2. What are your hopes, dreams and prayers?
How is stewardship a part of this?
3. “Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain,
growing up and increasing and yielding
thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
And he said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”
(Mark 4: 8-9)
5. All is gift!
We must be grateful for the gift
Gratitude leads to generosity
6. THE STEWARD • “An oikonomos or
steward is one to
whom the owner of
a household turns
over the
responsibility for
caring for the
property, managing
affairs, making
resources yield as
much as possible
and sharing
resources with
others. The position
involves trust and
7. Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life:
“Catholicism has experienced the
greatest net losses. While 1 in 3
Americans were raised in the Catholic
faith, today fewer than 1 in 4 describe
themselves as Catholic.”
Roughly 10% of all Americans are former
Catholics
2.6 % of American population has
become Catholic
Note and be attentive to the influence of
immigration
The current generation of young adults
are less likely to affiliate with any
denomination, even when compared to
other generations when they were young
adults.
8. Let’s Get Acquainted!
The SBNR:
More women
than men
More common
among younger
adults
Majority are
religiously
affiliated
CatholicLifeandFaith.net
10. The view is not quite clear
CatholicLifeandFaith.net
11. Surveying the
Landscape
Of those who were baptized
within the Catholic faith:
68% are still Catholic
10% of Americans identify
themselves as former Catholics
"Most who decided to leave their childhood faith say they
did so before reaching age 24”Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: Faith in Flux
CatholicLifeandFaith.net
12. Surveying the
Landscape
The Unaffiliated:
Have the lowest retention rates
of any major religious groups
•Most who were raised unaffiliated now belong to some
religion. They are:
•Attracted by religious services/styles of worship
•Have been spiritually unfulfilled
•Feel called by God
CatholicLifeandFaith.net
13. What Do They Seek?
Spiritual dimension
Personal connection
Mission/Meaning
CatholicLifeandF
14. What Do
They Seek?
• Spiritual dimension
“They see spirituality as connected to all of
their life, not a compartment within their
life. We need bridges between Monday-
to-Friday and Sunday.”
David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group
September, 2010 USA Today
CatholicLifeandFaith.net
15. What Do
They Seek?
• Personal connection
“What helps you grow spiritually?”
1. Participation in Mass
2. Good friends who share faith with me
3. Daily prayer
4. Belonging to my parish
Spiritual Needs Survey (Focus Group) CatholicLifeandFaith.net
16. What Do
They Seek?
• Mission/Meaning
• 85% of Millennials said they are motivated to give
by a compelling mission or cause,
• 56% by a personal connection or trust in the
leadership of the organization.
• 79% of respondents volunteered for organizations
in 2010,
• "Micro-Volunteering"
Millennial Impact Report
CatholicLifeandFaith.net
18. Build Bridges!
"The Lord made bridges...Christians who are afraid
to build bridges and prefer to build walls are
Christians who are not sure of their faith, not sure of
Jesus Christ...Build bridges and move forward."
Pope Francis, May 8, 2013
24. "Any guest who happens to arrive
at the monastery should be received
just as we would receive Christ
himself, because he promised that
on the last day he will say:
I was a stranger and you welcomed
me."
Rule of St.
Benedict
Chapter 53
CatholicLifeandFaith.net
25. "Instead of being just a church that
welcomes and receives by keeping
doors open, let us try also to be a
church that finds new roads, that is
able to step outside itself and go to
those who do not attend Mass, to
those who have quit or are
indifferent. The ones who quit
sometimes do it for reasons that, if
properly understood and assessed,
can lead to a return. But that takes
audacity and courage."
Pope Francis, in
interview
published
September 19,
2013
CatholicLifeandFaith.net
26. • Audacious and Courageous Hospitality!
• Who we are, and what we do
• Invite into the family
• 4:1: Build on the already-engaged
• Work with leaders
• Formation for community
• Communion
CatholicLifeandFaith.net
Hospitality
28. “To make the Church the home and
school of communion: that is the great
challenge facing us in the millennium
which is now beginning, if we wish to be
faithful to God’s plan and respond to the
world’s deepest yearnings. …
A spirituality of communion also means
an ability to think of our brothers and
sisters in faith within the profound unity
of the Mystical Body, and therefore as
“those who are a part of me.” This
makes us able to share their joys and
sufferings, to sense their desires and
attend to their needs, to offer them
deep and genuine friendship.”
Blessed Pope
John Paul II
Novo Millennio
Ineunte, #43
CatholicLifeandFaith.net
29. • Relationship within Community
• Person-to-Person
• Life circumstances
• Learning
• Prayer
• Small groups
CatholicLifeandFaith.net
Relationship
32. • Form a community of disciples who live as
stewards
• Expectation: Discipleship
• Spirituality: Stewardship
• Grow gratitude, Live generosity
CatholicLifeandFaith.net
Sharing
33. • Form a community of disciples who live as
stewards
• Enhance opportunities to give with meaning
• Witness to impact on giver and receiver
• “Micro-Volunteering”
CatholicLifeandFaith.net
Sharing
37. What Comes to Mind?
What Can You Build Upon?
What Ideas or Learning Will You Take With
You?
W
elcome
Friendship Sharing
38. Let's
Focus!
THE
STEWARD
"In this period of crisis today, it is important
not to turn in on ourselves, burying our own
talent, our spiritual, intellectual, and material
riches, everything that the Lord has given us;
but rather to open ourselves, to be
supportive, to be attentive to others. Set your
stakes on great ideals, the ideals that
enlarge the heart, the ideals of service that
make your talents fruitful. Life is not given to
us to be jealously guarded for ourselves, but
is given to us so that we may give it in turn."
Pope Francis, April 24, 2013
39. Resources, Articles
Articles:
• Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life
• “Nones” on the Rise
• Growth of the Nonreligious
• Faith in Flux: Changes in Religious Affiliation in the U.S.
• Millennial Donors
• CARA
• The Impact of Religious Switching and Secularization on the Estimated Size of the U.S.
Adult Catholic Population
• American Statesman
• ‘Spiritual but not religious’ becoming more common self-identification
• CNN Belief Blog
• Why millennials need the church
• Insights into Religion
• Reversing the Exodus: 7 characteristics of congregations that successfully attract young
adults
Books:
• Smith, Christian, with Patricia Snell, Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of
Emerging Adults
• Winseman, Albert L., Growing an Engaged Church
• Anslinger, Leisa, Turning Hearts to Christ; Forming Generous Hearts
41. ngage People. Develop Leaders. Build Community. Deepen Fait
Bridges
Bridge2Faith.netResources
Training
Coaching
Notes de l'éditeur
Each of us is called to holiness
Children of God, with an inborn hunger for God
Baptized into Christ
Called to the Perfection of Love
Conform to God’s Image
Transform Society
Glorifying God with our lives (LG, 39)
The majority (65%) of the SBNR are religiously affiliated.
15% of Catholics identify themselves this way
Slightly more than half (55%) are women
25% of those who identify themselves as “religious” are Catholic.
SBNR = approx 20% of Americans (Time magazine)
All other stats, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life
23% are 18-29. 37% are 30-49. 30% are 50-64. 11% are 65+
For the most part, the unaffiliated are not active seekers. They have little interest in religion -- it simply isn’t on their radar.
The Unaffiliated:
42% describe themselves as neither a religious nor a spiritual person
18% self-identify as religious
37% describe themselves as spiritual but not religious
Some of the statistics can be misleading, or misrepresentative.
Dr. Christian Smith's interviews with emerging adults leads him to believe that the surveys give us the impression that "unaffiliated " is a form of religiosity and this is only partially true. For many, religion or faith is simply not on the radar.
The unaffiliated, and to a slightly lesser extent, those who became Protestant, who leave Catholicism give evidence of weaker faith and practice prior to drifting away (71%).
The most common reason for leaving Catholicism by those who become Protestant is that their spiritual needs were not being met (71%).
Other reasons: they found a religion they liked more; they stopped believing in teachings.
The ratio needed to have real forward momentum in engagement is 4:1 -- engaged to actively disengaged. For the most part currently, the data illustrates that we as the Church have much less than this -- and the momentum is moving away from us, not toward us. The real way that we can reverse this trend is to engage those who might otherwise drift away (particularly youth, young adults and their parents) and help them recognize the importance of reaching out and drawing in.
