Daniel Conway is President and CEO of Mission Advancement Services for O'Meara, Ferguson, Whelan, and Conway, Inc. Dan has been writing on stewardship themes for twenty years. Dan’s reflections on stewardship are available in several publications. For more information, call toll-free 888-544-8674 or consult the O'Meara Ferguson website.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel Conway. Permission is given to copy and distribute this periodical for use in religious or educational settings provided that proper attribution is given to the author. This publication may not be sold or distributed to the general public without the express permission of the author.

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Stewards of Mission

The Church is missionary by its very nature, and Christians, disciples of Jesus Christ, are called to be stewards of the Church's mission. This is the "great commission" that the Lord gave to his disciples before he ascended into Heaven: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." (Mt. 28:19) As stewards of this mission, we are called to be the guardians or caretakers of all the gifts we have received from God. To exercise this stewardship responsibility we must participate directly in the Church's prayer, in her proclamation of the Gospel, and in the service she provides to all members of the human family through her apostolic work. And we must share gratefully and generously all the blessings that have come to us through the Lord's gift of the Holy Spirit, which was bestowed on the whole Church at Pentecost and which every disciple receives individually on the day of his or her Baptism.

This very special form of stewardship is what makes the ministry of stewardship and development, also called mission advancement, much more than a series of techniques for recruiting volunteers or raising financial resources to carry out the Church’s ministries. We do not apologize for undertaking these very necessary, practical functions of planning, communications and fundraising, but we understand them in a broader context, and we refuse to let them become "the tail that wags the dog."

Because we are stewards of the Church's mission, we understand our work to be a participation in the threefold ministry of the apostles, and their successors, to sanctify, to teach and to govern the People of God. In the Church, mission advancement is a means to an end, not an end in itself. It is intended to provide leadership and support for the sacramental and pastoral ministries of the Christian community, for lifelong faith formation and for the ministry of charity.

As our late Pope John Paul II reminded us in his Apostolic Letter, Novo Millennio Ineunte, the planning that we are called to do in mission advancement "is not a matter of inventing a new program. The program already exists. It is the plan founded in the Gospel and in the living Tradition; it is the same as ever. Ultimately it has its center in Christ himself, who is known, loved and imitated, so that in him we may have the life of the Trinity, and with him transform history until its fulfillment in the heavenly Jerusalem." In the Church, planning, communications and fundraising, the three-legged stool that is mission advancement, must find its center in the person of Jesus Christ. And its ultimate goal must be to transform individuals and organizations according to the program that already exists in the Gospel and in the living Tradition of the Church.

Today, we are blessed with the dedicated service of women and men in parishes and dioceses throughout the world who work to advance the mission of the Church by teaching stewardship as a way of life and by employing the best practices of professional fundraising to support the Church’s ministries. These faithful stewards are putting into practice the words of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI: "The promotion of the practice of stewardship is important for the mission of the Church and for the spiritual well-being of each individual Christian." May our Lord continue to bless us all as we seek to advance the mission of His Church.

That in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:11)