What is Stewardship?

Stewardship is a way of life, a way that begins with acknowledging God as the creator and giver of all and responding with generosity and the responsible management of our resources.  As followers of Jesus Christ, we are caretakers of all God has given to us.  Our gratitude for these gifts and blessings is expressed in prayer, worship, tithing and sharing our gifts out of love for God and one another. 

In the Catholic faith we ask the faithful to give of their Time, Talent and Treasure.  If we are unable to give much in one area we try to show our gratitude by giving in another area.

Stewardship is a path to holiness.  It makes us more like Christ who came not to be served, but to serve. It is the humble awareness that all we have and all we are has been given to us freely from God.  When we offer our lives back to God in love, He blesses that generosity a hundredfold.

Stewardship in the Bible

The message of stewardship has been part of the salvation history of the Church. In the Old Testament, we learn that Adam and Eve were asked to tend and care for the gifts of God's creation. From the New Testament, Saint Andrew brings the little boy forward with his simple gifts of two fish and five barley loaves and places those gifts in the hands of Jesus, resulting in a wonderful demonstration of God’s abundance in the feeding of the 5,000.

The Four Pillars of Stewardship

Stewardship is the grateful response of a Christian Disciple who recognizes and receives God's gifts and shares these gifts in love of God and neighbor.  We focus on four pillars in this stewardship response. 

  • A steward strives to nourish the soul through prayer. Prayer is as necessary to our souls as food is to our bodies. It is in prayer that we nurture our personal relationship with Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

  • “When I was a stranger, you welcomed me.” (Mt.25:35) Jesus Christ teaches that whenever we welcome one of the least of our sisters and brothers, we welcome Christ himself. Members of a steward-ship parish seek to see the face of Christ in one another, and welcome each other as special.

  • As a steward grows in the life of prayer, God reveals Himself more intimately in this personal relationship. The steward understands that the gifts received from God are to be shared and not buried. These gifts of time, talent and treasure are to be shared with others with generous and grateful hearts.

  • Members of a stewardship parish are ready to minister to the many needs of their own parish family as well as the needs of the wider community and the Church. Just as the members of a family come together to help one of their own, a stewardship parish family serves those who are hurting or in need, doubting or seeking salvation. Stewards also come together to celebrate and to thank God for all the gifts God gives us.