Stewardship effort gets underway in diocese

IC photo by Marie Mischel

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Many diocesan priests, including Father Martin Diaz of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus Parish and Father Michael Sciumbato, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, participated in the Diocesan Stewardship Workshop on Oct. 9.

SALT LAKE CITY – The Diocese of Salt Lake City is undertaking a stewardship initiative to help parishioners meet Saint Ignatius’ first principle: that the goal of our lives is to be with God forever.

The mystery of stewardship is that it helps us stop worrying and turn to the Lord, said the Most Rev. John C. Wester, bishop of Salt Lake City, in his opening remarks at the inaugural Diocesan Stewardship Workshop on Oct. 9 at Saint Vincent de Paul Parish Benvegnu Center.

“God smiles says, ‘If you’re going to worry about things, go right ahead, that’s fine, but just remember that at the end of the day, when you’re ready to give all that up, turn to me and all will be well,” Bishop Wester said.

From the perspective of a steward, God is the giver of every good gift so the proper attitude is one of gratitude, the bishop said, so the stewardship initiative “will really help you and me in our spirituality and in drawing closer to God, which of course is the purpose of life.”

Many people and parishes in the diocese already are engaged in stewardship, the bishop said, but this new initiative is “going to help us get closer to each other and to the Lord,” the bishop said.

About 125 people from a variety of parishes attended the workshop, which was led by Leisa Anslinger, an expert on creating stewardship in parishes.

Many people think stewardship is primarily about money, but a steward “is the person who cares for the farm or the livestock or the vineyard of another, and not only cares for it … but nurtures it and tends it and brings it to bear good fruit with increase,” Anslinger said. “And that’s who we are called to be as stewards. We’re called to recognize, in our lives, that everything that we and everything that we have, is a pure gift from God. And that our lives are meant to be a response to that gift, always deepening, always growing in that relationship with our Lord that pulls us out of ourselves, to give of ourselves, with increase.”

Anslinger has personal experience with the benefits of stewardship. She was in a parish that had a sizeable debt and no plan to pay it off, as well as a divide between those whose children attended parochial schools and those whose children who attended RCIA. The parish priest began a stewardship program, and after 12 years, the parish grew in net membership by 22 percent, she said.

“While our neighborhood was ageing a bit, our median age dropped and continues to. In 2008 we were at 31,” she said. Ministry within the parish and pointed outward grew by 115 percent, she said, and the number of parishioners actively involved in ministry grew by 100 percent, to about 40 percent of adults being actively involved in at least one ministry. “In that same period of time, financial stewardship increased by 147 percent. We did not flinch from talking about money but we didn’t talk about money all the time. It was just one of the many ways in which we were inviting people to live their lives as stewards.”

In the Diocese of Salt Lake City, parishes will spend the next year preparing to introduce the stewardship initiative.

During October, parishes are asked to create a stewardship council. The size of the council will depend upon the size of the parish, said Shannon Lee, director of the diocesan Office of Stewardship and Development.

The people on the parish stewardship council should be people who already are committed to stewardship, who are leaders or potential leaders, Lee said.

In January, Lee’s office will have a stewardship manual available for parishes, and in February parishes should assess themselves in regard to stewardship, she said.

By April parishes should start implementing a stewardship plan in small ways, such as hospitality programs and incorporating stewardship music into the ministry, Lee said.

In June, stewardship information for brochures, commitment cards, posters and banners will be ready and also available on line from the diocesan office, Lee said.

The second annual Diocesan Stewardship is planned for October, and in November parishes should let parishioners know what stewardship opportunities are available and invite them to participate, Lee said.

In December, parishes should follow up with those who have responded to the stewardship, she said.