Parish Stewardship 2023

In Our Parish Stewardship 2023 Campaign...
What Will You Do With Your Time, Talent & Treasure?

Parish Stewardship has a professional movie showing what Western Washington parishes are doing to live Stewardship as A Way of Life. Learn what Stewardship can mean in your parish!

Why Do We Need To Teach Stewardship?

Every parish decides to embark upon the stewardship journey for a different reason. Yet, basically, all of the reasons fall into one of five categories. These are:

• It is what God calls us to do
• It is what built our Church
• It increases parishioners' generosity to the parish
• It increases participation and vitality in parish ministries
• It enriches parishioners' prayer lives, faith and spirituality
  

Stewardship Is What God Calls Us to Do

Throughout sacred scripture God calls us to be a giving people. The concepts of giving God our "first fruits" and of tithing a fair percent were first mentioned in the Old Testament. 

In the second year of the Exodus, Moses informed the Israelites that they would be giving a tenth of their seed crops, fruit trees, and every tenth animal to the new Tabernacle. These instructions were God’s commands and not just suggestions or best practices.

It’s critical to recognize that tithing was central to God’s law. Israelites didn’t wait to feel inspired to tithe, they were expected to tithe—and on top of that, they were encouraged to give freewill offerings.
  - The tithe is Introduced as Law - LEV. 27:30–34
  - Tithes Established for the Levites - NUM. 18:21
  - The Levite's Tithe - NUM. 18:26

The Principles of Plenty - PROV. 3:9–10
Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

If the world and everything in it truly belong to the Lord, why wouldn’t this principle be true? This isn’t the only time that the Lord promises Israel that he’ll reward generosity with plenty (Deut. 15:10; Prov. 11:25; Malachi 3:8–12).

The challenge is that one must have the faith to give sacrificially to see if the Lord keeps his word.

Testing God in the Tithe - MAL. 3:10–12
In verse 10, the Lord reiterates the problem; the storehouses are empty. If they would only be compliant, there would not only be a full larder, but they would experience an overabundance of provision and freedom from want.

About half of Our Lord's parables address the proper use of our resources and Jesus talks about money five times more than He talks about prayer.

Generous giving is fundamental to our faith tradition.

Any parish that truly wants to follow the teachings of Our Lord must teach and embrace stewardship.

As the US Catholic Bishops' write in their Pastoral Letter on Stewardship, Stewardship: A Disciple's Response, "Once one chooses to become a disciple of Jesus Christ, stewardship is not an option."

Stewardship Is What Built Our Church

From the awe-inspiring European basilicas to the smallest rural churches in our own country, all of the churches, schools, hospitals and other Catholic agencies which we take for granted today have been built by previous generations giving generously of their time, talents and treasure. 

Auctions, raffles and golf tournaments did not build up the Church and they cannot maintain it.

The Church today was built up because our ancestors in faith understood their responsibility to support the establishment of God's kingdom here on earth.

They made God a priority in their lives and they generously shared no matter how much or how little they had.

How Does My Parish Stewardship Giving Differ From The Annual Catholic Appeal?

Go here to see a visual of the difference between My Parish Stewardship and Annual Catholic Appeal...

Parish Stewardship of Treasure

• Provides parish ordinary income
• Occurs in the Fall of each year
• Parish renewal (Congregational)
• Yearly pledge to the parish - January to December
• Donations processed through the parish
• Tax Statement provided by parish

Annual Catholic Appeal

• Occurs in the Spring of each year
• Archdiocesan campaign (Denominational)
• Pledge to the Archdiocese - May to April
• Donations processed through Archdiocese
• Monthly reminders are sent from the Archdiocese
• Tax Statement provided by Archdiocese
• Supports over 60 ministries and services throughout Western Washington
  

What Does My Stewardship Support?

Our parish church serves the needs of most Catholics on the Plateau. When you give your gift of Time, Talent and Treasure, your efforts go to support everything your parish needs to help minister to the Catholic community on the Plateau.

Some of the ministries supported by your gifts of Time, Talent and Treasure include:

• Usher/Greeter
• Lector/Eucharistic Minister
• Finance Committee
• Altar Societies
• Faith Formation
• Cantor/choir
• Altar Servers
  

How Does My Parish Benefit?

Our Parishes are direct recipients of the ministries supported by your generous donation of Time, Talent and Treasure.   

Diligent maintenance by dedicated volunteers has kept our parishes in very good condition for their age.

There are still many more areas that need to be addressed since St. Aloysius is over 100 years old.

Go here it view our 2023-2024 Annual Report to the parishioners.

How Much Should I Give To My Parish Stewardship?

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