

Finally, reassure them that the parish does keep on top of the recommended changes for handling data as received from the Archdiocese and your IT experts.

 

Stewardship of Labor: Feast of St. Joseph the Worker

St. Joseph and the Child Jesus at work

Today is the Feast day of St. Joseph the Worker.  Pope Pius the XII instituted this day to honor labor and the serious role it plays in our lives as Christians.  Our work is glorified because sacred scripture places the role of work in our lives in such high esteem that Jesus, himself, was taught to work. St. Joseph whom scripture describes as a righteous man and whom God chose to be our Lord's foster father, taught Jesus the honorable trade of carpentry.  In this way, even our Lord took His place in society, using His gifts as a good Steward to build up the Kingdom of God through the labor of His hands.   In the below prayer, Pope Pius tells us how we are to be good stewards of our work:

 

Prayer to St. Joseph the Worker

Glorious St. Joseph,
model of all those who are devoted to labor,
obtain for me the grace to work conscientiously,
putting the call of duty above my many sins;
to work with thankfulness and joy,
considering it an honor to employ and develop,
by means of labor,
the gifts received from God;
to work with order,
peace, prudence and patience,
never surrendering to weariness or difficulties;
to work, above all, with purity of intention, and with detachment from self,
having always death before my eyes
and the account which I must render of time lost,
of talents wasted,
of good omitted,
of vain complacency in success
so fatal to the work of God.
All for Jesus,
all for Mary,
all after thy example, O Patriarch Joseph.
Such shall be my motto in life and death.

Annual Catholic Appeal and Parish Stewardship. What's the difference?

                                                                   

     Annual Catholic Appeal                  Parish Stewardship                                               

 

Hopefully all Catholics are aware that the Archdiocesan Annual Catholic Appeal is happening now!

 

Several parishes at this time of year – and in the Fall as well – share information with their parishioners reminding them of the difference between Parish Stewardship and the

Annual Catholic Appeal.  We all know that some confusion still exists. So what can you do as parish staff to make the difference clearer to your parishioners.

 

In your bulletin, announcements, and other means of communication...

Point out:

• The Annual Catholic Appeal supports the Archdiocese, as well as its ministries.
• Parish Stewardship of Treasure supports the income of the parish through weekly/monthly donations in the offering basket or electronically
• Annual Catholic Appeal giving/pledging occurs in the Spring of each year
• Parish Stewardship of Treasure commitment occurs in the Fall of each year
• The Annual Catholic Appeal is a one time gift or is a pledge that is spread over 10 monthly payments to the Archdiocese
• Parish Stewardship of Treasure is our giving to our Parish throughout the year, using our weekly/monthly offering envelopes
• The Annual Catholic Appeal is giving to the Archdiocese and is billed by mail from the Archdiocese
• Parish Stewardship of Treasure is our giving through the offertory at Mass to our parish

Please take this opportunity to educate your parishioners on the difference between the Annual Catholic Appeal and The Parish Stewardship Yearly Commitment Renewal.  Both Campaigns are important ways for parishioners to follow the Gospel Call to share their gifts with others and with our generous God from whom all gifts are received.

Easter Stewardship

The big day is almost here, and since we have so many folks join us this Sunday that aren't around on other weekends, it's important as good Stewards and Evangelists that we make them feel welcome. Here are some tips:

• Make sure it is clear where to park – especially if the usual church parking lot is full.  And it hopefully will be!  Is handicapped parking easily found?

• Make sure it is clear how to get from the parking lot into the church.   (Not always clear! And rarely as clear as we 'experienced' folks think it is.)

• Ask those good & faithful folks who attend every week to sit towards the front and scoot towards center to make it as easy  as possible for less regular attendees - especially since they might be last minute arrivals.

• You want to make everyone feel welcomed as they come in the church - in a subtle and stress free way.  Consider having the ushers/greeters hand out a worship aid or something else to worshippers as they come in.   For most of us, it is usually easy to say hello and welcome people if we have something to give them.  You might even ask kids to help out with this.   Non-regular attendees might be less suspicious of children handing something out.

• Make sure there is some ‘Welcome’ info in the pew envelope holders with the pew envelopes, and definitely make sure the pew envelopes are well-stocked – they DO make a difference.

• Consider handing out a gift after Mass as people leave, like a Prayer card, flower or some such item.  Make a special gift for the kids such as a bag of jelly beans or little plastic easter egg with candy inside.

We hope these ideas help you make your church an inviting, friendly place that says Welcome to all on Easter.

 

Catholic Community



Stewarding Community with Parishioners

 

Earlier this week, I listened to a Paulist Evangelization Ministries webinar on Families, Evangelization, and the New Catechesis.  Aside from the important topic of evangelization, which is so crucial to spreading the message of stewardship, it made some good points about how we steward community with our parishioners.
 

• A Faith Forming System should take into account that to a great extent there is Church Life and there is Daily Life that our parishioners experience.

 

• We are dealing with parishioners - and people who reside in our parish - that are greatly diverse in how they experience religion, from Vibrant Faith and Active Engagement to Not Affiliated.

 

• Parishes have the challenge of connecting Church Life and Daily Life. (And our culture makes it much more important that we make those connections.)

 

The good news is that Online/Electronic Communications can make that much easier than in the past.  A lot of good and practical ideas were shared.  To listen to this webinar go to:

 

http://eventcenter.commpartners.com/se/Meetings/Playback.aspx?meeting.id=248115

Catholic Stewardship of Social Media

Sherry Hayes-Pierce

Social Media is a big part of many people’s lives.  It, therefore, needs to be addressed by our parishes.  In the last couple of years, our parishes have been asked to include parishioner emailing as a way to communicate to their flock and where this is done, there has been much positive feedback.  Because we needed help to think more broadly about how to use social media beyond the email, the Stewardship and Development office brought in a speaker to help us.  Her name is Sherry Hayes-Pierce and we gained some very good knowledge from her that we would like to pass along to you:

·         As regards Social media – rather than any do’s or don’ts in the Church world, Sherry talked about  the what’s.  Because it is important for parishes to connect with their people, it should be important to do that in the most effective way possible. Social media is one of these effective ways

·         Does your parish have a facebook page?  What are some things that you post on your facebook page?  Is there anything important that you don’t post, but could?  What about the Prayers of the Faithful; Sunday readings; funeral dates and times; messages that drive folks back to your website?  If the sky was the limit, what other things could you think of?

·         What about youtube?  Could you post a message from your pastor?  What about videos of your youth, parish events, witness speakers.

What does your parish do already?  What new ideas do you have?  Please tell us in the comment box below (click on the line - no comment - and a comment box will appear) or send an email to parishstewardship@seattlearch.org.