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Fairs promote parish stewardship

By Heather Chrudimsky
Compass Correspondent

Stewardship can build a deeper relationship with God and the parish. For a parish, Stewardship can create a more vibrant environment that encourages participation while attracting and welcoming new members. That was the aim of this month's tri-parish stewardship fairs at St. Jude, St. Joseph and Annunciation in Green Bay.

"We wanted to help the parish members understand which ministries we have available within our parish," said Marty Kyles, St. Jude Stewardship Committee leader. "The hope was people who are looking for new ways to participate in parish activities/ministries would have an opportunity to meet members of the various groups/committees to get a better understanding of who they are, what they do, and what they need."

Each Stewardship Fair featured more than a dozen booths, with opportunities for parishioners to chat with those involved in the various ministries.

Joe Arttus, chairman of Annunciation Stewardship Committee and an Annunciation representative on the Tri-parish Stewardship Commission, said the fairs give parishes an opportunity to reach out to non-active parishioners and to show how getting involved in service deepens one's spiritual life by extending themselves beyond their own personal needs.

"It is a forum to educate and promote the service opportunities we have in our parish," Arttus said.

The stewardship fairs coincide with the service side of Advancing the Mission projects in the three parishes.

St. Jude

Kyles said he was pleasantly surprised by the commitment of the 45 people in the groups/committees who set-up and participated.

"I liked how engaged the committees were and how much pride they have in representing our parish," Kyles said.

Kyles, who also represents the St. Jude Parish Council on the Tri-Parish Stewardship Commission, said the stewardship fair demonstrates how lively the parish is and lets people know how active parishioners are. He said about 50 people attended after one Mass and 75 people after the other.

"I feel it went very well," Kyles said. "It was a success."

Kyles said parish officials will review the feedback sheets each group completed to determine what changes to make at the next stewardship fair.

Annunciation

This was Annunciation's third stewardship fair and the committee hopes to hold a stewardship/ministry fair every year, Arttus said. "There seemed to be genuine excitement by our committees and organizations when it came time to present the fair."

And fortunately, Arttus said, they have had some history with the fair so a lot of groundwork has been laid.

"It was exciting to see the various displays that were set up," Arttus said. "This is an area that seems to get better each time because of the ideas one gets from other displays."

Arttus estimated that 40-50 people were involved in the fair and 30-40 people attended the fair after each of the two Sunday Masses.

"We had tables set up for any of the ministries in our parish who wished to showcase their opportunities," Arttus said. "There were many different displays and brochures. We also had pictures of past parish picnics for people to view."

"It is our hope that we inspired people who currently are not involved to open their hearts to the ministry of service in order to help build the Kingdom of God," Arttus said.

Stewardship fairs make people aware of the volunteer ministries at the parish and show that there are a lot of good people involved in the parish, Arttus said. "It also gives them an opportunity to ask questions about the various ministries or collect information about them if they are interested in getting involved."

"I think the thing that is most impressive about our stewardship fair is the procession of the ministry banners to the altar at the beginning of Mass and the recession after the Mass," Arttus said. "It is a visual awareness for those who choose not to attend the fair after Mass. They are able to see many of the various service ministries we have to offer."

The fair resulted in a few people signing up for some of the ministries, he said, and several people told him they had never thought about how many people it takes to run the parish.

In a talk about ministries after the 8 a.m. Mass, Arttus said "we often look at stewardship. If we step back and realize that there are so many people who are involved we see it is also a great opportunity to meet many great, friendly people. It is an opportunity to develop many new friends. It is also an opportunity to help build The Kingdom of God."

St. Joseph

St. Joseph Parish's stewardship committee took the lead and encouragement from Annunciation in creating their own stewardship fair, said Bonnie Ledvina, a St. Joseph stewardship committee member and parish representative on the Tri-Parish Stewardship Commission.

Ledvina called their first stewardship fair a success. She said 35-40 people attended each fair after Saturday and Sunday Mass. More than a dozen booths highlighted parish ministries including Eucharistic ministers, ushers, lectors, buildings and grounds committee, Love Life, Prayer Tree and choir.

While many of these ministry opportunities are continually listed in the bulletin, the stewardship fair helps draw closer attention to them, Ledvina said. "The fair helped inform parishioners about the different ministries, and how they can get involved."

Ledvina said they hope the stewardship fairs will become an annual event.

"As we continue with the fairs, they will get better and better," Ledvina said. "This being our first event of this kind, it went really well. We didn't know what to expect. Just knowing that people were signing up made the event a success - even a few made it worth it."