By Mary Ann Otto
The spirituality of stewardship and the practices that give witness to its truths are changing the heart and face of the Church in the Philippines, which identifies as a Church of the Poor, and beyond. What are the truths driving this conversion? Christian stewardship is about our identity in Jesus Christ. It’s about our trust in God’s promises. It’s about our gratitude for all God has given. It’s about responding to our God in love.
If you are unsure, ask the 197 delegates to the first Asian Pacific Stewardship Conference. In a written Resolution following the conference, they determined that Christian stewardship is key to the renewal of persons, communities, churches and the natural world.
The conference sponsored by the International Catholic Stewardship Council (currently chaired by Fr. Andrew Kemberling of St. Vincent De Paul Parish, Denver) and its Asian partner, Socio-Pastoral Institute was held February 4-7, 2019 in Alfonso, Cavite, Philippines. In attendance were 197 delegates including 68 priests, 117 lay persons and 12 bishops from 27 dioceses, 62 parishes and 14 religious congregations and 17 organizations from the Philippines, USA and South Korea.
The common themes which ran through the many presentations given by local archbishops, bishops and clergy and lay included: stewardship as a spirituality and response to God’s unconditional love, the importance of building relationships through development of BECs (small Christian communities), eliminating the practice of the arancel (a medieval practice of assessing a tax for the Sacraments) and calling forth the gifts of the community for service.
Additional experts in stewardship from the United States presented on topics such as Witness and Hospitality as Key Components in Parish Stewardship, Stewardship of Treasure and Mission, Parish Models of Stewardship in the U.S, How to Envision a Small Diocesan Stewardship and Development Office, and Discipleship and Stewardship: What the Readings in Cycle C Teach Us to name a few.
Stewardship speakers from the United States included Fr. Andrew Kemberling and Mila Glodava from St. Vincent De Paul Parish in Denver, CO and ICSC’s Executive Director, Michael Murphy from Dearborn Heights, MI. Also joining as presenters Jim Kelley from the Diocese of Charlotte, NC. Shannon Lee from the ICSC located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and this writer from St. Mary and St. Joseph Parishes in Appleton, WI. Archbishop Samuel Aquila joined the U.S. participants, presided at liturgy during the conference and spoke on The Restored Order of the Sacraments of Initiation at St. Paul University Manila before returning home.The stewardship conference came as an inherent outcome of a dream that native Filipino but now long time Denver resident, Mila Glodava, had for her home parish in the Philippines. She was called to bring the spirituality of stewardship and its practices to help change the heart of her childhood parish but sixteen years later, it has become a national movement. Mila is currently the director of stewardship and administration at St. Vincent De Paul Parish in Denver and was instrumental in helping to acquire funding for the conference.
In 2003, Mila was joined by stewardship expert and pastor of her parish, Fr. Andrew Kemberling and the Socio-Pastoral Institute in facilitating the formation of bishops, priests and lay people in the spirituality and practice of stewardship.Sixteen years later there is no doubt that the Spirit is moving in the stewardship efforts of the Church of the Philippines. In the solemn declaration from the first Asian Pacific Conference we hear: Let us build a Catholic Church that is imbued with the spirituality of stewardship. Let us build a Church that makes disciples who dare to go to the margins of society to proclaim the Good News. Let us build a Church that lifts the poor from poverty and is marked by preferential love for the least and lost. Let us participate in breaking in of the Lord’s Kingdom by sharing our blessings with one another, one gift at a time! In this beautiful declaration, and the stewardship practices that it embodies, we are reminded of the first disciples and the early Church. We remember the practices that brought the Christian Church to over two billion members today and it gives us hope. We thank the Church in the Philippines for their courage in saying “yes” and their willingness to do the hard work of making disciples who respond with the heart of Christian stewards. They are a model for us all.
