The biggest take away for me after watching January's Our Sunday Visitor's Stewardship webinar was that we are doing more than filling out a commitment card on Stewardship Sunday. We are making a covenant with God. Just like Moses, Elijiah, Mary and all the great Saints, we too are making a vow. We are strengthening our spiritual relationship with God when we pledge to give our time, talent and treasure. Actually, Dave says those terms are outdated, over used and undervalued. Instead he suggests using Prayer, Participation and Generosity. I've change
the home page of www.catholicstewardshiplubbock.org to reflect these new terms.
By acknowledging a covenant is made, we cannot take it lightly. The word “Covenant” implies a scared bond with God versus the word “Commitment” which sounds like a process, not a relationship with God.
Dave's suggestion for an annual stewardship plan would go a long way for my parish. Actually, any kind of plan would be nice. Most of the time there's a brief report on what occured during the past month (with little reflection if it was a success of a failure). Then we look towards the next month's to-do list. Holy day mass? Check. Father's vacation days? Check. Sunday food sales? Check. Ok, that's all for next month, see you next month and we'll discuss next month.
A yearly plan would help set the schedule for success! If we know the date of the Jamaica we can start buying in bulk now! If we know the date of First Communion, we can schedule volunteers now. Our fundraising goal is $10,000. This is only $1,000 a month if we start now! The longer we wait, the higher the monthly goal will be.... Does your parish create an annual calendar at the beginning of the year? If so, please share with me
by e-mail. I'd love to see what works for Diocese of Lubbock parishes.
Dave's webinar also covered:
- Stewardship Terminology People Respond to
- Parish Stewardship needs the pastor on board
- Develop an Annual Stewardship Plan
- Develop a Stewardship Culture by holding Parish Ministry Leader Meetings
- Parish Marketing
- Parish Communication
- Welcoming/Engagement
- Annual Stewardshp Renewal (Covenant Cards, Festival of Ministries, Lay Witness Talks)
- Generosity!
Watch the recorded webinar here and download his documents below.
Also see another take on his webinar in our January newsletter.
It's still early, it's only mid-January, take some time and put your stewardship plan together.
See below for a sample of an annual stewardship calendar to get your creative juices flowing. Call us if you need help! 792-3943 x207
January 16, 2017The biggest take away for me after watching January's Our Sunday Visitor's Stewardship webinar was that we are doing more than filling out a commitment card on Stewardship Sunday. We are making a covenant with God. Just like Moses, Elijiah, Mary and all the great Saints, we too are making a vow. We are strengthening our spiritual relationship with God when we pledge to give our time, talent and treasure. Actually, Dave says those terms are outdated, over used and undervalued. Instead he suggests using Prayer, Participation and Generosity. I've change the home page of www.catholicstewardshiplubbock.org to reflect these new terms.