Charles E. Zech - Best Practices in Parish Stewardship

Best Practices in
PARISH
STEWARDSHIP

Best Practices in
PARISH
STEWARDSHIP

CHARLES E. ZECH

Villanova University
Center for the Study of Church Management

Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division
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The Scripture citations used in this work are taken from the Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible (RSV), copyright 1965 and 1966 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Copyright 2008 by Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division,
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CONTENTS

Chapter One

INTRODUCTION

Most Catholics are surprised to learn that, compared to their Protestant friends, they rank very low in terms of their support for their Church. Beginning with Fr. Andrew Greeleys path-breaking 1987 study of Catholic financial giving, nearly every study of the topic has found that, on a percentage of income basis, Catholics contribute only about half as much to their Church as do Protestants. Most studies reveal that the typical Protestant household contributes in the range of 2 to 2.4% of their income to their church, while Catholic households contribute from 1 to 1.2%.

What does this mean in practical terms? It means that if Catholic households contributed at just the same rate as their Protestant friends, the same 2 to 2.4% of their income (were not even talking about tithing here), the U.S. Catholic Church would receive something in the area of $7 billion a year more in annual revenues. This translates into about $400,000 per year for the average parish. What could a parish do with an additional $400,000 every year? Think of the deferred maintenance on the parish grounds that could be addressed. Think of the community outreach that the parish could perform. Think of improving on the scandalously low salaries that we currently pay our lay professional staffs. The list goes on.

But the news gets even worse. Not only are Catholics low financial givers, they also trail their Protestant friends in the amount of time they volunteer to their parishes. A study by Hoge et al. (1998) shows that the average Catholic household volunteered 1.6 hours per week to their church, while the average Protestant household in the study volunteered 3 hours per week again, a two-to-one ratio.

What are the causes for the low giving, both in financial terms and as measured by volunteer time, that Catholic parishes receive from their parishioners? A number of studies are reviewed in that cite various reasons. But the fact of the matter is that introducing stewardship is probably the one best thing that a parish can do to increase members contributions of their time, talent, and treasure.

The Meaning of Stewardship

The theology behind stewardship, as presented in the Bible, is straightforward. The master has departed on a trip and left the steward in charge. When he returns, the master asks for an accounting from the steward: What have you done with what I entrusted to you? The message is that all creation is a gift. Each of us has been entrusted with gifts, in the form of our time, talent, and treasure. Someday we will be called to give an accounting of how we used those gifts to advance the kingdom of God.

A number of thoughts come up frequently to describe stewardship:

All we have is really a gift from God, Who asks us to return a portion in the form of our time, talent, and treasure to support His work on earth.

Stewardship involves developing a need to give, rather than merely giving to a need.

Stewardship is an understanding of a total way of life; a conversion of mind and heart.

Stewardship is not about something we do, it is about who we are, and Whose we are.

Stewardship is about asking ourselves, What do we own, and what owns us?

Stewardship is an act of worship, not an act of obligation.

In fact, stewardship is so much about what we as a Church should be preaching anyway that, even if the Church were flush with money and volunteer time, we should still emphasize the stewardship message.

In 1992, recognizing the emerging practice of stewardship at the time, the U.S. Catholic bishops thought it imperative to emphasize its theological foundations. They released a pastoral letter, Stewardship: A Disciples Response. As the title indicates, stewardship is part of the Christian vocation of discipleship initiated at Baptism. As such, it is integral, not optional. Further, it calls on Catholics to be outward-focused, intent on serving all of humanity, but especially those with the greatest need. The bishops recognize that stewardship is costly and demanding to practice; in many ways, it is countercultural.

One reason why the bishops chose a theological, rather than prescriptive, approach to stewardship was to counter the notion that stewardship is only about money. This was partly in response to the common practice at the time (and still frequently employed today) of discussing stewardship once per year in the parish, in conjunction with a financial report and an appeal to parishioners to be generous so that the parish can meet its budget. The bishops hoped to make clear that stewardship is not a fundraising gimmick, but rather a spiritual conversion of mind and heart.

One of the primary supporters of stewardship in the United States has been the International Catholic Stewardship Council. Founded in 1962 as the National Catholic Stewardship Council (its subsequent name change reflected the reality of its membership), the primary goal of the ICSC has been to promote the concept of Christian stewardship. It does this through a number of venues, including the preparation and dissemination of stewardship materials, sponsorship of annual and regional conferences, and an Institute for Stewardship Development.

Through its programs, the ICSC offers both a vision of stewardship and practical aids to attain that vision. One such aid is its recently developed definition of stewardship, contained below in .

TABLE 1.1

International Catholic Stewardship Conference

Stewardship Definition

Stewardship is a way of living out our faith as individuals, as a faith community, indeed in the actions of our daily lives. Parish Stewardship refers specifically to those actions and attitudes that directly affect our parish community.

First, as individuals, we strive to become Christian stewards as defined in the U.S. Bishops Pastoral Letter,