Stewardship

By Bishop Jeff Fleming

What is stewardship? It is a misunderstood word. Stewardship is not a gimmick or a fundraising scheme. Stewardship is a way of life rooted in the teachings of Jesus Christ. Each one of us is called not only to be stewards, but also to be good and faithful stewards, following the example of our Lord.

Jesus invites us to be good stewards of our time, talent, and treasure. Stewardship is an invitation to do what you do best, and what you love doing, to joyfully share. Stewardship is not about obligation or guilt.
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As a priest, I was reluctant to talk sharing our treasure, money. But based on the teachings of Jesus, our attitude toward money is one of the most spiritual things that we can talk about. Jesus talked about money more than he talked about any other thing. Stewardship is rooted in our call to be disciples and to give generously in response to the generosity of our God. We worship and we serve our God who gives. Our starting point is always God’s generosity to us. We are so blessed by our God, and in response, we give!

Our diocesan church is on a mission to go make disciples. That is my Episcopal motto. I have been sharing this mission throughout the diocese as I visit. (If I haven’t yet made it to your parish, I will be there.) I have used the metaphor of the Titanic lifeboats to remind us that we have to go out to others; we can’t sit within these four walls and wait. Jesus reminds us that we must go out into the world. The Christian story, our story is a story of changed lives, lives transformed because they have connected to Christ through our parish and the ministries of our diocese and your parish. Ministry that is made possible by your sharing. We give to support the ministry of the church and we are investing in people and eternity. What we are doing is making a difference in people’s lives. It has made an eternal difference in the lives of so many people.

Jesus came to change lives. And we, the church, are about helping people encounter and know Jesus, so that their lives can be changed, and in turn they can go forth and change other lives.

But we need your continued help to grow our ministry. Let me use the word ‘step’ to lay out a plan. Steps help accomplish Jesus’ mission and get us where we are going.

So, I invite you to take a new stewardship step in our mission. But first, I want to say that this has nothing to do with guilt. If this is what you feel when you hear about stewardship, let go of those feelings. We want our response to be rooted in love, not guilt.

What step will you take?

For some, the first step is to start giving. Maybe you haven’t ever given to the Diocese or your parish. If this is you, again no guilt, but maybe you are ready to take that step and start giving. Sometimes the first step is the hardest, so just make a gift and join in our mission.

Another step is to move toward being a regular, planned giver. Maybe you have been dropping in a few bucks here, a few bucks there as the offering basket goes by, or to the Diocese, but it hasn’t been regular or planned. Maybe a step you can commit to this year is to decide on a plan to give regularly throughout the year. This is a commitment to the church, saying, I am going to commit to being a regular and planned giver. This may be a step you might take.

Another step is becoming an auto-giver. We live in a digital age, many of us pay our bills online, so why not with the Diocese and your parish? Setting up auto-giving is safe and secure and makes it easy and automatic. So, maybe this is your step.

Another step is to become a generous giver. By taking this step, choose to be intentional and generous. Generosity doesn’t happen overnight. And we can grow in generosity by taking little steps. Only you know how generous you can be. So maybe this year, you are able to take the step of being more generous.

An Extravagant giver. Who is this? There are some who give above and beyond generosity. Some are retired, some are on fixed incomes, and some are young couples with kids. They give extravagantly to the mission of the church because they believe in our shared mission. This kind of giving is made from the knowledge that it makes a difference, that we are making a difference, that lives are being changed. Perhaps, this is the step you can take.

A Legacy giver — this includes all the ways that you can give to the mission of the church at the end of your life. This involves things like life insurance policies and wills. These need a bit more explanation than I can provide here. But this step can really support the long-term mission of the church. The Catholic Foundation of Eastern Montana, https://www.catholicfoundationmt.org, can assist you.

Which step might you take? I invite you to bring this to prayer and let the Lord guide you. Again, I hope that I haven’t pushed any guilt buttons. If you are feeling a sense guilt, don’t, you are off the hook, this doesn’t apply to you. We want our giving to be motivated and rooted in love and gratitude, never guilt.

There is more information about the Annual Catholic Appeal in this edition of The Harvest and watch your mailbox and our website. If you want more information on legacy giving, contact the Catholic Foundation of Eastern Montana.

Thank you for your investment in our mission to go make disciples, our investment in the lives of those around you are making a difference!