Good Morning/Evening,
My name is Fred McCarthy and I have been a member of Saint Hubert Parish for 5 years. I am here today as the chairman of the Stewardship Commission to talk with you about this year’s Annual Stewardship Campaign.
When Father asked me to do this it was down at Whidbey Island Bank and as he asked it got deathly quiet in the bank and the tellers leaned forward to hear my response.
I really appreciate being a member of Saint Hubert Parish. I get a lot back personally for my parish membership.
Our Parish Stewardship Campaign theme for 2011 is “If everyone lit just one little candle, what a bright world this would be.” Does anyone know where that theme originated? In the 1945 a Maryknoll Missionary priest named Father Keller who grew up in Oakland California formed the Christophers to communicate the message about the Catholic Church using the media. They had one of the earliest television shows about Catholicism and the theme song of the show included these words. I remember listening to their program on Sunday mornings in the early 1950s in our home.
A number of parishioners have joined us and are helping the Stewardship Campaign with their ideas and actions.
You will be given a candle when you leave church today by one of the commission members. We hope it will remind you and your family at home about our campaign and the needs of our parish. You might want to light the candle during dinner this week and talk together about stewardship and what your family is doing.
Our mission is to support our parish and the services we have come to value with a successful Annual Stewardship Campaign.
We are seeking to increase the number of families participating actively in our parish in pledging their time, talent, and treasure.
Many people here at Saint Hubert make this parish successful. Over 80 people are in some leadership role in various ministries in the parish. Some people are involved in as many as 15 different forms of service. Over 35 people are involved in three or more areas of service. Many of you support excellent services in our communities as well.
We have many blessings here on Whidbey Island and a friendly and involved parish to come to each week. We have many things to be thankful for including our beautiful church and parish center paid for by parishioners and maintained by dedicated staff and hard working parish volunteers through over 35 ministries. 31 of them are listed on the back of the Talent card.
This week Father sent everyone a mailing that included a letter, a postcard from the Archbishop and three cards with ideas for giving.
I know some of us feel guilty when we get this letter. Why is the church always asking us for money? Doesn’t it make some of us feel guilty about how much we have given or not given? In the Catholic Church we have our share of guilt. Someone once said guilt is the gift that keeps on giving.
Stewardship provides about 80% of our operating budget for the parish for the year. The fact is that we have to ask you to contribute to have the money to provide the services we all want to have from our church.
It is easy to confuse the Annual Archdiocesan Catholic Appeal with the Parish Stewardship Campaign.
The Annual Appeal funds over 60 ministries throughout the Archdiocese and is conducted in the spring.
The Stewardship Campaign funds parish services and is conducted in the fall. Some think that the Archdiocese takes back much of the money raised in the local parish campaign.
I called the Archdiocese after I heard this concern, and found out that the Archdiocese assesses less than 1% of what we collect back for Archdiocesan support. For example if we raised $100,000 the Archdiocese would assess back $210.
One of the goals of our parish is to inspire young people to service. A memorable story of service that happened this past year and touched our hearts was that of student, Cortney Dunnigan, a parish member, who came up with the idea of collecting used backpacks for homeless people. This effort resulted in collecting approximately 25 backpacks and Cortney helped distribute them with members of three other churches in Seattle. The name of the project he supported was “His hand extended.” He gave us an example of Faith in Action in our own community and great hope for our future generations of Saint Hubert parishioners.
On a personal note, stewardship has been a central part of our family’s charitable giving plan. I always remember my father, who passed away in 2004 at the age of 92, with his Fedora type hat in his hand and his trench coat on after Mass kibitzing with Father Blanchard at Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Seattle and each week one of us kids got to put a $5 bill in the collection.
We went to school at our local parish and I remember parent teacher conferences in the 4th grade when sister said to my mother when she asked how I was doing . Well Fred has these new logger boots and he’s always playing with the shoe laces on them during class. Then she paused waiting for a response from my mother. My mother was a nurse in combat in WWII and she responded. Thank you sister, I was wondering how he was doing in reading and math?
Over the years we have contributed to parish stewardship and a number of special ministries of the Archdiocese of Seattle including parochial schools, the Hunthousen Housing Fund, Tsunami Relief, and The Sisters of Saint Joseph of Peace. I feel a warm place in my heart when we make these contributions and trust that the funds we are giving through the Catholic Church go to right to the people in need.
I want to say thank you to the members of the Stewardship Commission, Father Rick for his openness to our ideas, Al Jones for the electric tea light idea, Margaret Andersen for framing the poster copy of Father Rick’s art work entitled Festival of Lights, Terri Snyder for her clerical support and keeping so many details together, and my friend from when we were both Catholic School principals in Seattle Agnes Jacobson (Bell Moore) for leading the distribution of candles at this Mass.
Thank you for continuing to contribute your time, talent and treasure to Saint Hubert. Together we can assure a vibrant parish life here. Please remember the needs of our parish in your family’s plan for charitable giving . . . and increase your involvement and giving, if you are able, during these difficult financial times. We all want our parish to be the best it can be. In this time of great need we ask you to be very generous in your support of our parish.
Please take a few moments after Mass today to stop by the Ministry Fair in Read Hall entitled ” The Light of Ministry, Time and Talent in Action”. Margaret Anderson, her husband Bob and many others spent yesterday setting up the beautiful displays and the choir people have a special surprise at their booth. Visit the tables and your fellow parishioners working at each table, and consider the ways you might help our parish.
Thank you for your time and for listening today.
Fred