Meet Our Stewardship Committee

The introduction to the 1992 U.S. Bishops’ Pastoral Letter on stewardship, Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response, serves as a wonderful description of why stewardship is such an important part of living as an intentional disciple of Jesus Christ:

“Stewardship is an expression of discipleship, with the power to change how we understand and live out our lives. Disciples who practice stewardship recognize God as the origin of life, the giver of freedom, the source of all they have and are and will be.”

Almost 20 years ago, our parish decided to reinforce this dedication to stewardship — this expression of discipleship — here at St. Peter by forming the Stewardship Committee.

Doug Greenwell and Chris Robnett serve as the Chairs of our 12-member Stewardship Committee. They are excited to see more parishioners showing an interest in joining this important parish effort.

“The committee has a really solid base, and it’s growing,” Chris says. “We have seen some people who have been on a while step away and have had the opportunity for some new people to join. Kevin Williams joined the committee this year. He and his wife did the renewal talk last fall, and he has been a wonderful addition. We also have a couple of other parishioners looking into it.”

One of the greatest missions of the Stewardship Committee is to encourage parishioners to actively engage in their faith by raising awareness about various ministries, which is largely accomplished through the annual Stewardship Renewal process. Another important task of the Stewardship Committee is to provide the faithful with opportunities for continued formation.

Reflecting on last year’s Stewardship Renewal, Chris is enthusiastic about the growth of intentional discipleship in our parish.

“We had a really strong renewal last November — probably the strongest we’ve ever had, so that continues to grow,” he says. “We’re getting better at enabling ministries instead of trying to direct ministries, and some really wonderful things are happening to [make the parish] warm and welcoming. Two years ago, we hired a stewardship coordinator, Lyn Strieker, and she gets a lot of tasks completed. She really steers the ship. When somebody says they want to get involved, she makes sure we don’t drop the ball.”

This year, church closures brought on by the COVID-19 crisis prompted parishes around the world to find more creative ways to bring their communities together.

“We’d been meaning to do better with communication and IT, and during the pandemic, there was a group that came together and created a YouTube channel with a daily Rosary and Mass,” Chris says. “My wife and children and I were able to watch Mass every evening for a while, which is something we normally couldn’t have done. When you look at the renewal response over the last few years, there is a hunger for formation and prayer. So when you see the number of views for the Rosary and the Masses, we accidentally found a way to enable those ministries to start and grow.

“The thing I’m most excited about now is continuing to improve our communication to the parish and the continuity of message through our bulletin, newsletter and online resources,” Chris adds. “The pandemic has accelerated that a bit.”

Thanks to the important work of our Stewardship Committee, more and more parishioners are learning that making stewardship a way of life is simply a natural part of growing in our faith. May we all continue on the journey to becoming more intentional disciples of Christ together!

“We are always looking for people to join the committee,” Chris says. “I think it’s good to keep the committee fresh with new faces and new ideas. The committee has the opportunity to do a lot because the parish is so embracing of the stewardship way of life and has a strong priest who believes in it.”

St. Peter Stewardship Committee: Doug Greenwell, Chris Robnett, Maria Mast, Tim Sedovic, Matt Bergman, Mark Strieker, Bill Siebers, Lyn Strieker, Kevin Williams, Not Pictured-Chris Gill