Time. Talent. Treasure. These are the gifts parishioners offer to their churches every year in order to sustain 288 Catholic parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Whether it's volunteering to lector at Sunday liturgy, serving as a catechist in religious education, organizing a parish fiesta or donating to a remodeling effort, churches regularly depend on the generous contributions of their parishioners' time, talent and treasure to build and sustain vibrant faith communities. It's what churches call stewardship.

However, this legacy of volunteerism and commitment takes effort to pass on, especially when parishes find themselves caught between two generations --- an aging baby boomer group that often mirrored its parents' generation in "giving back," and the succeeding generation which, for perfectly understandable reasons tied to changing economics and family commitments, haven't followed in their parents' footsteps to the same degree.

Such is the case at St. Raphael Church in Goleta, according to Noel Fuentes, pastoral associate. The baby boomers who now are growing elderly "were all about volunteering and helping out in the parish. They had hearts of stewardship," said Fuentes.

The next generation, observed Fuentes, is feeling the squeeze of a much higher cost of living and the need for two-income families who are continually battling a time-shortage, and justifiably choose to spend their reduced available hours with their families. They might have a desire to volunteer at their parish, but never seem to get around to it.

With some of these generational challenges in mind, and the need for volunteerism and commitment as present as ever, St. Raphael Church eagerly enlisted in the new archdiocesan effort called Growing Stewards.

'An attitude of mind and heart'
Last year, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles contracted with RSI Catholic Services Group of Dallas, a company known for helping to build awareness of stewardship concepts and practices in parishes throughout the country. Clients have included the dioceses of Brooklyn, Orlando and Indianapolis.

The first group of parishes to go through the program in Indianapolis saw nearly a 21 percent increase in volunteerism and a 16 percent increase in financial giving. Growing Stewards --- the program RSI is implementing here --- is based, in part, on stewardship principles expressed in the U.S. bishops' 1992 pastoral letter, entitled "Stewardship: A Disciple's Response."

The bishops' letter reflects on four characteristics of a Christian steward: gratitude for God's gifts; cherishing and tending to those gifts in a responsible and accountable manner; sharing one's time, talents and treasure generously out of a sense of love and justice for one another; and, returning God's gifts with increase.

Stewardship is based in many Scriptural references, including 1 Peter 4:10 --- "Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received."

"Stewardship is an attitude of mind and heart," said Dan Conway, president of RSI Catholic Services Group, at a recent orientation for parish leaders held at Transfiguration Church in South Los Angeles. Stewardship, he added, begins by acknowledging that "everything I have and am has been given to me as a free and generous gift."

Growing Stewards is a parish-based program which teaches stewardship as a way of life and offers parishioners a prayerful, spiritual experience.

This is accomplished, in part, by distributing prayer journals to each parish household. The four-week journals include daily prayers and reflection questions which help parishioners to cultivate an attitude of gratitude for all life's blessings; to assess their time, skills and resources; to reflect on ways they already share of themselves with their faith community; and to consider how they might want to grow in their commitment. A parish ministry fair also increases parishioners' awareness and involvement in ministry opportunities.

Ideally, as awareness increases, parishioners see that "what people give in terms of talent, time and treasure directly correlates with what a parish is able to provide," said Art Ledesma, RSI senior executive consultant to the archdiocese.

In the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, 21 parishes are currently training and setting up leadership teams so they can roll out Growing Stewards in October. Another group of parishes will begin the program in 2008.

Parish as 'Home'
For Becky Maffucci, parish business manager and stewardship coordinator at St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Whittier, stewardship means transforming a church from a house into a home.

"Some people come to church, attend Mass and then leave. We want it to be more than that. This is their home," she said. Hospitality, she added, is the key ingredient.

"When someone comes into your home you don't ignore them. You welcome them," she said. "You can feel it if a parish is welcoming or unwelcoming. People are more apt to want to come to this home if you're welcoming."

Increasing an awareness of stewardship can be a simple as encouraging parishioners to greet one another with a warm "hello" and a smile, she said.

If Maffucci's likes to use metaphors like house and home, Father Richard Martini, pastor of Transfiguration Church, refers to the image of the banquet.

"Discipleship," he said, "is to be welcomed at the banquet. You sit and eat and enjoy. It's to be committed to Jesus Christ and to have a stronger family tie to the church community, the Body of Christ."

Weekly Mass attendance helps parishioners to hear the Word of God, reflect on God's word and put it into action. Discipleship begins to move people to a greater level of commitment. "At some point you need to be invited to prepare the meal, feed other people, do the entertaining and clean the dishes," Father Martini added. "We're actually asked to put on some banquets for other people."

Studies have shown that generally about 10 to 20 percent of parishioners do 80 to 90 percent of parish volunteering. At St. Mary's, about 300 people are actively volunteering from among 5,000 registered families.

Maffucci said her goals are to increase volunteer participation in parish ministries --- especially so the church can start a hospitality ministry, youth ministry and a young adult ministry.

"There are so many people, but when I'm thinking about who can fill a position, I'm always thinking of the same people," she said. She hopes the stewardship program helps her build her skills to be able to identify and invite new people to volunteer. "That personal invitation is so important," said Maffucci.

At Transfiguration Church the focus is on reaching out into the community and implementing Synod Initiative I on evangelization and the new evangelization. Based on last year's parish viability study, the parish has developed a pastoral plan.

"Growing Stewards might help us communicate and implement the plan," said Father Martini. "Church is what happens in people's lives as they are salt and light for the world. Church has to take place inside people's work, families and neighborhoods. Inside the walls of the church is where you hear the mission and are nourished to do the mission. Instead of saying 'I go to church,' it is 'I do church.' It's an attitudinal shift."

God's Treasure
Advocates of stewardship said that the experience of creating greater awareness and involvement among parishioners naturally leads to a greater financial commitment as well. It comes not from a place of obligation or guilt, but rather from a sense of ownership and a heartfelt desire to build and to sustain a spirited faith community with adequate facilities.

"People are much more inclined to give if they are engaged in some regular ministry and come to Mass regularly," said George Newburn, coordinator of Growing Stewards at American Martyrs Church in Manhattan Beach. More than 1,000 parishioners among 5,700 registered families volunteer in 60 parish ministries as diverse as Contemplative Prayer, Kids Book Club, Mothers Outreach Ministry and Single Seniors.

"All of us have something to give," said Newburn, a 35-year parishioner. "We may only be able to give time. We may be able to give time and our skills in some way to prosper the body of Christ."

A family's financial resources are also a gift from the Creator, he pointed out. "We need to give a portion of that back to God," said Newburn.

At St. Raymond Church in Downey, those who give the most of their time also make regular financial contributions.

"Our most involved parishioners are our most generous parishioners, financially and with their time," said Father John Higgins, pastor. "When people have ownership of the parish, they are more likely to be generous with their funds, especially when they know the needs of the parish."

Called & Gifted
In thinking about creative ways to get busy people involved in ministries at St. Raphael Church, Noel Fuentes is designing volunteer opportunities that don't take much time but offer a meaningful contribution. The bulletin board ministry requires only one hour a week of sorting and posting announcements in an attractive way.

"People might think that's not important, but it's very important," said Fuentes.

She's also planning a workshop entitled "Called and Gifted" which she's borrowing from a nearby Protestant church. The workshop is an identification of gifts, talents and charisms.

"I want people to know the goodness within them and to share it," Fuentes said. "People already do simple ministry, like looking in on an elderly neighbor, and they don't recognize it."

She believes that by providing parishioners with an opportunity to become more aware of their gifts, and to be affirmed in those talents, it's more likely they will want to find ways to share their skills with their community.

Said Fuentes: "I think St. Raphael is on the edge of bursting out into something amazing."

Editor's note: For more information about the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Growing Stewards program, contact Art Ledesma at the Office of Stewardship at (213) 637-7532.