What is Stewardship?Stewardship is not a program. It is a way of life, a spirituality for the maturing Christian. It is rooted in an awareness that we have been abundantly blessed by God. Our lives, our families, and all our possessions ultimately come to us from God. This awareness leads us to be grateful. We approach life with a spirit of gratitude, recognizing that everything is Gift entrusted to our keeping by God. Our response to God’s generosity is to be generous ourselves and to commit ourselves to give generously a first portion of our time, our talents, and our treasure for the advancement of the Kingdom of God.
Who then is a Christian Steward?One who RECEIVES God's gifts gratefully,
TENDS them in a responsible and accountable manner,
RETURNS them with increase to the Lord, and
SHARES them in justice and love with others.
The St. Patrick Community has pledged itself to following the stewardship way of life. We ask all members of the parish to make an annual stewardship pledge of the time, talent and treasure which they will give to the parish in the coming year. Over 80% of all parish households participate in stewardship. This provides the community with the personal talents and the financial resources it requires in order to be a vital center of Catholic life and worship.
How much is a "generous first portion"?
In the Bible, God asks for a tithe of all the blessings one has received to be set aside for God’s work: the first ten percent of one’s crop or flock or income. In the current Catholic approach to stewardship, we realize that, in addition to their parish church community, there are other worthy charities and causes which people wish to support. So we ask that parishioners pledge a gift of 5% of their time (for worship, prayer and study), their talent (using their personal gifts for the service and benefit of the church), and their treasure (a gift of at least 5% of their household income).
This approach to the stewardship of Treasure asks everyone to give in proportion to the blessings they have. This ensures that all members of the parish family will have access to all the ministries of the parish, including Catholic elementary education.
Who is a Parishioner?
In the light of our parish commitment to the stewardship way of life, we define an Active Parishioner as one who:
- has completed the parish registration process
- participates regularly in the liturgical life of the parish
- supports of the Parish Mission by completing and fulfilling an annual Stewardship Commitment of Time, Talent and Treasure.
-- News Story --
2006 Stewardship Enrollment Achieves New MilestoneBy Tim Grove
St. Patrick achieved a remarkable new milestone for stewardship enrollment this past spring and summer.
As of July 31, 79 percent of parishioners had completed and returned enrollment forms to the parish office pledging their time, talent, and treasure for the 2006-07 fiscal year.
That is an all-time record for this parish and it is nearly 20 percent above the national average for stewardship parishes, said Nagy Tawfik, parish business manager.
Gifts of time and talent were “off the charts,” Tawfik said, noting a bighearted willingness on the part of parishioners to give back in service to St. Patrick’s more than 60 ministries and its 30-some outreach ministry partnerships, which exist under the umbrella of “Christ STEPS.”
Gifts of treasure totaled slightly more than $4.1 million, he said.
“On behalf of the parish, we appreciate the generosity and commitment of all those who have pledged their time, talent, and treasure,” Tawfik said.
“Our enrollment this year is the highest in our history,” Tawfik said. “We continue to retain a majority of our school families. We look forward to those parishioners being with us for decades to come.”
St. Patrick’s new website made the process of renewal more efficient for a majority of parishioners, Tawfik said. “In fact, 90 percent of school families renewed on-line – by downloading stewardship renewal forms from the website or from the school PONY and then sending their completed forms by e-mail.”
“What we have done with the parish website has been a major milestone,” Tawfik said. “I have had new families tell me that they were attracted to St. Patrick by our new website and its wealth of information about our parish and its many ministries.”
Nick Eve, archdiocesan director of stewardship and development, said St. Patrick’s enrollment figure is cause for celebration. Not only does St. Patrick’s 79 percent enrollment exceed the archdiocesan average of 40 to 60 percent, Eve said, but it is well above the national average.
Meantime, student enrollment in our school has reached an all-time high of 725 for the 2006-07 academic year, said Elaine Wnorowski, principal.
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