Highlights of Our 2021 Stewardship Renewal: A Process of Continuous Conversion & a Daily Commitment

This past autumn, our St. Francis Xavier parish leadership conducted the 2021 Stewardship Renewal. The Stewardship Renewal gave our parish community the opportunity to discern how we are using our gifts of time, talent, and treasure in service to the parish and in return to God.

As we adapt to these everchanging times, our community has held fast to what St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, Chapter 5: “…we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us.”

Although parish life may not look the same as it did two years ago, before the COVID-19 pandemic, our parish community has strived to move forward with conviction, armed with the confidence that the Holy Spirit will continue to guide our St. Francis Xavier community and allow us to persevere despite the challenges we may face.

This month, we are happy to share with you some of the highlights of the 2021 Stewardship Renewal at St. Francis Xavier.

• There were 228 commitment cards received from 41 percent of active households.

• There were 1,855 prayer commitments — the stewardship of time — from 93 percent of participating households.

• There were 1,078 ministry commitments — the stewardship of talent — from 83 percent of participating households. Of these, 267 were new ministry commitments, while 811 were re-commitments to parish ministries.

• There were 176 offertory commitments — the stewardship of treasure — from 77 percent of participating households. The average pledge was $3,387.

Our young parishioners also participated in the 2021 Stewardship Renewal, filling out Teen Commitment Cards and indicating how they will share their gifts of time, talent and treasure with God and the St. Francis Xavier community.

Some of our youth commitments included:

• A total of 39 commitment cards returned.

• A total of 270 prayer commitments.

• A total of 92 ministry commitments, with 37 of these being new commitments and 55 being re-commitments to ministries.

We thank all those who participated in our Stewardship Renewal. If you did not have the opportunity to fill out and return a commitment card, we invite you to consider the ways you may share your gifts of time, talent, and treasure with God and the parish community. After all, stewardship is a way of life — a process of continuous conversion and a daily commitment to Christ. Therefore, let us tirelessly work until the day the Lord calls us and hopefully says, “well done my good and faithful servant… come share your master’s joy.”