Our Lady & St Joseph's - Stewardship in Lancaster Diocese 4

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STEWARDSHIP - A Quick Tour

Stewardship is one way of living out our discipleship. It has to come from a very mature faith; an attitude of mind and of living that is driven by the acknowledgement that all things in life, indeed life itself, do not belong to me, but to God. All my gifts, skills and talents belong to God. I am merely here for a while to care for them, to use them wisely, to nurture and develop them, and then to return them. I come with nothing, and I shall leave with nothing. But in between times I am called to do many things.

What is the technical definition of the word steward? A steward is a keeper, one who is in charge of something on behalf of someone else; perhaps a responsibility for other people, for resources, or for someone else’s possessions. S/he must be faithful and loyal to the owner, and manage according to the owner’s intentions. The steward accepts delegated authority, and is accountable to the owner for how this authority is used in fulfilment of the responsibilities delegated. The steward is also and equally responsible to others who are also called to the same stewardship.

The Christian Steward

In answering the question “Who is a Christian Steward?” in their 1992 Pastoral Letter “Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response” the US Bishops offer four fundamental characteristics of the Christian Steward.

1. Gratitude: An attitude of gratitude. The Christian steward is one who receives God’s gifts gratefully. This presumes, of course, that God is acknowledged as the giver of all gifts, the true owner of all that we have and are; and that is why our faith must be a mature faith. A deep sense of gratitude to God and to those around us helps us to keep things in perspective: it helps us to achieve a clear sense of purpose and identity.

2. Responsibility: A true Christian Steward is one who is always aware and conscious of the responsibilities s/he carries for the use of the gifts received, and will be required to give an account before God in the fullness of time. In the church of the past this was very threatening; indeed, it may still feel that way! But really it is simply a recognition that the gifts have been given for a purpose, not as in the parable, to be buried unused. The good steward is one who cherishes and tends God’s gifts in a responsible manner.

3. Openness and generosity: If through our mature faith we agree with the basic acknowledgment that everything is God’s and does not belong to us, it follows that all is to be shared equally and fairly with others. This is where we must start to take responsibility for our call to mission and outreach: to bring to others around us the love and word of God. Many people find it a struggle to come to terms with this. We can still see our faith as a private matter, and are afraid of sharing it with others. This probably comes from a lack of confidence; brought about partly by an immaturity of faith, that hasn’t developed or has not been nurtured, and partly by the rapid changes we are seeing in society and in the Church itself. But for the Christian Steward to be open and generous with our faith and our gifts is a responsibility, a duty.

4. Willingness to give back with increase: Jesus tells us many times in his parables that it’s no good just sitting on our talents and doing nothing with them. We must use them wisely, work hard and enable them to develop and grow, then return them with thanks for the blessings we have received. Waiting for things to happen around us may be a characteristic of human nature, but for the Christian Steward it is simply not an option. The Christian steward has to be counter-cultural.

The first task for us as Christian Stewards is to reflect on our own personal mission for life, based upon these four characteristics. From there we turn to our community. We are responsible for those close to us – our families and our friends. Then we are stewards of and responsible for our parishes and our communities. Finally we foster a strong sense of universal stewardship, caring for those far from us in our mission to the poor and oppressed.

Through our baptism and confirmation we are called to live out and proclaim the mission of Jesus Christ. Through the Eucharist we are bound together as a community. And through these sacraments, which are common to us all, we are called to exercise many and varied ministries in our communities. Within these ministries, those who are ordained have a particular call to a role of leadership in service, to call out the gifts of those entrusted to their care.

The Stewardship Parish

Having reached a clear perspective of the personal life of the Christian Steward, it then becomes natural to go the next step, and offer our gifts to join with other stewards, pursuing the mission of our parish or Eucharistic community. It is a natural consequence: the two are mutually inclusive. What are the distinctive characteristics, therefore, of a stewardship parish, and the part that each of us is required to play? What is the ideal model?

1. Warmth and Hospitality: This generates a clear and strong sense of personal and community belonging. The parish is not buildings and structures; it is a community of people, the sum of its constituent parts. It needs to be warm in its welcome. Everyone has something to contribute. Everyone is needed. All are gifted and called by the Holy Spirit to participate as fully as possible in the mission of the Church to work for the Kingdom of God. Everyone is asked to contribute to planning and discussion, and to recognize and respect each other’s right to have and express an opinion.

2. Scripture and Prayer: The life of the parish and the individual steward will be deeply rooted in the celebration of scripture, prayer and in the sacraments. The Christian steward needs to be sustained by constant contact with the parish community, and with the opportunities that it offers for the nourishment of the faith. Regular reading and sharing of the scriptures can be profoundly inspirational in decision-making and planning. Perhaps no parish meeting should take place unless and until a quarter to a third of the time allocated for the meeting has been first devoted to reading, sharing, and praying the scriptures.

3. Commitment and Recommitment: Stewardship is expressed not in a single programme, but in a constant reminder to commit one’s very self to the Lord. This requires annual commitment and recommitment. But, one of the frequent cries from committed people is that once they start something, they can never find a way out. They become stuck in it, and the ministry eventually becomes a burden. So in a stewardship parish commitment is time-limited, so that people can devote themselves to ministry and mission when they know that they have time and energy available; and when they don’t, they withdraw for a while. The whole community needs to understand this: at times they can, and at times they can’t, for perfectly genuine reasons.

4. Stewardship Committee: The parish needs a systematic way of infusing the theology and practice of stewardship into its life, identifying opportunities for members of the parish to share their time, talent and treasure, and establishing an ongoing process to recruit, recognise and thank volunteers in all parish ministries. The stewardship committee is charged with the responsibility of discovering and identifying the skills and gifts available within the parish. It is they who call for annual commitment and renewal. And within the process, individual parishioners are regularly encouraged to share their experiences of ministry and giftedness so that others are to be encouraged to come forward. This in itself is stewardship of the gift of leadership.

5. Outreach and Mission: Mission is not what the church does; it’s what the church is called to be. Each of us has a primary responsibility for mission, to bring the good news of the gospel to the world around us. Stewardship is to enable mission. Many parishes have become inward looking and maintenance-driven, not mission orientated. We all have it within our power to bring people to the knowledge of Jesus, but perhaps we are frightened to do so. For example the parish can choose to set aside a portion of its resources each year to reach out to and serve those in need: first, those at home in the parish and the local community, then in the wider community and throughout the universal Church.

6. Accountability: Constant personal and community accountability is fundamental to good stewardship. In a stewardship parish there will be a visible commitment to accountability for the full range of parish activities, from decision making, to the gathering and use of resources. Regular reports, written and verbal, are essential. Everyone needs to be kept in touch with how things are going, and what decisions have been made on their behalf.

7. True Collaboration: In a stewardship parish there is true collaboration involving priest and parishioners in genuine shared responsibility for planning, resourcing and facilitating mission. At first this is hard on everyone, involving personal sacrifice, as tasks seem to take four times as long, and there are inevitable creative tensions. But a genuine investment of time, patience and understanding, with an honest desire to acknowledge each person’s right to hold opinions, will develop into an exciting process. All are called to explore their gifts and offer them for the community in pursuing its mission, to serve the Kingdom of God. This is not collaborative ministry brought about through a shortage of priests, a shortage of money or problems with buildings; it comes from recognising each other’s roles and ministries from baptism.

If stewardship is to seriously take root in a parish it will involve for most a wholesale shift in culture, a complete change of mindset – from the maintenance-driven parish to the mission-orientated parish where everyone takes a share of responsibility for decision-making, and for mission.