 | Mission Statement | |
To be co-responsible with Jesus Christ in the building of the kingdom of God and to promote discipleship and spiritual growth through hospitality, prayer, formation, and service.
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 | Upcoming Events | |
FREE Webinar: Blending Multiple Cultures in a Parish
Date: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 Time: 12-1 p.m. (Mountain Time) Presenter: Sharon Hueckel
FREE Webinar: Stewardship, Not for Adults Only
Date: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 Time: 12-1 p.m. (Mountain Time) Presenter: Barbara Gaddy Annual ICSC Conference Diocesan Stewardship Days Week of October 25th Speaker: Scott Bader, Director of Stewardship, Archdiocese of Seattle Place: TBA |
| Stewardship Links
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Below are diocesan and publisher websites that contain resources on stewardship for use in your parish. Some of these materials can be downloaded, while others must be ordered.
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| Stewardship Prayers of the Faithful | | |
We recommend that every week in every parish, a stewardship intention be included in the "Prayers of the Faithful." Below are sample intentions for each week from the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Please share this section with the person who writes your weekly intentions.
July 4, 2010
That we may learn to more deeply trust God to provide us with all that we need.
July 11, 2010
That we may strive to be more like the Good Samaritan, sharing our time, talent and treasure where it is needed.
July 18, 2010
That, like Mary, we may find time this week to be with Jesus in prayer.
July 25, 2010
That we may learn to see the difference between the simple things we need and the many things we want.
August 1, 2010
That we may remember that the many possessions we strive to acquire are worthless in the eyes of the Lord.
August 8, 2010
That we may invest more time and talent in building up a treasure in heaven.
August 15, 2010
That, like our Blessed Mother, we may say "Yes" to what God calls us to do, always remembering that God has done great things for us.
August 22, 2010
That, through our good stewardship, we may build up God's kingdom here on earth and merit ourselves a place at God's eternal banquet.
August 29, 2010
That, through our generous giving, we may allow those who are needy to share in the banquet of blessings that God has bestowed on us.
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 Stewardship News & NotesA newsletter for those promoting the gifts of time, talent and treasure
July/August 2010
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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We all have our worries . . . Will I ever be able to afford to retire? How do I save for my children's college? Is my job secure? Can we afford the mortgage? Will I ever get out of debt? Chances are, we are all faced with at least one of these questions at one time or another. These are the realities we live in, but yet we all continue to give to our local parish, the Idaho Catholic Appeal, Catholic Charities, our almamater, local foodbanks, etc. Why? We make these sacrificial gifts because we believe all gifts are from God and we are called by our Baptism to share whatever we have with our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. We have the faith that God will provide. We hope you will find this issue of Stewardship News & Notes full of helpful information and resources to energize your local stewardship efforts. Please feel free to forward this publication onto others in your parish that you feel may benefit by clicking "Forward email" at the very bottom of this newsletter. May you enjoy a blessed summer with all those special people in your life and may we always remember how God has blessed us and leave our worries behind. Sincerely yours in Christ, Steward Council: Chairperson: Val Allen, St. Mark's, Boise Debbie Gallegos, Holy Spirit Catholic Community, Pocatello Clyde Brinegar , St. Mark's, Boise Dan Makley, Superintendent of Catholic Schools Father Jesus Camacho, St. Mary's, Boise Gail Estes, All Saints Catholic Parish, Lewiston John Hart, Holy Apostles, Meridian Deacon Mike Eisenbeiss, Sacred Heart Parish, Boise Stewardship and Development Office Staff: |
| Stewardship in Action: Holy Spirit in Pocatello
 The Holy Spirit Catholic Community's 12th annual International Food Fair featured a feast of food, entertainment and goodwill on Saturday, May 15th.
There were food selections from Basque, German, Italian, Filipino, Mexican, Irish and American. Some of the entertainment included line dancers, a cappella quartet, live music (English and Spanish), traditional stick dancing from the Philippines and Baile Folklorico.  An International Mass was held at 5:30 p.m. at St. Anthony Chapel. Parishioners carried flags from their countries of orgin. "This is one of the ways that we can bring all our cultures together as one community," shared parishioner Debbie Gallegos. Special thanks to Debbie Gallegos from Holy Spirit for submitting this article and photos as an example of stewardship in action (see FREE stewardship webinar below on Blending Multiple Cultures in a Parish). Does your parish have examples of stewardship in action or materials you'd like to share? We can all learn from each other. Please send your information to mhampton@rcdb.org. |
A Stewardship Prayer
 Lord, You give us the gift of summer, not as a break from you or stewardship of your gifts, But as challenge for us to be stewards of your gifts in a different way. As we enjoy the gifts of longer days and nice weather, Help us to consider as to how we might use those gifts to further build up your kingdom, and also to regularly give you thanks for all your wonderful generosity! We ask this in your name. Amen. |
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Stewardship in the Bulletin
Part of the ongoing process of Stewardship formation involves keeping the theology of Stewardship in front of parishioners all year. One of the ways to do that is to give Stewardship a regular presence in the Sunday bulletin. If Stewardship truly is a priority in the parish, it will also be a priority in the bulletin.
If your bulletin has only four pages, you might be limited to just two small entries each week:
- A brief Stewardship reflection based on the readings of the day (excellent resource below).
- The Sunday Offertory report.
If you have a larger bulletin, consider printing a column each week - perhaps the "Stewardship Corner." This could be prepared by the Stewardship Committe. Ideas for the content of the column include:
- News about parish Stewardship events
- A new ministry made possible with gifts of time and talent
- Status reports on parish goals or projects
- A report on how parish outreach funds were used
- Profiles of parishioners who are examples of good stewards
- Quotes from children's envelopes on how they shared their time and talent
NOTE: The "Stewardship Corner" column described above for the Sunday bulletin could also be a regular feature of your quarterly parish newsletter.
Resource:
Stewardship by the Book by Sharon Hueckel. Dowload a FREE copy at http://www.osvoffertory.com/DIOCESE/Stewardship under the heading Free Stewardship Resources. It's also available from: Sheed & Ward, P.O. Box 419492, Kansas City, MO 64141-6492, (800) 333-7373. This book provides brief reflections on Stewardship themes drawn from the readings for every Sunday of the Church year in cycles A, B and C.
This article reprinted with permission from the Diocese of Orange Parish Stewardship Manual.
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FREE Stewardship Webinars
The Development and Stewardship Office is purchasing a diocesan-wide registration each month that allows any parish staff or volunteers to attend webinars offered by Our Sunday Visitor at no cost. There is no limit on the number of attendees from our diocese or your parish. The one-hour sessions are offered at two times on the second Tuesday of each month, except during the summer months of June, July, and August when they are only offered at one time.
Our Sunday Visitor has assembled nationally acclaimed speakers to present a variety of stewardship topics for these webinars. Below are descriptions of the upcoming webinars for July and August. The parish link to register is:
Once parishes register on the link above, Our Sunday Visitor will send them the "Join" link for them to join the webinar. The registration deadline is the day before the scheduled webinar.
 Blending Multiple Cultures in a ParishDate: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 Time: 12-1 p.m. (Mountain Time) Presenter: Sharon Hueckel Description: Your parish is probably a multi-cultural parish, even if you have Mass in only one language. And if your congregation speaks two or more languages, you certainly are! This session will look at some ways to see and celebrate our rich cultural diversity. Come prepared to share some examples of your own and to go home with a wealth of new ideas.  Stewardship, Not for Adults OnlyDate: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 Time: 12-1 p.m. (Mountain Time) Presenter: Barbara Gaddy Description: This session will address stewardship for the children and youth of the parish. It will provide some concrete ideas for incorporating stewardship education into faith formation programs. It will also address the importance of including the children and youth in the parish stewardship efforts and parish ministries.
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| ABCs of Giving
If parishes are going to remain vibrant, grow stronger and increase their presence in the community, they often need more financial resources and more volunteer commitment. We can talk about all kinds of fundraising strategies or volunteer recruitment efforts, but in the end it comes down to two very basic things.
- We have to find more donors and/or volunteers.
- We have to get those who currently give to give more.
The willingness of individuals to begin to increase their support to your parish depends on three simple criteria, which can be remembered as the ABCs of giving.
Ability to Give Belief in What You Are Doing Connection to Your Organization
The importance of these three criteria is in reverse order:
- Connection - It doesn't matter how wealthy someone is or how much time they have, if they are not connected to your parish they are not going to support it.
- Belief - Even those who are connected - parishioners, alums, neighbors, etc. - have to believe in what you are doing before they will support you.
- Ability - Finally, if they are connected and if they do believe in what you are doing, then they have to actually have the time and/or the funds to help.
Good stewardship and development play a role in helping you develop Ability, Belief and Connection in your parishioners.
First and foremost, good stewardship helps parishioners realize that they have both the ability and the responsibility to give. Through prayer, reflection on the stewardship messages found in scripture and hearing the stewardship witness of others, parishioners begin to realize that they do have gifts to give. They begin to see that God has given them many blessings and they have an obligation to share those. They learn to re-evaluate their priorities so that they have more time and resources to share with God.
However, parishes also need to utilize the good development practices of visioning, relationship building, communications and appreciation, to help parishioners believe in the work that the parish does and feel a connection to the parish.
You can help parishioners to believe in the work that you are doing in your parish by keeping them informed through newsletters, updated websites and quality annual reports. You can help parishioners feel more connected to your parish through good welcoming activities, good appreication strategies and the same communications strategies that are used to help people believe in your mission.
Embrace stewardship and development and you will see a difference in your parish!
Copyright Archdiocese of St. Louis. Reprinted with permission.
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| 2010 ICSC Conference
We urge parishes to consider sending staff and leadership to this conference. We had hoped to re-purpose grant funds to provide scholarships for first time attendees, but recently learned our request was declined.
The 2010 International Catholic Stewardship Council (ICSC) Conference is scheduled for Sept. 19-22, San Diego, CA. It is the biggest gathering of stewardship experts sharing their experiences, enthusiasm, energy, and ideas via presentations, networking, and exhibits. Registration options can help your parish to budget the conference into both this fiscal year and next or entirely in the next fiscal year if necessary. Don't hesitate to contact the ICSC office at 800-352-3452 with questions or for more information.
For those who worry about the bottom line, regardless of how you budget it, you will definitely leave the conference with ideas that pay for themselves many times over in terms of increased parish income and increased volunteers. Register online at www.catholicstewardship.org/
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| Q&A
This article can be used in your parish bulletin or newsletter to promote greater stewardship.
Did You Remember Your Gift?
It is only natural when you are invited to a party - whether it is birthday, anniversary, homecoming or any other celebration - to think about the gift that you will bring. Even when the invitation says, "No gifts, please," most  of us still show up with a bottle of wine or a box of candy or some other token of our affection. We bring gifts to show our gratitude for being invited and to show our love for the one being honored and celebrated. So, when God Himself invites you to the greatest celebration of all - the celebration of the Eucharist - do you bring a gift? Do you take time to wrap it in an envelope? Do you select a gift that truly reflects your gratitude for being invited to be a part of God's family? Do you bring a gift that shows your love for the crucified Jesus, who we remember at every Mass? The invitation to the Mass does not say "No gifts, please." In fact, since God first called the Israelites to be His people He taught them, "No one shall appear before the Lord empty-handed, but each of you with as much as he can give, in proportion to the blessings which the Lord, your God has bestowed on you." - Deuteronomy 16:16-17 Did you remember your gift?
Copyright Archdiocese of St. Louis. Reprinted with permission.
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