Don McArdle
Msgr. Daniel Mueggenborg
Father Michael Troha
Stewardship, correctly understood and properly practiced, will energize your parish.
That message was hammered home in a variety of ways at a diocesan morning conference Feb. 7 at St. Elizabeth Church in Aiea by visiting and local speakers eager to spread the gospel of stewardship.
The presenters emphasized for the 300 attendees what stewardship was — a culture, a way of life. And what it wasn’t — just another program, a fundraising technique.
The prevailing word used to describe stewardship was “discipleship.”
The all-male cast of presenters included Bishop Larry Silva, St. Elizabeth’s pastor and parochial vicar, a master of ceremonies, the head of the diocesan Office of Stewardship and Development, and the three mainland speakers.
The bishop, in introductory remarks, said the practice of stewardship is Christ alive today in the actions of his followers.
“We very often think of Jesus in the past tense,” the bishop said, “but he is risen from the dead. He is alive, he is now. He is in the present tense, in his body, the real body of Christ of which we are all a part.”
“Jesus healed the sick, comforted the mourning, called people to conversion, to take up their crosses,” the bishop said.
“So we are in the presence of Christ here and now. Stewardship is about discipleship, about how to be active, alive parts of the Body of Christ,” he said.
Bishop Silva has adopted stewardship — often described as the sharing of time, talent and treasure — as the successor to the With Grateful Hearts 2008-2013 campaign which had resulted in more than $50 million in pledges. What was formerly called the Office of Development he renamed the Office of Stewardship and Development.
The event at St. Elizabeth was the diocese’s third annual Oahu Stewardship conference, organized primarily for lay parish leaders. The diocese also sponsored a similar conference the day before for priests only, and a two-day stewardship conference Jan-23-24 on Maui at St. Theresa Church, Kihei, and St. Anthony Church, Wailuku.
About 20 at the St. Elizabeth conference raised their hands in response to the question of who was from the neighbor islands. About a dozen clergy were also there.
Mark Clark, the director of the diocesan Office of Stewardship and Development, coordinated all the conferences.
We deserve nothing
“Stewardship is a response to being a disciple of Christ,” said the first guest speaker, Don McArdle, the deacon from the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia.
It’s “recognizing that every good thing comes as a gift,” he said. “We deserve nothing.”
Stewardship is being thankful for those gifts and using them for the honor and glory of God, he said.
“It’s not an option. It is part and parcel of being a disciple,” said the father of nine and grandfather of 22.
The “fundamental purpose of our parishes,” the deacon said, is to “make and grow disciples.”
“Stewardship is a way of life, not another scheme to raise money,” he said. “Everyone in our parish has tremendous potential. Stewardship helps us grow in trust and faith.”
“The bedrock of your parish has got to be stewardship,” he said.
God’s generosity prevails
The second speaker, Msgr. Daniel Mueggenborg, a priest for 25 years of the Diocese of Tulsa, Okla., told the crowd how personal experience drove his embrace of stewardship.
“Stewardship is deeply rooted in fundamental experiences in my life,” he said, relating three episodes in his life when his hesitant generosity was almost immediately and providentially repaid.
The first incident happened when, as a seminarian, on an impulse of conscience, he dropped all his vacation money into the donation basket of a charitable order of nuns only to receive the exact amount a few hours later as a gift out of the blue.
“I learned something that day,” he said. “The first important lesson: God will never be outdone in generosity. I came to believe it that day.”
Through other experiences, he learned that God will “take care of you” if you let him; and that God wants to be generous, but needs an “open door.”
“Those lessons continue to shape my life and ministry as a priest,” Msgr. Mueggenborg said. “I cannot ask others to do what I am not willing to do myself.”
“I promote the spirit of stewardship because I want people to have the same experience of God that changed my life,” he said.
“A Christian steward is one who reverses God’s gift, eager to grow in life with God,” he said.
“Stewardship is a way of life, not a method to raise money,” he said. “It’s an invitation to a deeper faith.”
The monsignor gave seven characteristics of a successful parish stewardship program. They include transparency, accountability, generosity, excellent and purposeful ministries, an efficient administration and ample communication.
He said that the adoption of stewardship in his parish resulted in significant increases in Mass attendance, participation in ministry, parish registrations and offertory contributions.
Msgr. Mueggenborg also listed common “pitfalls” parishes experience when implementing stewardship.
“Do it well or don’t do it at all,” he said. “Don’t expect too much too soon.”
“The commitment starts from the top down: the pastor, parish leaders, staff.”
“It is not just one more ministry,” but its language and mindset should permeate all of parish life.
“Stewardship requires creativity,” he said. “It won’t work in every parish.”
“It is not about results, it’s about conversion. If it is no longer an act of faith, if it is an administrative tactic, it is doomed to failure,” the monsignor said.
Everything I have is a gift
The third speaker, Father Michael Troha, a pastor in Willoughby, Ohio, said stewardship is recognizing and responding to the fact that “everything I have is a gift from God.”
“We want to give back and share these gifts with others,” he said.
“It’s about faith,” he said. “It has to start with leaders in the parish, not the diocese.”
But he urged his audience not to rush the process or expect too much too soon.
“It takes time,” he said.
“It took six to seven years for our parish to gel and come together,” he said. “We now have more ministries, more volunteers than ever before.”
Also reporting on the early progress of a stewardship effort at St. John Apostle and Evangelist Parish in Mililani was its pastor Msgr. John Mbinda.
About 40 stayed after the conference for a “bonus” workshop conducted by the diocesan Finance Office on ways to make donations to parishes online.
