The ancient tradition of the Church holds that St. Luke was a doctor from Syria. He traveled with St. Paul and was with him in Rome when St. Paul died. He then traveled to Greece where he wrote the Gospel that bears his name and the Actos of the Apostles. Whatever else he was and did, it is for these two books of the New Testament that he is best remembered. And that has profound implications for stewardship. This Gentile convert, inspired by the Holy Spirit, was clearly a gifted writer and teacher. His books are not a simple recounting of events, but a kind of preaching, a way of telling the good news of Jesus Christ and story of the early Church that reaches across time and invites his readers into relationship with Jesus. This good steward put his gifts at God’s disposal, allowed himself to be led by God’s Spirit, and so is still serving the Lord as an evangelist—still preaching and teaching—20 centuries later! The Lord will multiply our gits, too, if we will use them in his service.
-taken from “Steward Saints For Every Day” by Sharon Hueckel
Although we are not all called to be evangelists in the same sense St. Luke was, we are all called, by virtue of our baptism, into the prophetic ministry of Jesus. We are all called to tell the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Recently, I read the book, “What Do I Own and What Owns Me?” by Daniel Conway. This short book is a great introduction to Stewardship. In my copy, there was also a DVD with four short segments from a talk given by Archbishop Murphy, who was part of the Bishop’s committee that developed “A Steward’s Response”, the pastoral letter on stewardship. These short clips (5-8 minutes long) are also available on You Tube.
As I watched them and read this book, I thought they both could be used by Stewardship committees as “continuing education” as tools to help equip us to tell the good news of stewardship. Would you consider taking the first 10 minutes of your next several meetings to view and discuss these clips? The book, too, could be used in this way. The chapters are very short and have discussion questions at the end. I think you will find them both encouraging and enlightening!
Since I recently celebrated my birthday, I really appreciated this 3rd segment in the series and laughed out loud at the “Irish Optimism”:
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The 2017 Stewardship Summit was held last Friday and
Saturday and it was a fantastic event!
Chris Stewart and Tony Brandt, from Wichita, KS shared inspirational
stories, and wonderful practical tools for living a life of stewardship. They also challenged us to grow! All of the workshops went smoothly and we do
not have one negative comment on an evaluation!
Everyone who completed an evaluation gave it high marks. Here are a few comments from participants:
Outstanding, Motivational, Inspiring!
Really a meaningful exchange of
information. So glad we came!
The speakers were amazing and inspired us with
many ideas to pray about. The breakout
sessions were also really good and gave us some great information to help us
and others grow in holiness.
Had a wonderful time and appreciate all of your
hard work!
Every person should hear this message! It is applicable no matter what your age or
your work or how involved you are in the Church.
What people are saying to me about the Summit is
that the talks and workshops were so applicable to daily life.
“I think it’s our best one so far!” – Bishop Gruss
Those families who took advantage of our Youth Track were
very grateful. Here are a couple of
comments:
The kids track was ESSENTIAL to me – all five of
my kids attended and loved it. I would not have been able to attend the Summit
without the track – please consider offering this option in the future!
I am so glad you had the spot for the kids. I wanted
to come last year but had no place for my son to go. This year you did
and I am so glad. And my son had a great time!
If you came, but didn’t get a chance to fill out an evaluation, please take a few minutes to do so RIGHT NOW! Your comments really do help us to plan for next year.
If you didn’t come, we missed you! But we don’t want you to miss out on the
great information presented! All of the
talks from the Summit are posted for you in two places:
Audio available on the Rapid City Diocese’s Podcast. Open Podcasts on your smart phone or tablet, search for “Rapid City Diocese”, download the talks and enjoy!
Mark your calendars now for next year’s Summit to be held September 21-22 at Terra Sancta Retreat
Center. We are already working on great
ideas for next year.
All the parishes by this time should have received
their posters and fliers for the third annual Stewardship Summit being held
Friday- Saturday, September 29 – 30 at the Terra Sancta Retreat Center in Rapid
City. I hope you have noticed them!
As
another way to help publicize this year’s Stewardship Summit in your parishes we
have produced a short, eight-minute DVD. In the DVD, several parishioners from
the diocese, who have participated in the Summit in the past, share how why
they went and why they would invite others to come. They have found the Summit
to be a valuable experience for them in living out a life of stewardship
through generous hospitality and lively faith. I also invite those watching to
attend and give a short synopsis of what the Summit offers.
The theme for this year Stewardship
Summit is “Learning to Drop the Net” with Casting Nets Ministries, which will
focus on the third lens of our Stewardship initiative: Dedicated
Discipleship. Our keynote speakers are Tony Brandt and Chris Stewart of
Casting Nets Ministries. “Tony and Chris have been speaking all over the
country for more than a decade proclaiming the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ
and equipping Catholics to become Missionary Disciples,” according to
their website.
Both are former teachers
who bring warmth, humor and wisdom to their presentations. They have great
stories to tell about their own experiences living as dedicated disciples in
the Diocese of Wichita, which has a rich and successful tradition of
stewardship. They will give three addresses during the summit and will share
with us their Seven Pillars of Effective Evangelization.
In addition to these
talks, eight workshops will be offered. Bishop Robert Gruss has generously
agreed to lead three workshops. Fr. Jonathan Dillon, who is the pastor of the
parish clusters in Gregory County, will be back with three more stories of
great saints and I will share wisdom from Brandon Vogt’s book, Return, which outlines proven steps for
drawing your adult child back to the church.
An addition to our
conference this year is a youth track – meaningful play and age appropriate
stewardship lessons for toddlers through 9th grade.
I would really like to
encourage all stewardship committees to take an active role in reaching out to
members of your parish communities and your families, to personally invite them
to the Summit. Do not take the week easy
way out and simply put up the posters and fliers in the narthex gathering areas
of your parishes, but instead take a few fliers and personally invite a
parishioner, a family to the summit. Hand them a flier yourself. I would also
encourage the parish stewardship committees to help promote the Summit by organizing
different parish groups and organizations to view the DVD*. Personal invitations are always the best and
produce the best type of fruit.
In the past, stewardship
committees have not been well represented at the summit themselves. If stewardship committees could take a more
active role by participating in the summit, it could go a long ways re-energize
your stewardship committees in your parishes.
