Small Steps to Stewardship Growth

Sometimes stewardship growth best takes place not through major programs, but through small steps that may be suggested by the Stewardship Committee for use by individuals and by the congregation as a whole. The following list is adapted from one provided by "Live It!" a Roman Catholic Stewardship resource. CLICK HERE for the full (unedited) list.

INDIVIDUAL/FAMILY

• Take your watch off when entering church for worship — symbolize this is God's time, the service a doorway to eternity.
• Create a Refrigerator magnet: "What can I do to help people who don't have a well-stocked refrigerator?"
• Purchase a less-expensive car than you can afford — share the difference with your parish.
• On the First Sunday of Advent, review spending for the year, particularly charitable sharing.
• Decide on year-end sharing (including, if necessary, making up for missed offerings).
• Put a piece of straw in your wallet before Christmas shopping, to remind yourself of the greatest gift, Jesus in the manger.
• Put a stewardship sticker on your credit card, to remind you that spending is not everything.
• Take an inventory of your clothes. Decide which items you don't need, and donate them to a charity that will put them to use.
• Think carefully about alternative uses of the money before purchasing luxury items or recreation equipment or fancy clothes.
• Encourage people to set goals not only for stewardship of treasure but also for time (especially as prayer) and talent.
• Build a habit of thanking people whose work usually goes unnoticed — those who clean our business office, those who serve the food in fast-food restaurants, cashiers at the supermarket.
• Send hand-written notes to senior members of the parish, thanking them for all they have done in their lives for the church community.
• Rake leaves, shovel snow, etc., for elderly neighbors/parishioners.
• Help an elderly person learn basic computer operation and e-mail, so he/she can keep in touch with relatives and the world in general.

CONGREGATIONAL

• Put a stewardship sticker on all envelopes and other parish materials (e.g., grocery bags for food drive).
• Use the language of stewardship instead of volunteering, giving, etc.
• Have available in the Church (1) slips of paper on which people can write (anonymously) how they have used their gifts for others during the past week, and (2) a basket in which to place them. Then bring the basket to the altar.
• If the office uses a postage machine, add a stewardship message to the printing. Most machines can print a message along with the postage. "Stewardship -- A Disciple's Way of Life" would look good on all the envelopes.
• On All Souls Day (or all through November), label a bulletin board the "Wall of Remembrance"; invite people to post pictures of their departed loved ones. Give thanks for these stewards of old who helped bring us the Gospel.
  
• At the end of the service, the pastor thanks all the assistants by name.
• Leave thank-you cards in the church; ask people to address them to people whose ministry might otherwise go unnoticed.
• Take a picture of the church. Then have it made into a picture puzzle, with enough pieces so that every family can have one. Mail the pieces to parishioners and ask them to bring the pieces on Commitment Sunday. (Alternatively: People have to bring in their pieces as a symbol they have completed some step, such as visiting a Parish Ministry Fair.) At the Ministry Fair, have a table where pieces can be placed. The message is, "The congregation isn't complete without you."
• Create a button: "I'm a Steward for Christ." Ask ministry leaders to wear them regularly, in order to build interest. Then distribute them to the congregation.
• Give each parishioner a report on his/her sharing three times a year, without any request for funds. Most people will make up any missing amounts.
• Publish stories of stewardship in the Bulletin, with emphasis on actions of members.
• Recognize a ministry each week, either at worship or in the Bulletin.
• Invite community organizations to participate in Time and Talent Sunday (Ministry Fair).
• Collect travel-sized shampoos, lotions, toothpaste, etc. (hotels often have them available; after one use, the bottles are thrown out). Give them to shelters.
• Print a stewardship prayer on a business card or similar vehicle. Give one to all Board members; ask them to say the prayer at the start of each of their meetings.
• Encourage kid's groups to do community service.
• Invite parishioners to form a group that will provide meals, housecleaning, etc., for terminally ill people and their families, and other people in crisis.
• Provide credit counseling for those in need.
• Visit new parishioners in their homes. Invite them to discern their gifts and then to use them in the parish and the community.
• Invite people with auto mechanic skills to band together to obtain old cars and bring them to running condition. Give the cars to people who need transportation but cannot afford to purchase a car.
• Ask the parish to recognize the gifts of the students in the parish.
• Adopt a student who cannot afford higher education; provide financial support for education.
• Ask the parish to be aware of special-needs students in their midst; encourage help for the students and the parents.
• During Religious Education and Youth Ministry, help children to learn about their gifts and how to use them