A Life of Stewardship

In 1988, Rev William C. Schooler was assigned Pastor at St Jude Church. He was warned by the outgoing pastor, Rev John Pfister, that something needed to be done about the offertory income as it had become stagnant, even regressing somewhat. Fr Pfister’s warning took on an urgency when money had to be borrowed from the Diocese in January of 1989 to pay St Jude’s school teachers. We were not meeting our operating expenses. Something needed to be done.

The Finance Committee explored various options of fund raisers and happened upon a program called “Sacrificial Giving” by Msgr Joseph Champlin. This program intrigued them, especially because of the low cost of implementation. His program was built on four basic principles — giving back to God a portion of what God has given to us; making that gift a sacrifice; using the Biblical tithe of 10 percent as a guide for giving, with 5 percent to the church and the other 5 percent to other charities; and using the Sunday envelopes as a way of being more accountable. After being presented to Parish Pastoral Council, a subcommittee was appointed to study this program and they returned with a strong recommendation that Sacrificial Giving be introduced to St Jude Parish.

Both Parish Pastoral Council and the Finance Committee agreed that Champlin’s program would be the best. In April of 1989, Sacrificial Giving was formally introduced to the parish. Through the good offices of Barbara Scholtz, National Coordinator, trained presenters were sent to help us.

By the end of that first Fiscal Year, our offertory income had increased by 26.2 percent. In addition, the members of the School Board of Education increased tuition significantly. Our financial situation was beginning to improve. Even the skeptics had to acknowledge that this program was working.

During 1990, a Stewardship Committee, consisting of Gene & Jan Dustman, Paul & Jackie Ehinger, and Joyce Racine, was formed at St Jude and assumed the responsibility of promoting Stewardship/Sacrificial Giving, including the planning of the annual renewals. 

Our second renewal was held on the weekend of April 13/14, 1991, and was presented by a St. Jude parishioner. Joyce Racine, a member of the Stewardship Committee, and a Diocesan presenter, spoke at all of the masses that weekend, sharing her story of coming to believe in Sacrificial Giving. Father Bill’s homily dealt with Sacrificial Giving the following weekend.

During 1992, additional parishioners were invited to join the Stewardship Committee with two accepting the invitation. The committee began working on how to introduce stewardship into the school and to the children in Religious Education classes. Another main focus was on how to get the parish itself to tithe. The Committee was successful in convincing Parish Pastoral Council to include tithing in the budget, although it was at a stated amount ($5,000) rather than a percentage of offertory income.

On the weekend of May 15/16, 1993, Jim and Nan Delaney, parishioners and members of the Stewardship Committee, gave their witness at all of the masses. Father Bill again spoke on Stewardship the following weekend. This was the first year that we combined Stewardship of Time and Talent with the annual renewal of Stewardship of Treasure.

The Committee had been trying for some time to get the annual renewals moved from the month of May. It was finally agreed to move the renewals to the two weekends prior to Ash Wednesday. The Parish Tithe was increased to $6,000.00. In November of 1994, three members of the Stewardship Committee, along with the Associate Pastor, Father Robert Van Kempen, attended the National Catholic Stewardship Conference in Boston.

The Stewardship Committee had been advocating for some time the ultimate goal of eliminating fund raisers. Realizing that this involved building confidence that the parishioners would support the parish through offertory income, we patiently persisted. The parish tithe was increased to $7,000.00 but still was not based on a percentage of the income. 

In November 1995, Msgr. Joseph Champlin, invited by the Diocese, spoke about Sacrificial Giving to a large gathering of pastors and lay leaders at a meeting in Warsaw. St Jude was well represented at this meeting with the Pastor, all members of the Stewardship Committee and the Finance Committee, and a good representation from the Pastoral Council and the Board of Education in attendance. Msgr. Champlin’s presentation went a long way in helping convince a number of lay leaders of our parish about the merits of the Stewardship/Sacrificial Giving way of life. He challenged us to drop fund raisers arguing that people are less likely to respond generously in faith if they think they will be approached by the same parish asking for money to support a variety of projects. 

Convinced now that Stewardship was the way, a big step in faith was taken when it was decided to eliminate the Tuition Assistance raffle and add $20,000.00 to the regular budget to provide the funds. In February of 1996, Father Bill addressed stewardship in his homily and announced the elimination of the raffle to the parish. In response, offertory income increased 5.6 percent that year.

Although the Parish Tithe was increased to $8,000.00, the Committee still felt that the parish should set a percentage aside, just as we ask parishioners to set aside a first portion to give away while trusting that God will provide for our needs. There was also further discussion about eliminating the two large fund raisers in the school as a step in faith. 

In February of 1997, Father Bill announced in his Stewardship homily that we would be eliminating the magazine and candy sales by the school children. As a further step of faith, charges for sacraments would also be eliminated. Offertory income for fiscal year 1996/1997 increased 12.6 percent.

Offertory income continued to increase for the next few years.

Early in 2001, the Diocesan Office of Development prepared a manual for Stewardship and had regional meetings for parishes. St Jude hosted the Fort Wayne meeting and members of the Stewardship Committee helped with presentations at all the meetings.

In July 2001, Rev Thomas R. Shoemaker was appointed Pastor. Just prior to his departure, Father Bill approved the sale of Scrip as a way of helping school parents to lower their tuition.

Msgr. Schulte approved the K of C fish fry fund raiser in 2019 because the funds would benefit parish projects and was run by our own parishioners, the Knights and their families/friends.