Grateful Reflection Before Invitation

By Tony Lamar, Stewardship and Development Office

Everything is a Gift

Encouraging legacy giving is the focus of my position in the Stewardship and Development office. However, it’s about so much more than that. Those of us responsible for impacting and influencing stewardship and development in our parishes and schools should, before we do anything else, recognize God’s generous gifts in our own lives first. When our own hearts are grateful, we can better invite people to a conversion of heart through the act of charitable giving. As the director of our office, Shannan Brommer, said in a previous Equip article, “When fundraising is at its best, it is evangelization.” By extending that invitation and sharing ways that members of the archdiocese can give, we are inviting them into not just our mission, but the mission of Jesus Christ.

I try to remind myself to make the messaging of our legacy giving to focus on the fact that everything is a gift. Sure, people want to leave a legacy that tells their life story and, in doing so, clarify to others who and what was the most important to them. However, I’m fairly sure Jesus wants the source of all of our giving not to come from hubris or ego, but from the humble reflection on the gifts that we have received.

Practical and Spiritual

With the foundation of our message set on gratitude, we can then invite people into the ways in which their gifts can be shared. While we surely communicate the spiritual reasons for giving, we have also have to share the practical. If we do not inform others of the practical needs, then how will they know? It is wonderful that we have so many parishioners and supporters who routinely ask how they can help. However, we should not expect people to come knocking on our doors to see how they can help. A ministry of stewardship requires us to knock on their doors and invite in them and inform them the current and future needs of our parish and schools.

Tony can be reached at ajlamar@archomaha.org. 

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