A Grateful Response to God's Abundant Gifts

The Diocese of Wichita defines stewardship as the grateful response of a Christian disciple who recognizes and receives God's gifts and shares these gifts in love of God and neighbor. Msgr. Thomas McGread, stated, "A stewardship way of life is a thanksgiving way of life, living life as God intended it to be lived. It's not a program. It's a way of life. And this is really the biggest mistake many people make." The mistake referred to is reducing the idea of stewardship to financial development. In the Diocese of Wichita the accent of stewardship is on gratitude for God's gifts, not on methods of increased financial giving. This accent includes subordinating stewardship to discipleship and making discipleship missionary in practice. The goal of this book is to summarize and explain the purpose and meaning of stewardship as practiced in the Diocese of Wichita. After an overview of its historical development within the diocese itwill proceed through stewardship's scriptural, magisterial, and pastoral foundations and conclude with the identity and responsibilities of a steward. Although the foundations of stewardship will be explained, a detailed description of the process by which it is implemented within a parish is outside the scope of this book. A further aim of this book is to elucidate the intrinsic relationship between stewardship, discipleship, and evangelization. Finally, it is hoped that persons more inclined to see stewardship in terms of finances will come to understand it more in terms akin to the apostolate as set forth in the documents of Vatican II.