Passionate Steward - 10th Anniversary Edition

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Chapter XIII
The Annual “Stewardship”
Appeal – Method vs. Values
It should be clear by now that the best plan for promoting
parish stewardship is constant immersion in our vocation to
the Christian way of life—a vocation which has at its core a unique
and individual conversion to the fullness of passionate stewardship.
Within this larger context, however, will fall particular “stewardship”
programs which may be more limited in scope. The “annual appeal,”
for example, tends to be strictly oriented to providing for the financial
needs of the Church. In this sense, although our treasure is one aspect
of our total stewardship, the annual appeal is distinguishable from a
true “stewardship” appeal. Such appeals, however, are a staple of
parish life, and as such, need to conform as fully as possible to the
principles of good stewardship. Here, as elsewhere, however, the
Church has learned its methods and imbibed its assumptions from
secular models. This brings us first, to a critical assessment of the
secular preoccupation with cost-effectiveness, and second, to a
description and appraisal of the annual appeal programs most
commonly undertaken by the Church.