For Fr. Larry Denis, stewardship is not simply a parish initiative. It is a way of life that has shaped his own faith journey for nearly two decades.
Long before entering the seminary, Fr. Larry spent fifteen years as a school teacher and served on the Stewardship Committee at Annunciation Catholic Church on the Big Island of Hawaii. Like many parish leaders, he wanted to help parishioners become more engaged in the life and mission of the Church.
In 2016, he attended the Msgr. McGread Stewardship Conference in Wichita with fellow parish leaders. The experience challenged him to think differently about stewardship.
“We came back from Wichita excited,” Fr. Larry recalls. “We tried to establish a parish newsletter on our own and navigate a Stewardship Renewal, but it didn’t go well.”
The experience taught him an important lesson. Vision alone is not enough. Sustaining stewardship requires consistency, structure, and intentional follow-through.
Working alongside Catholic Stewardship Consultants, parish leaders gained a clearer framework for communicating stewardship and inviting participation. As those efforts took root, the parish began seeing stronger ministry involvement, increased participation, and growing offertory support.
“I saw how successful we were there, and I was convinced that this worked,” Fr. Larry says.
More importantly, he saw parishioners become more engaged in the life of the Church. That experience left a lasting impression and deepened his conviction that stewardship is fundamentally about discipleship.
Years later, after his ordination in May 2025, Fr. Larry was assigned to St. Anthony of Padua in Wailuku, Hawaii, where he began serving alongside Msgr. Terrence Watanabe. The parish already had a strong stewardship foundation in place. Fr. Larry’s goal was to build upon that foundation and help parishioners take the next step.
As he began working with the Stewardship Committee, he quickly recognized the commitment and enthusiasm of the parish leaders around him.
“I realized that the Stewardship Committee had positive and hard-working people,” he says. “I wanted their help to focus on response rates for the stewardship renewal.”
Together, they developed a plan centered on engagement, visibility, and personal invitation.
One of the most successful initiatives was a parish-wide ministry fair. Positioned along the path parishioners traveled after Mass, the fair created opportunities for hundreds of conversations between ministry leaders and parishioners. Families explored ways to become involved while learning more about the many ministries serving the parish community.
Fr. Larry also made stewardship a visible priority during Commitment Weekend. Rather than asking families to complete their commitment cards at home and then mail it in, he asked them to bring their cards to church with them on Commitment Sunday. He then walked them through the card and encouraged them to prayerfully consider how God was calling them to take steps in their faith as they made their commitments.
“I really talked it up, and people responded,” he says.
Parishioners embraced the invitation. Many stepped forward to serve in ministries, reconnect with parish life, and discern how God was calling them to share their gifts.
Out of 673 registered families, 278 households participated in the stewardship renewal, resulting in a 41 percent response rate. Parishioners made 808 ministry commitments and 2,490 commitments to prayer. The parish also experienced an 11 percent increase in offertory commitments.
Perhaps the most encouraging outcome came after the renewal ended.
“We had a very good problem after the stewardship renewal,” Fr. Larry says with a laugh. “Many of our ministry leaders suddenly had a long list of parishioners interested in getting involved. Their challenge wasn’t finding volunteers. It was following up with everyone who wanted to serve.”
The surge of interest was a welcome sign that parishioners were responding to the invitation and actively seeking ways to participate in the life of the parish.
Today, parish life at St. Anthony of Padua continues to flourish. Ministries are welcoming new members. More families are finding meaningful ways to participate in parish life. Parishioners are increasingly recognizing that the mission of the Church belongs to them and that their gifts have a place within it.
Yet for Fr. Larry, the true measure of success goes beyond response rates or ministry commitments.
“My biggest hope is that parishioners grow closer to Christ,” he says.
That vision continues to guide his leadership as he steps into his new role as pastor of St. Anthony of Padua following Msgr. Terry’s retirement.
What Is Possible When Stewardship Shapes Parish Life
The story of St. Anthony of Padua shows what can happen when parishioners are personally invited into the life and mission of the Church. With faithful leadership, intentional stewardship formation, and a community willing to respond, stewardship becomes more than a program. It becomes a way of life.
If you are discerning how to deepen stewardship and engagement in your parish, Catholic Stewardship Consultants would be honored to walk alongside you and help support your vision.
REVITALIZE YOUR PARISH:
CLICK HERE TO SCHEDULE YOUR FREE STRATEGY TRAINING SESSION
(15 minutes — free, practical, and immediately applicable)