The annual conference of the International Catholic Stewardship Council was truly an international one. Present for the conference Masses and attending workshops were Bishops and lay representatives from every Continent except Antarctica!
Attending the conference (but not in this order, or all pictured) were Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria (former president of the African Council of Catholic Bishops), Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark, United Kingdom, Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton, Canada, Archbishoip Fernando Chomali of Santiago, Chile, Bishop Brian Finnigan of Brisbane, Australia, Bishop Robert Kurtz of Hamilton, Bermuda (member of the ICSC Board), Bishop Lino Richero of the Diocese of Carabayllo, Peru, Bishop Luc Bouchard, of Saint Paul, Alberta, Bishop John Noonan from Orlando, Bishop Felipe J. Estevez of St. Augustine, Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, Bishop Paul Bootkoski of Metuchen (Episcopol Moderator of ICSC), Auxiliary Bishop Donald Hanchon of Detroit, and last, but certainly not least, Auxiliary Bishop Robert Morneau from Green Bay.
All came to see how they could grow stewardship in their respective arch/dioceses and countries. In almost every country, as in almost every parish, stewardship starts with a few passionate individuals carrying the torch and passing the light and knowledge to as many other people as possible. I see this certainly throughout the Church in the United States as well as our North American sister, Canada, and also in the Philippines with the efforts of Mila Glodava, and Fr. Andrew Kemberling who have been working with a team of dedicated individuals for nearly ten years now.
I also see it in Australia and New Zealand. What started with one gentleman, Tony Sanderson, who came to ICSC accidentally several years ago thinking it was the annual conference of the Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference, and left, soul ablaze with a new understanding of stewardship and determination to bring this message home. Tony has now retired, but passed the torch to Chris Ehler from the Archdiocese of Brisbane who is currently the ICSC Board representative for Australia and New Zealand and every year gives us an update of what they've accomplished in the last year. Chris is truly a servant leader. Here is a link to some of their achievements over the past several months. http://www.bne.catholic.net.au/files/Report-to-ICSC-Board-2011-on-Visit-of-April-and-Ed-Laughlin-to-NZ-and-Australia.pdf Chris shared with us at the Board meeting that after bringing stewardship speakers from the States to Australia and New Zealand for many years, they are ready to make a go of it with "home-grown" talents. Knowing Chris and a few others he has brought and introduced me to over the years, they are certainly going to do well, and are an inspiration to me.
In addition to Canada, the Philippines and Australia, Michael Murphy, the Executive Director of the ICSC, tells me he personally has been in contact with individuals from the countries of Argentina, the Bahamas, Barbados, Chile, Columbia, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Kenya, Lebanon, New Zealand, Peru, Trinidad and Togago, and the United Kingdom. All very much interested in teaching stewardship to the Church in their regions. Truly reminds me of Pentecost. I'd love to hear how this international aspect affected you or maybe currently motivates you to spread the Kingdom!
My Master's vineyard is rapidly growing, and we're going to need a lot more workers. Will you, go too? Hope to hear from you! See you soon.
3 comments:
Thank you Julie for sharing some insights into our international family of Catholic stewards who share this universal commitment to embrace a stewardship way of life. Here in Australia we are grateful for the guidance of many generous people from the USA who have helped to spread the good news of stewardship.
In 2006 I attended a four day Stewardship Institute in Sydney conducted by Fr Dan Mahan, Lois Locey and Dan Conway. This first stewardship formation opportunity was hosted by the Diocese of Wollongong with excellent leadership provided by Bishop Peter Ingham and Rosanna Ganassin. At the time we Aussies regarded these three wonderful people from the USA as the Blessed Trinity Team of Stewardship. Fifteen dioceses were represented at that time.
Following Jim Kelley’s visit to Australia in 2007 -- when Jim worked energetically for 4 weeks across 5 Dioceses -- we knew that Jim was more the Messiah figure for the expansion of stewardship across international borders. We are extremely grateful to the many other generous ICSC representatives who have travelled “down under” in recent years to conduct our annual Stewardship Institutes and to speak at our two National Conferences. , namely, Fr Gerard Schreck and Margo Truett ( Columbus GA) Leisa Anslinger (Indiana fame) , Tracy Welliver (Greensboro North Carolina) and finally only a few months ago we welcomed April and Ed Laughlin (Florida fame) to visit New Zealand and five dioceses in Australia. We have been ever so blessed with the gifts of these inspiring and competent communicators of the good news of stewardship.
Thanks Chris! It has been truly amazing and wonderful to watch (and listen) to stewardship grow in Australia and New Zealand with everything you're doing. Great history and I'm glad you added everyone's names. I couldn't remember who went after Jim and the exact succession. Thanks for filling in the gaps!
Just a small comment, Archbishop Fernando Chomali of Santiago, Chile, didn´t attend this time, but the year before.
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