Stewardship

 

Christian stewardship:
  • …is a way of life based on an awareness that everything we have and everything we are comes from God
  • …is an ‘attitude of gratitude’
  • …transforms a person who ‘gives to needs’ to a person who ‘needs to give’
  • …is displayed outwardly by the giving of time, treasure and talent to God and others
The giving of time, treasure and talent extends far beyond the traditional view of a steward as someone who volunteers for parish ministries and gives money to the church. Indeed, a good steward conceivably may be someone who does not participate in any ministry or give any money to the church!
How can this be? Of time, treasure and talent, our greatest gift is time. Our best use of time is prayer, either personal prayer or communal prayer in the Eucharist. Therefore, conceivably a good steward can be someone who, out of gratitude and praise for God, does nothing but pray (as, indeed, some saints have done)!
To try and capture this spiritual depth and breadth of stewardship, the Stewardship Council at St. Luke’s introduced the concept of the four pillars of stewardship – prayer, formation, hospitality and service – with Jesus Christ, the supreme teacher of stewardship, as the foundation of the four pillars. The link below leads to a pamphlet that provides a more detailed description of the concept.
With respect to the service pillar of stewardship, a major outlet of a steward’s need to give often is volunteering for parish ministries. It is incumbent for a parish to provide stewards a variety of outlets to give of their time and talent. At St. Luke’s there are many ministries available for a steward to give time and talent. These ministries are described in the Welcome to St. Luke’s booklet (see the link below).
Finally, the link below leads to a stewardship prayer that expresses the spiritual depth and breadth of stewardship as reflected by the four pillars of stewardship.
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Brochure: Four Pillars Pamphlet
Welcome to St. Luke’s Booklet
Prayer: Stewardship Prayer