Importance of Websites as a Key Method of Communication
A few years ago, Dr. Charles Zech, Executive Director of the Villanova University Center for the Study of Church Management, completed a survey for the International Catholic Stewardship Council (ICSC). The survey looked at best practices in parish stewardship. What worked and what didn't?

Dr. Zech found that parishes using five or more methods of communication to teach stewardship experienced significant increases in critical areas of parish life: 14% increase in treasure, 19% increase in volunteer time, 10% increase in spiritual time, and a 30% increase in outreach time. That's amazing! The study also found that the majority of parishes relied on the bulletin for stewardship communications (93% of parishes surveyed), while only 41% employed a website containing similar messages. Websites and newsletters were the most effective ways to communicate stewardship.

According to a survey released on May 30, 2012 by GreyMatter Research Consulting on church websites (www.greymatterresesarch.com/index_files/Online_Church.htm), there are three types of visitors to church websites. In the 30 days before the survey, those who:
1. Regularly attend that particular church looked at the church website. (64% of visitors)
2. Attend another church regularly looked at another church's website. (31% of visitors)
3. Do not attend any church regularly looked at a church website. (5% of visitors)

Pages commonly visited on church websites are times of services, activities offered, map/directions to the church, available videos, audio clips and those defining the churches' beliefs. What is your church's web address? Does your church offer these services on it's website? How easy are they to find for someone who has never visited or heard of your church? Enlist someone unfamiliar with your church to analyze the website for you to give you ideas for improvement.

My next post will look at ideas and sample websites for drawing new visitors into the website. Check back soon!

Blessings, Julie

To Post or Not to Post...

More Catholic parishes are embracing the internet and digital communications as another form of communicating with parishioners, anyone interested in the Catholic faith, and those who might be "church shopping" in the area. Whether a parish is revamping their website, starting a Facebook page, blogging, and/or tweeting, social media has become something parishes find critical, especially when trying to reach youth and young adults.

Our Sunday Visitor recently held a webinar called Social Media for Pastors and Parishes: More Than Friends, Creating Meaningful Relationships, and it was one of the best attended yet. Our speaker, Domenico Bettinelli, Jr., Creative Director for Pilot Media Group with the Archdiocese of Boston, answered several questions from participants about security, guidelines, protecting the parish from liability issues, and more. Those are questions Our Sunday Visitor frequently hears as well when we work with parishes to launch new websites .

For those wanting some guidance on terminology, setting appropriate boundaries, dealing with difficult "fans", examples of codes of conduct, and other helpful tips, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Department of Communications issued a document called Social Media Guidelines. It was published in 2010, and is full of good information. http://www.usccb.org/about/communications/social-media-guidelines.cfm

For those reading this who are located outside the States, check to see if your Bishops have issued a similar set of guidelines. If not, there are certainly some good rules to follow at the link above.

Over the next couple of posts, I'll pass along some links to great parish websites, Facebook pages, other social media examples, and good resources for accomplishing this in the limited time of a parish staff person. I also address why a parish should incorporate multiple media forms in their communication plan.
Stay tuned...I'm heading back to the vineyard. See you there!

100 Years Old...A Milestone for a Church Tradition

Greetings, Friends. Our Sunday Visitor has turned 100 years old! May 5, 2012 marked the 100th anniversary of the first edition of Our Sunday Visitor weekly newspaper, and we celebrated by hosting an Open House here in Huntington, IN. For those of you who could attend, we're so glad you stopped by. We estimate between 700 and 1,000 people came through our doors that day to take a plant tour, have a hot dog, get a balloon animal, and/or eat birthday cake. We were privileged to have Redeemer Radio, our local Catholic radio station, broadcasting live for the entire two hours so those who couldn't physically be here, could listen in to our merriment. We  have other exciting events planned throughout 2012, including several events on Friday, September 28, including a "Continuing the Legacy Symposium" featuring Cardinal George, Helen Alvare and Scott Hahn followed by a Mass of Thanksgiving and Re- dedication at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, and then a dinner for our guests. I've included a link to the press release for anyone interested in reading more about Our Sunday Visitor's mission and history. If you read it, I guarantee that you'll learn something!  I feel so blessed to serve the Church using my talents here at Our Sunday Visitor.

Our Sunday Visitor has been in the vineyard for a Century...that's our mission. Hope to see you there too.
http://www.osvoffertory.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=wL_JWdoJ7O8%3d&tabid=359

Heading West and A Stewardship Resource

I hope this post finds you all doing well. I'm preparing to leave for the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress this weekend. If you've never been, you really need to make a plan and go some year. Over 30,000 Catholics of all nationalities and ages from parishes all over the world, in one place. It's so uplifting! The workshops enlightening, Liturgies amazing and I'm energized for days. It's something I look forward to every year. It's a great networking place too!

Our Sunday Visitor will be there in full. This is the biggest show for our Curriculum Division, and our Publishing crew does well also. Offertory Solutions will be there this year (after a brief reprieve) with a kiosk demonstrating easy parish websites through our new web tools.

Before I left for the West Coast though, I wanted to let you all know about a website and resource that's been published for some time by the Stewardship and Development Office in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Mr. Mark Blanchard. They produce a monthly e-letter called "Stewardship Today" that I really like. The site is http://www.stewardshiptoday.org/. There's a monthly devotion, and stories of prayer, ministry and finance, along with other monthly tidbits. Check it out and let me know if you like it.

Take good care of the vineyard you're entrusted with! Bye for now.

Just Starting Stewardship?

Last week I was helping facilitate the ICSC/OSV Stewardship Institute in San Antonio. Our two organizations partner to bring this vital stewardship educational experience to parishes across the country. Normally we get between 20 and 30 students attending this blend of retreat and "stewardship immersion" over a few days. This was our first one in Texas, and I've heard they do everything "bigger", but we were blown away by the response. We had 53 attendees from about 40 parishes and 9 states! Everyone was engaged from the start and anxious to learn and share.

I frequently get the question from parishes about what they should do first if they are just starting to teach stewardship. Actually, I've not heard of a parish that isn't "doing" stewardship in some form already, they just needed to identify, organize and strategize their efforts! This was true of the parishes at our Stewardship Institute as well. I sure hope I gave them even half of the ideas I learned from them.

Take for example, Frances from St. Joseph Church in Spring Branch, TX. She is a wonderful woman and their parish is doing something interesting with evangelization in the local neighborhoods. I urge you to look at their website, and check back frequently as their new program takes place called Neighborhood Net. Their address is http://www.stjoseph-honeycreek.org/. They even have a quick link on the right that contains a funeral planning guide which I thought was well thought out.

If you think your parish is "just starting" stewardship, take an inventory of the efforts you have underway in the areas of 1) personal or lay witness, 2) commitment from parish leadership, 3) hospitality/evangelization and outreach, 4) communication and education, 5) time and talent recognition, recruiting and training, 6) stewardship of treasure, and 7) accountability. These are the 7 Steps to Success as outlined in Appendix IV of the Bishop's Pastoral Letter on stewardship. After you've done your inventory, then give me a call, or send me a comment through the blog and we can discuss your "next steps"! I'd love to hear from you.

Back to the vineyard. Take good care.

The Importance of Personal Witness

Greetings!

Did you think I'd forgotten about you? Never. Just running behind my friends.

I did a workshop for a local parish on Saturday, and a topic that seemed to strike a cord with them was lay witnesses, and not just having them (parishes definitely should...read on), but when, where, and who should do the presentations.

In Best Practices in Parish Stewardship (Zech, Our Sunday Visitor, 2008), Dr. Charles Zech reports that parishes utilizing lay witnesses experience 11% more treasure, 9% more volunteer time, 11% more time spent on spiritual activities, and 17% more time spent in outreach than parishes who do not use lay witnesses! In fact, the biggest increases were experienced by parishes scheduling testimonials at times other than at Mass. (That doesn't mean you shouldn't do lay witness presentations at the appropriate times at Mass, it means you shouldn't ONLY do them at Mass.)

You might be thinking to yourself, "What other opportunities are there?" Certainly putting witness stories and quotes in the parish newsletter, annual report, or ministry booklets, video-taping those involved in ministries and uploading to the website, and/or showing before parish or school meetings. You might even think about having someone talk during the parish festival or picnic!

Many non-profit organizations are familiar with the success of lay witnesses and include such testimonials in their end-of-the-year appeals for financial gifts. People want their money to make a difference, and will give where they recognize lives are changed. Certainly lives are changed in our parishes!

The best stories are those of current disciples serving in parish ministries. You know them...they're the passionate, prayerful ones who other folks seem to respect and listen to. Don't overlook children or young adults as they can be effective and inspirational. Consider all ages and races of parishioners. Talks can be given on financial giving, serving, spirituality, and inviting among other topics. Be sure to have the witness share a bit of their struggle to prioritize their finances and/or time in order to make their sacrifices work, and how rewarding it is for them emotionally and spiritually.

Definitely preview the talks beforehand to ensure there isn't an underlying theme of "giving in order to receive more" as we all know God's rewards are not always financial! Below are some links to diocesan websites with resources for lay witness presentations including some in Spanish.

http://www.oc-foundation.org/page.aspx?pid=402 - Diocese of Orange

http://dioceseofcleveland.org/stewardship/stewardship_docs/stewardshipmanual/Sec3.0Manual.pdf - Diocese of Cleveland

http://oakdiocese.org/ministries/stewardship/best-practices/value-of-lay-witnesses - Diocese of Oakland

And pages 42-51 of the entire stewardship manual of the Diocese of Charlotte at http://www.charlottediocese.org/images/main/development/stewardshipmanual_2010.pdf

Please share with us some of your parish lay witness best practices by commenting on this post for all to see! I'd love to hear from you.

Back to the vineyard. Please, you go, too!

Steward Leaders Among Parishes

Parishes just getting started in stewardship, and even those further along, need good examples and ideas from other parishes who have worn their shoes. Every year at the International Catholic Stewardship Council's (ICSC) annual conference, the Archbishop Thomas J Murphy award is presented to a parish for its outstanding work in Christian stewardship formation. The criteria on which parishes are judged is stringent, and their hefty award application submissions (large binders containing samples of what they've accomplished) have been known to give hernias if not lifted properly.

An Archbishop Murphy award designation is a goal worth striving for because of the results these parishes experience in the life of their communities. I've listed the past winners below, along with their websites. Each has something to offer those who are seeking, and many contain bilingual resources.

1. St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Wichita, KS - http://www.stfranciswichita.com/
2. St. Joseph, Downingtown, PA - http://www.stjoesdtown.org/
3. St. Charles Borromeo, Boardman, OH - http://www.stcharlesparishboardman.com/
4. St. Matthias, Somerset, NJ - http://www.stmatthias.net/
5. St. Anne, Columbus, GA - http://www.stannecsg.com/
6. St. Luke the Evangelist, Houston, TX - http://www.stlukescatholic.com/
7. St. Michaels, Olympia, WA - http://www.saintmichael.org/
8. Blessed Trinity, Ocala, GA - http://www.blessedtrinity.org/
9. St. Thomas More, Centennial, CO - http://www.stthomasmore.org/
10. Immaculate Heart of Mary, Cincinnati, OH - ihom.org
11. St. Pius the Tenth, Greensboro, NC - http://www.stpiusxnc.com/
12. Queen of Peace, Gainesville, FL - http://www.queenofpeaceparish.org/
13. La Purisma, Orange, CA - http://www.lapurisma.net/


For more information on the Archbishop Murphy and other ICSC awards, including criteria and applications, visit their website at http://catholicstewardship.com/parishes/parish-stewardship-awards .

It is quite busy in the vineyard as we prepare for the coming of our King! Why don't you go too?

A Great Stewardship Resource

Advent blessings to you all. I hope your journey so far has been rewarding and spirit-filled!

I recently learned that my good friend Sue Erschen, from the Archdiocese of St. Louis, will be retiring at the end of this year. She is an inspiring source of knowledge for me personally, as well as hundreds of parishes and dioceses around the world. Her talents and passion for the Church, teaching and writing merged perfectly into her role as Director of Parish Stewardship for the Archdiocese. And she uses her talents extremely well to make a return to the Lord! Through the amazing fount called the Internet, Sue has placed all sorts of resources, both practical and spiritual, to help parishes and other diocesan directors in need. If you've never been to their website, I encourage you to visit as you are sure to find something you've been looking for, written in a down-to-earth manner you will like. http://archstl.org/stewardship

I'm excited for Sue, and know that we'll remain in contact as she will continue doing webinars and articles for Our Sunday Visitor. Sue is truly a good and faithful steward of God, a dedicated worker in the Master's vineyard! Why don't you go, too?

Adverbs for Advent

He did it again. Bishop Morneau asked a question that really made me think, especially as we celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow, and start Advent on Sunday. He asked, "What are the adverbs in your life?" Whoa...flashback to 6th grade at Most Precious Blood Catholic School in Fort Wayne, and Mr. Raucci my determined English teacher explaining the difference between adjectives and adverbs! They are most commonly (hint, just typed one) seen as "ly" words.

It's at this time of year that adverbs are most on my mind...I'm just more reflective I guess. Certainly (no pun intended) those that spring to mind are gratefully, joyfully, humbly, peacefully, prayerfully, excitedly and purposefully. All good things. However, an examination of conscience also finds, hurriedly, impatiently, judgementally, sarcastically and angrily. Ouch.

This Thanksgiving and Advent, I'm making a conscious effort to focus on living the good adverbs so my heart and soul are ready come Christmas.

On a separate, but related note, my good friend Leisa Anslinger, sent me a link today to a Jewish folktale called The Special Ingredient about preparation in a way we don't often expect. I realLY enjoyed it and I hope you do too. http://www.nccl.org/Resources/Documents/CL%20Weekly/2011/The%20Special%20Ingredient.pdf. I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving and a spirit-filled Advent!

There's lots of activity in the vineyard lately. Can you go too?

Where is Your Parish Going?

In my presentations I typically refer to the great work by the Gallup organization, Leisa Ainslinger and others on the topics of Strengths and Engagement. In his book Growing an Engaged Church, Al Winseman refers to levels of engagement. The highest level is " Where Are We Going?". Parishioners who are the most engaged in their church or parish have moved far beyond what they can get from the parish and what they can do for the parish to a concern for the direction the parish is headed.

Does your parish have a direction? I refer to this as a "point B" for the next year. Today we are at "point A" in our community and our programs. What is the "point B" we are aiming for this year? A typical response has been "we have a mission statement and we try to act according to the mission". While this is very important, the mission statement is likely not clear enough to direct our actions for the next period of time. We need goals for the next year in regards to the priorities we want to set. This may include capital improvements, but also must include something about how we are changing lives both within the parish and externally. And it needs to have a measurable endpoint ("point B") so we gain the sense of direction and accomplishment.

As good stewards we know we must return with increase. Can we determine if we have done this as a parish over the past 12 months? What should we do to increase or improve over the next 12 months? With the plan we can engage our parishioners in the direction of our parish and rally their support for our future goal.

I am personally motivated when I find a way to help my parish move forward. I feel at loss if I don't know what the direction is or when sadly there is no direction. I have been a member at parishes where the only sense I had was that we were maintaining our activities week after week. Not motivating at all!

So what is your "point B"? Where is your parish going?

Clever Annual Stewardship Video

Whiile I was at the ICSC's annual conference, I was speaking to Sid Hayden and Fr. Brendan Mbagwu from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Carmel, IN. Father Brendan showed us the latest parish annual stewardship video on his Droid. It was the most clever parish video I've seen in quite some time! I highly recommend watching it. It is a good example of the talent in the pews they found when they asked.

The link to watch it on YouTube is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzOX3eywOoI&feature=colike . You can also search for it called Seton Engaged.

Short and sweet blog post today. The vineyard work has really picked up! Why don't you go, too?

Truly An International Catholic Stewardship Gathering

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.

What a week!

This week at the ICSC annual conference, we learned so much! There were almost 1,300 people there representing six of the seven continents.

Sunday morning before the conference began, I had breakfast with three of my OSV associates - (standing from left to right) Diane Brumbaugh, Jill Adamson, and Lori Neumann. Joining us were Chris Ehler and Michael Byrne (on the right) from Brisbane, Australia, and Jim Kelley with the Diocese of Charlotte (in the middle above Minnie). Since the conference was at one of the Disney properties, the restaurant wa filled with families and young children getting their picture taken with some of the Disney characters. We didn't want to be left out! Michael's grandchildren in Australia were most impressed to get his email with Minnie's picture.

The conference was far from a fantasy, however. In fact, this was the very point of the homily given by Archbishop Richard Smith from the Archdiocese of Edmonton at Mass on Tuesday afternoon. How ironic that we are so close geographically to Disney's theme parks and imaginary characters, yet we focus on the real presence of Christ, and the great importance of spreading His kingdom rather than a "Magic" one.

Our days were filled with prayer, friendship, meetings, music, food, workshops, laughter, conversation, creativity, making new friends, planning, reconnecting, listening, amazing Liturgies, and so on...the list is endless. This conference was one of the best yet. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting notes from what I learned these past few days, including some great links and examples of parish stewardship in action. I invite you to post your ICSC conference experiences as well. Every conversation matters.

For now, back to the vineyard. Why don't you, go too?

Stewardship and Web Sites: OK is not Enough!

There are many wonderful examples of engaging and useful parish websites across the United States. Oh the other hand there are also many sites that are poorly organized, and rarely updated. If we are not using our websites as an integral part of our parish communication plan, we are poor stewards of this resource. In addition we are missing a key component for education and communication.

In researching his book “ Best Practices in Parish Stewardship”, Chuck Zech determined that a newsletter is the most effective way to communicate with parishioners, and web sites were the second most effective.

Why then do we leave the web site to fend for itself?

Key challenges include staff time, and technical knowledge. Parish leadership must also recognize the web site as one of the key tools for the parish and apply the appropriate priority and planning for the web site.

St. Anne parish in Columbus, GA is one of the exceptions. They converted their web site to a system they are able to maintain and update. And they have created a site that incorporates both important standard information PLUS a section devoted to stewardship topics and how to get engaged at the parish. They have been good stewards of the website itself while also using it to enhance their overall stewardship efforts with parishioners.

The Archdiocese of Boston Secretariat for Media team researched all the parish web sites to assess the quality and effectiveness of web sites across the Archdiocese. Based on their research there and other work to evaluate web sites they developed recommendations for what makes a great parish website and subsequent designs and guidelines for web site templates.

At ICSC today, an attendee who is part of his parish stewardship board put it accurately: “Our web site is OK. We saved some money on it but we have a very difficult time updating it and it could be better. If we focused more on making it better and a little less on saving money, think how many lives we might touch…”

What do you think?

Best Practices in Parish Stewardship

I'm a member of the International Catholic Stewardship Council's (ICSC) committee for Parish Stewardship Education and Services. One of the purposes of the committee is to develop practical stewardship resources our member parishes can use in their efforts to teach this way of life. In 2007, the ICSC received a grant from Our Sunday Visitor Institute, the charitable arm of our not-for-profit organization. This grant provided funding for a survey to statistically prove what techniques and processes are best employed by parishes to teach stewardship. Dr. Charles Zech, Executive Director of the Villanova University Center for the Study of Church Management, was selected as the researcher and analyst for this project.

A subcommittee of the ICSC Parish Stewardship Education and Services group was asked to assist with the composition of survey questions, initial analysis of data, and to conduct focus groups in order to prove the survey results. That was really a fascinating project to be part of! The data was published in 2008 by Our Sunday Visitor, with Dr. Zech as the author, in a book called Best Practices in Parish Stewardship. It is a book I keep on top of my desk, and my copy contains quite a bit of underlining and my scribbles as well as sticky note flags throughout.

On November 2, 2011, Dr. Zech will present a 90-minute, interactive, webinar (part of a 12-webinar series to earn a Certificate in Church Management from Villanova), called Stewardship Best Practices at 2:00 pm Eastern, and again at 7:00 pm Eastern. Anyone can attend this webinar to learn more about these best practices and hear Dr. Zech's insights. There is a $99 registration fee per computer connection, so you can gather your entire stewardship committee to view it and even ask questions to Dr. Zech, all without leaving the parish office or incurring travel expenses! The link for more information on the webinar, including how to register, is: http://www.osvoffertory.com/CustomerResources/Calendar/tabid/230/ModuleID/821/ItemID/214/mctl/EventDetails/Default.aspx

If you haven't attended a webinar before, it's a great way to learn without traveling, and you participate over the internet from any computer at work or at home. Many companies now provide webinars, or use the web-presentation method for on-the-job training, organizational updates and so on.

I hope you'll join us on November 2! We'd love to have you "in class" with us. We'll, back to the vineyard. Why don't you go, too? Until next time...

A Wall of Vocations

While visiting St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Centennial, CO this past August, Mila Glodava, parish Director of Communications and Stewardship was giving me a tour of their newly remodeled facilities, pointing out various features and areas that had been added since I was there last. I have always admired this parish and the things they continue to do throughout the world, but I found the church enhancements thoughtful, seeming to have the good of the parishioner's souls in mind. One example: Do you know how most parishes have an area where parishioners can light a devotional candle for a special person or prayer intention heavy on their hearts? Well, St. Thomas More has a devotion room full of candles, kneelers and a few saintly figures. It's warm, inviting and private, smells wonderfully soft like warm candle wax, and feels very intimate. I could envision myself spending a lot of time here had I lived anywhere near Centennial.

I was speechless, however, when Mila showed me what she is most proud of at St. Thomas More. They have a wall of vocations. No kidding. And, it's a BIG wall! And, the great news is they're running out of room on that wall. They've hung pictures of all the men and women from the parish who have entered into a priestly or religious vocation since they began teaching stewardship 21 years ago. The numbers are impressive - 16 priests, 10 deacons, 9 seminarians/novices, 3 sisters, 1 brother, and 1 in diaconate formation. Wow! That surely is something to be proud of and a true measurement of success and testimony to their efforts.

The best part? This is no accident. You see, St. Thomas More, under the leadership of their Pastor, Father Andrew Kemberling, uses an annual six-phase stewardship focus, and one of the six areas they emphasize is Stewardship of Vocations. Our Sunday Visitor published a book called Making Stewardship A Way of Life about their highly successful approach, if you want to learn more. You can find the book on our website at https://catalog.osv.com/catalog.aspx?SimpleDisplay=true&ProductCode=X861, but certainly no one can argue those numbers or say that stewardship at St. Thomas More is "just about money".

Better get back to that vineyard. You go, too, my Friend. While we're working, let's pray together for more vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

Can't hear him enough...

There aren't too many speakers that I would purposefully and repeatedly attend their sessions. I try to glean at least one nugget from each presenter and move on. I'm sure Lou Holtz will be entertaining and enlightening at the upcoming ICSC Conference in Orlando, but the speaker I most look forward to hearing is Bishop Robert Morneau, for about the twenty-fifth time. I can't listen to him enough, and find his humble, self-deprecatory, humorous and poignant communication style irresistible and inspirational.

As Auxiliary Bishop of Green Bay and Pastor of a large parish, Bishop Morneau can no longer present as much as he used to giving stewardship talks everywhere. However, we recently shared a flight from Minneapolis to Boise as we were both going to speak at the same regional stewardship conference. We updated each other on what had been going on in our lives, told stories, and joked as our flight was delayed. Over the next few days, we had the opportunity to be in the same group of people laughing, learning, sharing and enjoying Idaho hospitality. Bishop Morneau even gave me an autographed copy of his book of poetry on my birthday (which occurred while we were in Boise), although the time together is the gift I'll hold close to my heart the most.

Bp Bob (how he signs his books and notes) is a sports-lover, poet, avid reader, jokester, and obedient servant of God. You can't help but love him! I am uplifted and feel myself drawn closer to Christ by listening to his words. Fans idolize athletes. They want to be just like them, buy the same car, eat at the same restaurants, and just BE in their presence. Well, Bp Bob is someone to follow, to emulate. Even though I can't see myself becoming a Packers follower anytime soon, Bp Bob is one of my heroes.

If you are not coming to the ICSC conference in Orlando this month, through the miracle of technology, you too can hear his thoughts. I was thrilled to learn that his parish posts audio of his homilies online within their parish website. Here is the link...enjoy! http://www.gbres.org/about/pastors-page/

OK, back to the vineyard. You go, too, after you listen to Bp Bob of course...

Parish Hospitality - Is Yours a Hit or a Swing and a Miss?

If you're new to this blog, welcome! Hope you visit us frequently and come to be an admired acquaintance. Hospitality goes much further than welcoming new people doesn't it? It involves, among other things, good communication, well-maintained buildings, flower beds and lawns, directional signs posted in highly visible places for ease of finding the parish office, restrooms and meeting rooms, and plenty of accessible parking and seating in the church. These factors are inviting to people and helps them want to be there and want to come back.

Great hospitality doesn't happen by accident. It takes a conscious effort and strategy. Be sure to consider all parishioners (ages, ethnicities, physical abilities, emotional needs, etc.) in your planning! One weekend while visiting friends in Minneapolis, my husand and I attended Mass at a parish that offered cloth bags in the vestibule for use by parents of small children. In the bags were religious coloring books and a few crayons, snack packages, toddler picture books of Bible stories, rosaries with very large beads, and other items to occupy the little ones during Liturgy. Parents repackaged the items as neatly as they could and returned the bags to a special rack in the greeting area after Mass.

When I discussed this with our friends, they told me there is a committee of parents and grandparents who meet once a week to cleanse the beads and books, wash the bags, replenish snacks and broken crayons and get the bags ready for Masses again. I have to confess that during Mass I was so amazed about how well behaved these children were (and there were a lot of them,) I kept looking around to see what they were doing, and totally forgot why I was there, i.e. worship! This hospitality ministry keeps little ones content and occupied, their parents feel welcomed and encouraged to bring their children to Mass, and attendees, except me, can focus on Liturgy with fewer child eruptions.

Does your parish have a hospitality committee? Do you have lots of different endeavors in order to involve as many folks as possible? What are you doing to foster the feeling of belonging in parishioners? What efforts could be done better? What would you never do again? If your parish hospitality needs a boost, what are two or three new practices you could easily implement within the next few months? Then in six to eight months, implement two or three additional ideas, and so on. Be sure to measure your results too! Is what you're doing working? Why or Why not?

Well, I'm heading back to the vineyard. Please share your "vineyard" stories; I'd love to read them...you go, too.

My introduction to the ICSC

I remember my very first ICSC, International Catholic Stewardship Council conference, (then the National Catholic Stewardship Council). It was October of 1995 in Chicago, and I was excited to meet and learn from representatives from parishes and dioceses across the country! I was born and raised Catholic, attended Catholic grade and high school, and yet was very curious about this word "stewardship" that I certainly didn't remember hearing about before.

After setting up our exhibit booth for Our Sunday Visitor, I went to a presentation given by Monsignor Joseph Champlin and a couple named Dutch and Barbara Schultz to learn more about this term. I was astonished to discover that stewardship, the way of life, is how I was raised, how my husband and I strive to live, and I didn't have a clue. We were "unconscious stewards" I like to say. This was definitely a turning point in my life...one of those "Ah Ha!" moments.

At the conference, I was most impressed with the people; they were warm, spirit-filled, giving, welcoming, eager to learn and happy to share their knowledge and experiences with others. That's true today too! I remember in particular, the folks from Christ the King Parish in Jacksonville, Florida. Hospitality is one of the keys to a solid parish stewardship foundation, and this parish had it down pat. Since this was our first time attending and exhibiting at the conference, the Christ the King contingent adopted my co-worker, Sharon Kaiser, and I, checked on us often to make sure we were ok, and brought us candy from the other exhibit booths. To this day, I still fondly think of that group when I attend the annual ICSC conference.


What grade would you give your parish stewardship efforts? Need to inject some new ideas and enthusiasm into your committee? There are LOTS of good resources, opportunities for networking and workshops on hospitality and other important stewardship topics at the 2011 ICSC conference in Orlando. I hope you'll join me and the over 1,000 other stewards from around the world who will be there. The dates are October 23-26 and you can find more information at http://www.catholicstewardship.com/. Please be sure to stop by the Our Sunday Visitor booth so I can meet and personally thank you for following the blog. In fact, I'll even be blogging from the conference, so be sure to check back frequently for live updates from me and some of my co-workers about what's new and exciting, and what we learn each day.

Well, back to the vineyard. You go too...how about the vineyard in Orlando in October?

You lift and restore

I always find myself renewed and restored after meeting with people who are focused on stewardship for themselves and for their parishes. The positive energy certainly helps, but I think the greater impact comes from the genuine desire to make our parishes better by addressing challenges and sharing successes as a team. Rather than talking about “returning to the Lord with increase”, you are living it and doing it. This attitude and group energy is the reason I look forward to International Catholic Stewardship Council (ICSC) conferences and events.

Last year at the ICSC conference in San Diego I had the opportunity to meet with many parishes and dioceses. It was enervating to see Fr. Andrew Kemberling and Mila Glodava during their book signing at the OSV booth. Fr. Andrew and Mila, along with the broader team at St. Thomas More parish in Centennial, CO have fostered an active and engaged community through their work. And last year at ICSC they were excited to be able to help others based on what they had learned.

Candelario deLeon and Ethel Dulak from the Diocese of Corpus Christi talked about the work they had been doing with each parish to help them create plans, then start very basic efforts to engage the parishioners at the parish. This process evolved over several years and has helped to bring the Catholic community in the diocese together .

Rick Fersch and Scott Bader from the Archdiocese of Seattle provided guidance for both parish and diocesan work. They also shared information about their exciting new program for leadership development.

These examples and many more individual meetings are the type of information that people share. And they are excited about the energy at their parishes and organizations.

My wife and I have been members of many different parishes as we have moved to different locations in the country. The impact of parishes and dioceses who focus on engagement and hospitality is dramatic. When I participate in regional stewardship events and at ICSC I am reminded that I have a responsibility to help. I also am reminded that there is a strong community available for support and that as a community we can advance our parishes and the Catholic faith.

What about your experience? What have you heard at past events? What are you hearing this year?