Passionate Steward - 10th Anniversary Edition

122 THE PASSIONATE STEWARD
• Relatively cost-effective
• Helps to verify and “clean up” the parish list (addresses,
phone numbers, etc.)
• Can be used to collect additional useful information, such as
who needs sacramental ministry (baptism, confirmation, etc.)
• Ensures that each household receives a visit (shut-ins are
scheduled last so that their visit concludes each team’s
responsibility, and the house-bound are not required to make
a visit)
SOME PERSONAL DELIVERY APPEAL CONCERNS:
• Assumes that each parish household is willing to visit
another
• Invariably receives “uneven” responses, as some teams will
be unable or unwilling to complete their expected visits
• Can be an impediment to parishioners having their questions
answered, since it is highly improbable that all parishioners
are uniformly knowledgeable about the parish’s needs, or
equally capable of responding accurately and helpfully to
questions and concerns
• Creates uncomfortable situations in which untrained
volunteers can be viewed as “pressuring” or “coercing” their
fellow parishioners to make unusually large pledges out of a
sense of embarrassment
Every Household Visitation
This is perhaps the best known financial appeal program. It has
not only provided the most money for the Church; when properly
administered according to the values of passionate stewardship, it has
the potential to transcend its mere financial benefits, and help to build
a more cohesive and lively parish community. This approach begins
with an announcement that individual household visits will be taking
place over a specified period. A corps of “visitors” are identified and