**********************
You can contact
the Parish Office
via e-mail at
sjncc@bellsouth.net.
If you would like to comment
or make e-file submissions
for
the
website, you can e-mail
jps4x4@earthlink.net.
SJN staff and volunteers will
attempt to update this site as
often as possible. Please advise
us of any changes that may be
required. Thank you and God Bless.
" Stewardship: A Way of Life "
The concept of Stewardship is often misunderstood, so the commission has taken on the challenge of educating the faith community. Stewardship is more than offering "Time, Talent, and Treasure". It is more than fundraising activities or taking responsibility for specific activities of service.
Stewardship Comes from the Heart
In order for stewardship to become fruitful in our daily lives, we must be willing to live our faith - to take the extra steps necessary to reach out to our family, our faith community, the greater community and other charities.
During March, you will have the opportunity to reflect on these questions and prayerfully consider stewardship as… A Way Of Life !
What is Stewardship?
Stewardship is based on the spiritual principles of the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus. Where stewardship is implemented, the lives of both the givers and the receivers have been changed.
Stewardship is a way of life. It is a way of thanking God for all of His blessings by returning to Him a portion of the time, talent and financial resources given to us. It is based on the individual’s need to give, not on the Church’s need to receive.
By practicing stewardship we deepen our relationship with the Lord. Stewardship involves intentional, planned and proportionate giving of time, talent and treasure.
+ Intentional means a deliberate and well thought out decision to live out the Christian life in a certain way.
+ Planned means that each Catholic household plans and makes stewardship of time and talent a part of their lifestyle and stewardship of treasure a part of its budget.
+ Proportionate means a decision is made to give a certain percentage of one’s time and talent and one’s income to the church and other community charities.
Our Parish & You
St. John Neumann is presently initiating a parish effort entitled “Stewardship: A Way of Life”. It is a spiritual and educational program that is central to our Faith and to our life-style.
The primary purpose of our parish effort is to instill in all of us a deeper awareness of God in our lives. Stewardship challenges us to consider where we place God among our priorities. Do we put Him FIRST in our daily lives and is everything we do pleasing to Him?
Before we can embrace a life-style of total Christian Stewardship, we must look inward and evaluate the type of Catholic Christian we are – what is our relationship with God?
SJN's Stewardship Commission seeks "...to encourage our faith community to recognize that all life is a gift from God and to give proportionately of their time, talent and treasure."
A Steward's Creed
I believe in the gifts of God, and feel gratitude for all I have been
given. These gifts are not mine to have, But mine to share. When they are
shared, My gifts will make a difference to others. And I believe the act of
giving Is more important than the gift itself. I will make giving a priority. I
will give to others because so much Of what I have comes from others. I will
give of who I am, what I do, And what I have. To my family, faith and community,
I will give myself. As Christ gave so much for so many, So I will give to you.
And I will be thankful For the opportunity to give. Amen.
Stewardship is planned giving and does not
leave giving to chance. It challenges us to plan. It asks us to appraise -
deliberately - what we are doing with our time, our talent, and our treasure.