Passionate Steward - 10th Anniversary Edition

Recovering Christian Stewardship from Secular Fundraising 117
• Involves few people to organize and make presentations
• Ensures consistency in the funding message, as it is
entrusted to only a few interpreters
• Provides an immediate forum in which to collect annual
financial commitment declarations
• Cost-effective to the Church in that dessert and coffee or
wine and cheese are normally provided by the host
SOME COTTAGE MEETING APPEAL CONCERNS:
• Can require several homes for large parishes since the size of
homes limits the maximum number of participants
• Engages only a few parishioners in the “leadership” of
promoting stewardship
• Invests a feeling of “importance” and “responsibility” in a
small group of parishioners
• Calls for numerous meetings to be able to provide enough
forums for every parishioner to attend
• Causes difficulty in scheduling individual parishioners to
attend specific Cottage Meetings
• Necessitates either an intense number of meetings in a short
period of time, or fewer meetings over a longer period of
time: in either case, can overwhelm the liturgical and
program focus of the parish
Annual Parish Dinner Appeal
Eliciting and encouraging the annual financial declaration of
parishioners through this method can create a highly sociable and
enjoyable way of gathering the community for a shared purpose. The
annual parish dinner approach is invariably the “big event” of the year
for such parishes. Should it not be, the likelihood of universal
attendance is seriously compromised. As in the cottage meeting
appeal, a small core of leaders from the parish Stewardship Committee
makes a presentation to the gathered parishioners, outlining the