Building a strong sense of community within a parish is also key to building an effective stewardship program, he said. Events like parish picnics and pot-luck dinners are especially useful for this because they bring parishioners from all walks of life together for food, fun and conversation. "You get to meet other folks and develop that sense of community," Zech said. "You have to continually work at building community. If you don't have a sense of community in your parish, don't bother doing stewardship. It's not going to work." Communication is the third key to an effective stewardship program, he noted. Parishes regularly should share the stories of individuals and families who live out stewardship principles in their lives. Unfortunately a parish bulletin is not a very effective way to share these stories, Zech said. "Space is so limited, and folks just sort of skim through it. It only typically hits folks that are at Mass that Sunday," he said. Parish newsletters, however, typically are mailed to the homes of all registered parishioners and usually have fewer space limitations than bulletins. Parishioners also seem to peruse them at greater length, Zech said, so it's important for parishes to include stewardship stories and information in these publications. Parishes also should work stewardship into every aspect of their education and formation offerings. Stewardship concepts and stories can be incorporated into everything from the religious-education curriculum to youth-group activities, and from young-adult events to adult-education opportunities. "Permeate the parish. Make sure it's part of every element of parish education and formation," Zech said.
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2010 Media Report Villanova School of Business