Interviewing the Mirasols re Stewardship in the CTK Parish
Q: First, what is the vision for Stewardship in the parish?
A: The vision is that every CTK parishioner discerns how best he or she can give back to the Lord for the blessings received, whether in parish work, giving of his time, talent and treasure, or beyond the church boundaries and practicing stewardship in the home, family, workplace and in all areas of the steward’s influence.
Q: And how do you assess the ‘Stewardship As a Way of Life’ program in CTK?
A: The Stewardship program in Christ the King has grown steadily during the past 10 years of its existence and has been recognized in the diocese for its decent growth and active contributions to the diocesan plans and programs. At this point, we have to conclude that our work of Stewardship awareness and commitment remains a work-inprogress as we have learned that each parish is quite unique in its response to its call.
Q: What’s needed to get to the next level?
A: We need to expand the program offeror base to more parishioners sharing their time, talent and treasure, in the parish and beyond. Also, we are grateful to the many parishioners who have responded positively to the treasure portion of stewardship but it continues to remain a challenge for us in the committee to get these regular donors to commi t thei r other stewardship portions – their time, their talent – towards the needs of the parish and the community. For those who do wish to give beyond treasure, we will match their interests and talents to the needs and opportunities identified by the CTK ministries and organizations.
Q: How i s the Stewardship Committee currently staffed? Are you open to accepting interested parishioners into the Committee?
A: Current staffing of the CTK Stewardship Commitee remains small but appropriate for implementation of its current plans and programs. At the moment, we are in the midst of discussing new initiatives apart from the continuation of old programs that have become fixtures in our annual plans. For these new initiatives if we decide to pursue, new talents will be required and therefore necessarily new members will be recruited. On a longterm basis, the recruitment of new members into the core group is a vital component in insuring stewardship program continuity and growth in CTK. The committee is open to all those interested to contribute on a regular basis their time and talent to promote Stewardship, as a committee member or as a Stewardship promoter. Please contact us if you have the calling.
Q: How do you intend to come up with new Stewardship initiatives for 2017 and beyond?
A: We continually pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit in planning and implementing stewardship programs while gettng inspiration also from the work done by many other parishes both here and abroad. We also plan to tap others outside the parish and diocese. For the March monthly meeting, for example, the Committee has invited the executive director of the Socio-Pastoral Institute, Mr. Jose Clemente, to help the team discern new approaches to promoting stewardship i n the community.
Q: And lastly, what drives you to take on this new responsibility?
A: We’re simply mindful that God has blessed us as a couple with some talents and resources to use in His service and it is but right that we stretch ourselves to be worthy to be given these gifts. As have all the people currently active in the parish’s various ministries and organizations.
