Stewardship

May 18

Letter From the Pastor
May 21, 2023

Stewardship

This weekend, our parish begins our Stewardship Program, “The Joy of Sharing the Gospel.” I will be speaking at all the Masses in Brant Beach and I have asked Fr. Andrew to speak at the Mass in Surf City.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines stewardship as “the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care.” I think that says it perfectly. Stewardship is about ownership and it is about building a sustainable future of “something entrusted” to us, St. Francis of Assisi Parish.

The fundamental reason for our existence is we are a community of faith that lives the Gospel of Jesus Christ and, by doing so, we continue to build the Kingdom of God in our midst.

There is no question that St. Francis of Assisi Parish is a special community. We are a welcoming community, our liturgical life is rich, and our outreach to the larger community is unparalleled. Stewardship is about making sure that St. Francis of Assisi Parish continues for generations to come.

When we as a parish choose to be a stewardship community, we commit ourselves to growing in our faith and learning more about Jesus through our prayer and our study of scripture. We are then called to go out and share that message with our neighbors and with the world. We also commit ourselves to learn about the parish, our ministries, our social events, as well as the parish finances. Finally, we also commit ourselves to ask how we can all help our parish with our time, talent, and treasure.

When we choose stewardship, we choose to adopt a new mind-set, that we, as a community, are the actual owners of this parish and ask how we can make it better.

The first phase of Stewardship, The Joy of Sharing the Gospel, begins this weekend. You will be receiving a brochure in the mail explaining our goal of increasing our offertory collection to help us meet our annual operating expenses.

The second phase of stewardship, beginning later in the summer, will ask how you can contribute your time and talent to our many ministries, social events, and volunteer opportunities.

I ask that you prayerful consider becoming a steward of St. Francis of Assisi Parish.

May God continue to bless you and your families, and may God bless our Stewardship Program, “The Joy of Sharing the Gospel.”