Stewardship emphasizes our call to serve the Lord as he guides us in becoming stewards of his many gifts.  It encourages us to ask ourselves:  “What, Lord, do you want me to do to fulfill Your will for the Church?”  To be a responsible steward means to live out a commitment to be Christ-centered.  Gratitude, justice and love are fundamental motives for giving back to God.  Adopting a life of stewardship means pledging a portion of the gifts God has given you through prayer, worship, talents and financial blessings.

A vision for the future

With Bishop McKnight’s leadership and the support of our pastors, we hope that we will become a tithing diocese. When parishioners decide to give from their “first fruits,” acknowledging their gratitude to a generous and merciful God, everything will change.

As people make a commitment to tithe to their parish, the parish will become the focus of their giving. Rather than an annual diocesan appeal, parishes will tithe to the diocese, with 90% of their income remaining in the parish and 10% going to the diocese.

With this 10%, the diocese will fund the ministries and services currently supported by the CSA. Other tithing dioceses have also successfully eliminated second collections by using money from the parish tithe to make contributions to Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Communications, World Mission Sunday and other worthy ministries of the Church in our country.

We have a long way to go, and it will take time, but focusing on grateful giving and a sharing relationship between parishes and diocese are important first steps.