Develop a Stewardship Culture

• Generally speaking, 30% of registered parishioners attend Mass regularly, 20 % attend occasionally, and 50% do not attend at all.
• So, 50 – 70% of a parish does not hear the Stewardship messages at Sunday Mass.
• However, many of the 50 – 70% who do not attend Mass regularly, are active in other parish ministries. (The good news is we have a lot of up-side potential!)
• So, we need to “fish where the fish are.”
• Conduct a Parish Ministry Leader Meeting at least once a year (preferably twice):
  • April meeting to educate parish leaders on stewardship education and communicate Fall Stewardship plans and their role in those plans.
  • November meeting to analyze results of recent Fall Stewardship Renewal process and adjust as necessary.
  • Meeting should include opening prayer, introductions, brief stewardship education, other parish objectives, brainstorming session, time for suggestions/ new ideas and end with prayer.
  • Consider a “staff meeting” with all the parish ministry leaders.
• Benefits of Parish Ministry Leader Meetings:
  • Educates leaders on stewardship and other parish goals/objectives.
  • Parish information is communicated at monthly parish ministry meetings to parishioners who may not attend Mass regularly or not at all.
  • Opportunity for parish leaders to meet each other and develop a relationship.
  • Ministry leaders will support each other and not compete with each other.
  • Source of new ideas (discontinue ministries that have run their course and start new ministries).
• Encourage parish ministry leaders to weave stewardship education into their individual monthly ministry meetings (people that don’t attend Mass now hear what Stewardship is about).
• Stewardship message should be communicated every month, not just once a year in September.
• Parish ministry leaders should constantly invite their ministry members to join them at Mass.
• Stewardship Committee Members:
  • Consists of “seasoned” parishioners (known to others, approachable, will express their own opinion).
  • Should be a composite of your parish so that all voices are represented (elderly, middle age, young adult, male, female, ethnic backgrounds, school parents, PSR parents, etc.)
  • Do not pick 6 – 8 people with the same point of view. Healthy debate is good, however, need to eventually come to a consensus.
  • Give each member a specific role. See page 138 for an example of committee roles (i.e. Committee Member Roles).
  • Succession planning – target particular demographics needed to round out committee (i.e. grade school parent, PSR parent, male/female, young/elderly, married/single.
  • Have term limits for committee members (minimum of 3 years).
  • Stagger terms so a portion of committee goes off every year and new members are added.
  • Stewardship Committee is on the same level as Parish Council and Finance Committee. (Rotate parish leaders to other committees).
  • Smaller parishes will typically combine Parish Council and Stewardship Committee together.
• Publish agenda and meeting minutes.
• Many parishes have ministries that work together to support the parish mission. Sadly, some parishes have ministries that operate independently of the parish mission and the pastor’s goals and objectives.
• If you are in a situation where there is not cohesion among the parish ministry leaders, it may be time to review the ministry leadership and politely ask a ministry leader to step down and provide an opportunity for someone else to lead, but invite that person to join another ministry. (If you lead a ministry for a long time, you only see the parish from a narrow point of view.)
• Review your current parish ministries. Are they still active? Is participation dwindling? Does the ministry support the parish mission? If not, it may be time to “sunset” or discontinue that particular ministry.
• Do you have parishioners that have brought new gifts to the parish? Do you have changing parish demographics? It may be time to add a new ministry.
• Don’t take the summer off! Many ministries don’t meet during the summer months because of vacations. Not everyone goes on vacation at the same time!
• When ministries “close down for the summer” it just reinforces that our parish is also “closed for the summer” (and we wonder why Mass attendance drops). We are not a 9- month church, we are a 12-month church.