Stewardship Day of Prayer

Sheer Gift

Saturday 13th October 2007

St Swithun Wells School, Chandlers Ford

Seventy people from around the Diocese gathered for a Day of Prayer on 13 October at St Swithun Wells, RC Primary School, Chandlers Ford as they prepared to begin the implementation of stewardship in their parishes and Pastoral Areas. They were joined by Bishop Crispian and Bishop Peter Ingham from the diocese of Wollongong , Australia .

Bishop Crispian had asked that the second phase of developing stewardship in the Diocese should start with a Day of Prayer, recognizing that prayer is integral to stewardship. As one participant put it later, “I found it fascinating that such a contemplative day could have generated so much momentum!”  The whole atmosphere of the day was one of reflection and thanksgiving.

In his opening words, Bishop Crispian spoke of the spirituality of stewardship - of living in deep awareness of the fact that everything we have is a gift from God.  Our task as Christian disciples is to be wise stewards of our many God-given gifts, seeking to give them back to God - with increase. The Bishop pointed out that stewardship is a way of implementing our Diocesan Pastoral Plan, as it will encourage people to be more aware of their gifts and use them in the service of God.

Bishop Crispian met  Bishop Peter at a Stewardship Conference in San Francisco some years ago and had kept in touch ever since. Bishop Peter, who is deeply involved in stewardship in Australia , was on holiday in this country and was delighted to accept Bishop Crispian’s invitation to attend the day and to say a few words on his own experience of stewardship.

An extended period of personal prayer followed and a couple of people admitted later that they had wondered how they could sustain it for 45 minutes! Over 15 “prayer stations” had been created by Kate Harris and Kathryn Turner.  These offered an abundance of material for individual reflection.  People were encouraged to reflect on various aspects of God’s generosity and what our response to that could be. Pleasant autumn weather allowed people to walk outside and a profound sense of prayer permeated the school.

After lunch, served by the very hospitable team from Three Rivers Pastoral Area, Teresa Keogh spoke of the Ignatian-inspired “examen” as a tool for disciples seeking to explore how well they had used God’s gifts of time - talent and treasure - to admit to missed opportunities and to determine to live more fully in the future.  Many people left the day keen to use this reflection to recognise what draws them to God and away from God in their daily lives

Canon John O’Shea then drew on the Eucharist - and particularly, the Eucharistic Prayers - to show how expressive they were of humanity’s response to God’s great gifts and Christ’s sacrifice of love in gratitude and praise.

Fittingly, the day ended with the Eucharist concelebrated by Bishop Crispian and Bishop Peter. The celebration did indeed give thanks and praise for all that had been received and the dismissal to go to love and serve the Lord, one that people took to heart as they prepare to help parishes and Pastoral Areas grow in discipleship and the service of God and neighbour.