Stewardship Tip June 2007

Stewards of leadership and change

It’s June.  Next month in many parishes, one pastor will leave and another will take his place.  Or perhaps it will be a lay person who takes over the parish with weekend help from a visiting sacramental minister.  What’s a parish leader to do?  Well, first of all, take courage from the fact that it’s not a new problem.  Writing to the Corinthians, St. Paul says, “According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it.  But each one must be careful how he build upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely Jesus Christ.  If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, the work of each will come to light, for the Day will disclose it.  It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each one’s work” (I Cor 3:10-13).  It’s a sentiment that would be welcome words from any departing pastor – “What I have built here by the grace of God, I invite you now to continue building with whatever good gifts God has given you.  And do it well – be the best possible stewards of those gifts – because you are building for eternity!”

 Our gifts are meant to supplement and complete the gifts brought by our pastoral leadership for the benefit of all God’s people.  Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles reminds us in his pastoral letter, As I Have Done for You that “lay ministry rooted in the priesthood of the baptized is not a stopgap measure.  Even if seminaries were once again filled to overflowing… there would still remain the need for cultivating, developing, and sustaining the full flourishing ministries that we have witnessed in the church since the Second Vatican Council.”  The bishops’ pastoral letter on stewardship says, “Christians are called to be good stewards of the personal vocations they receive.  Each of us must discern, accept and live out joyfully and generously the commitments, responsibilities, and roles to which God calls us.”  It’s an echo of Lumen Gentium: “Every person should walk unhesitatingly according to his own personal gifts and duties in the path of a living faith which arouses hope and works through charity.”

 Your new pastoral leadership will be a gift and – after welcoming him (or her) with warmth and hospitality – do with that gift what good stewards do with all God’s gifts:  Receive the gift gratefully, giving thanks to God for his life and new ministry among you.  Cultivate him responsibly, giving him time to get to know you and “how we do things here.”  Share him with justice and love – especially with his “old” parishioners who will be missing him and wishing he could come “home” to them.  And then return and commend him to the Lord in prayer – often!  The stewardship pastoral reminds us that “[t]he first requirement of a steward is to be ‘found trustworthy’ (1 Cor 10:31).  In the present case, moreover, stewardship is a uniquely solemn trust.  If Christians understand it and strive to live it to the full, they grasp the fact that they are no less than ‘God’s co-workers’ (I Cor 3:9) with their own particular share in his creative, redemptive, and sanctifying work.”

 Change is often difficult.  And losing a beloved pastor is very hard indeed.  But we are good stewards of the gift of leadership when we strive to embrace the change and all the unseen gifts still hidden within it, trusting that if we are faithful and bring our best gifts to meet the challenge of change, God will be faithful and meet the needs – of our parishes, our Church, and the world.