Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth

The Diocese of Portsmouth covers Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, the Channel Isles and parts of Berkshire, Dorset and Oxfordshire

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Give Thanks to the Lord for He is Good – Stewardship Days

Bishop Crispian hosted 3 Stewardship Days entitled ‘Give Thanks to the Lord’ in the autumn term of 2009. These were an introduction to stewardship. At each day there was an input about the theology of stewardship, and reflections on the fact that everything we have and are is gift from God and how we are called to respond in gratitude. Speakers reflected on what it is like to be part of a stewardship group in their parish / pastoral area, including what excites them and what challenges them. Give Thanks to the Lord for He is Good – Stewardship Days

There was also an overview of how different parishes and pastoral areas in our Diocese are living out their stewardship journey. Bishop Crispian spoke about the link between stewardship and the pastoral plan; that stewardship is the spirituality that underpins it.

Each day also had an hour of prayer opportunities, giving people space to reflect on how they use their time, gifts and material possessions as co-workers with God for the building of the Kingdom. Over 250 people attended the days and the energy was palpable. Bishop Crispian has said that stewardship is infectious and that was evident at each day, as people explored stewardship as a way in which we can respond as disciples of Jesus Christ.

STEWARDSHIP AND THE PASTORAL PLAN

Some Notes

Although the implementation of the Pastoral Plan seems to be largely about Pastoral Areas, centrality of the Sunday Mass and the development of the outreach and mission of the Church in Portsmouth, these are details of an overall vision.

The core of the vision can be summed up in two words – Communion and Mission. These are not either/or words but absolutely seminal to all that we are trying to do in the diocese, which is to establish Communion for Mission.

Our vision – and hope – is of ourselves as the gathered community of the disciples of the Lord, united in baptism and bonded together by Christ in the Eucharist. Our mission is so to live out this communion in the power of the Spirit that we proclaim the Gospel by our words and become Good News by our way of life. This is how we will bear the fruits of the Kingdom. (PP:p. 2)

The Communion is the recognition of the community that exists, the giftedness of all its members and the responsibility that we all bear to “go out and bear fruit”.

This means working collaboratively or, as one person puts it, with co-responsibility. This can really only happen when there is mutual respect and recognition for the gifts of the whole community.

Ministry demands relationships with others…This includes a deep respect for each other and an attentiveness to different points of view, different ways of working and different ways of living out our faith…Everyone has a contribution to make to the mission of the Church: lay people, religious deacons, priests and bishops…all leadership and decision-making must recognise and respect the different contribution of everyone involved…(PP: p.24)

The recognition of gifts leads to sharing. But there’s a deeper recognition that ascribes all gifts to the Lord, the giver of all gifts. All gifts from the Lord are given for a purpose and involve personal and Gospel qualities.

The Lord says: the word which goes from my mouth will not return to me unfulfilled or before having carried out my good pleasure and having achieved what it was sent to do. (Is 55:11)

We become stewards of all those gifts and they involve the deployment of

our time, our talent and our treasure if they are to be brought to fruition.

In its turn, this means that effective communion for mission is underpinned by the spirituality – because this is what it is – of stewardship.

Everything we have and are is a gift from God. We are stewards of the gift of creation and of all that life brings: our time, our treasure, our talents and one another. Therefore, as disciples of the Lord, we have a duty to ensure that we make best use of all we have and of all that we have been given, and we do this in a way that respects the dignity of every person and promotes the common good. (PP: p.28)

Disciples – for that is what we are – are stewards and as such we recognise God as the source of all we have and are. (PP: p.27/28). We are disciples and not just followers – the Master has shared the secrets of his life and mission with us as his friends – and he has entrusted us with His mission.

This is a central aspect of the Pastoral Plan and the development of stewardship as the best vehicle for its implementation is the way in which we have chosen to proceed.

The Pastoral Plan is interpenetrated from top to bottom with the spirituality of stewardship, which has the recognition of gifts and that “attitude of gratitude” to God at its heart.

It is in this way that we hope to bring to birth that vision of Church that we find in the Scriptures.

The whole group of those who believes were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common…(Acts 4:32)

Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. (1 Peter 4:10)

Bishop Crispian Hollis