Don McArdle Archives - Catholic Stewardship Consultants

Deacon Don McArdle: Good for the Giver

If you don’t give it away, you can’t keep it. But if you give it away, it will increase.

How’s that for a riddle? The best answer, if you haven’t already guessed it, is love. But the beauty of this paradox is that there can be a number of different answers. Another one might be artistic talent. Ask any artist, and they’ll tell you that their skill for drawing or painting decreases after a few weeks or months of inactivity. But the more they paint, the more their talent grows.

If you hoard it, you’ll lose it; if you share it, it stays healthy. We even see this concept illustrated in nature. For example, the Sea of Galilee teems with fish and other wildlife. However, all the water in this beautiful reservoir is constantly being drained through the Jordan River, which stretches about 60 miles, providing the only fresh water for all of Israel. It finally drains into the Dead Sea – which, unlike Galilee, has no outlet. Consequently, it is stagnant and totally lifeless, continually evaporating into thin air.

The point, in a nutshell, is that the good steward takes care of his or her gifts by giving them away. By doing so, you don’t have less left over; rather, you have more!

Deacon Don McArdle: Grateful and Giving

Much of our current day understanding and practice of living a “stewardship way of life” was developed by renowned stewardship pioneer Msgr. Thomas McGread. In light of that, I decided to write a book that we have recently published. The title is Grateful and Giving: How Msgr. Thomas McGread’s Stewardship Message Has Impacted Catholic Parishes Throughout the Country.

In the book, you will read the story of Msgr. McGread and how he developed the stewardship way of life in the parishes he pastored, most notably St. Francis of Assisi in Wichita, Kansas. You will also read the stories of individuals and parishes throughout the country that have been profoundly impacted by living the Stewardship way of life.

The book is available as a paperback as well as a Kindle download by following this link to the book page at www.amazon.com. And, for a short period of time, the Kindle edition is available for only $.99. Please feel free to forward this to anyone you think would be interested.

It is my prayer that this book allows many more people and parishes throughout the world to recognize the great blessing of living stewardship as a way of life. I also hope this book encourages bishops, priests, deacons, and lay leaders to more fully develop Stewardship in their parishes.

To give you a sense of what you will receive by reading the book, I have included here the brief foreword for the book by Bishop Eugene J. Gerber, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Wichita.

Deacon Don McArdle: Important Elements in a Successful Stewardship Renewal

How do you make your Stewardship Renewal as successful as possible?

Does success hinge on beautiful displays at your Ministry Fair, or perfect color photos in your brochures? While these are important details, the most important elements during your Renewal are prayer and people.

As with many endeavors, prayer is essential to your Stewardship Renewal. It is, after all, a time for spiritual renewal — a time for personal growth as people make commitments to God and their parish. It is critical to pray that the Holy Spirit inspires the priests and lay people who will speak at Mass, and that He open the hearts of parishioners who hear the message. Some parishes even have special Eucharistic Adoration immediately preceding their Renewal.

Deacon Don McArdle: Surveying Our Parish

As the leaders of a stewardship parish, we are charged to foster a community of disciples. It is not as though as the leaders we must simply direct our fellow parishioners as to what they ought to do. Rather, we are called to serve them, to help them grow in faith, and to help them better serve the Lord. We want our parish to be thriving. We want stewardship to be lived out in the lives of our parishioners and, in turn, for stewardship to fuel everything we do as a parish. But this does not begin with some abstract idea about how stewardship should be lived at our particular parishes. Rather, it begins with the God-given gifts of our parishioners.

Deacon Don McArdle: We Are All Fishers of Men

Imagine for just a moment that you are one of the first disciples. This is not an easy task. After all, we cannot truly fathom what it was like to live in Galilee 2,000 years ago as Jesus walked the earth. But let’s take a moment and put ourselves in the place of Simon, Andrew, James and John – the first four disciples Jesus called.

Employers in the fishing industry, a major business of the time, these four men were engaged in a hard day’s work when Jesus approached them.

“As He passed by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and His brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, ‘Come after me and I will make you fishers of men.’ Then they left their nets and followed Him. He walked along a little farther and saw James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then He called them, so they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed Him” (Mk. 1:16-20).

Deacon Don McArdle: Financial Transparency – One Hallmark of a Stewardship Parish

One of the hallmarks of a Stewardship Parish is having the parishioners take ownership of the parish and feel a sense of responsibility for all its activities, including its finances. In this regard it is important to promote openness in all financial dealings so that parishioners have a real sense of what is going on in the parish, what its financial needs and responsibilities are.

Based on the parish surveys we at Catholic Stewardship Consultants, Inc. (CSC) have conducted in Catholic parishes over the past 12-plus years, most parishioners do not have a good understanding of where their parish is financially. Quite often parishioners think their parish is far better off financially than it actually is. In fact, in many cases we have seen situations where a particular parish is in deep financial trouble, and most parishioners’ responses indicate that they think their parish is doing just fine financially or even generating a surplus. On the other hand, we’ve found cases when a parish has an adequate income, but many parishioners think the doors are about to be closed.

How does this disconnect happen so that parishioners think the parish is well off financially when in fact the opposite is true? Or that they think the parish is worse off than it actually is? Well, oftentimes, they have not been given enough accurate information in an understandable format by the parish leadership to know the parish’s financial situation. Granted, in other cases, the parishioners are at fault – they have been given enough information, but they have not taken the time to understand what is going on.

Deacon Don is the CEO of Catholic Stewardship Consultants and a Deacon at St. Mary on the Hill in Augusta, Ga.

According to one wise man, “You can’t love what you don’t know,” and that holds true even in parish life. Communicating what’s going on in the parish keeps the people informed, and knowing the parish helps people to love it.

Parishes with good communications find that parishioners tend to be eager to participate and glad to contribute their time, talent, and treasure because they feel like they’re “in the loop.” But parishes that don’t effectively share the news — either deliberately or accidentally — find that the people can feel left out. Such a parish can become fertile ground for rumors and complaints.

Our Hearts are Burning Within Us

God has called each of us as parish leaders to help build the Church. The call and challenge for each of us is just as real, just as important, and just as total as the call on the life of any other Catholic leader, including the earliest disciples. When Jesus walked along the Sea of Galilee, He called to some fishermen, “Come follow me.” He promised that if they laid down their nets and followed Him He would make them fishers of men. These men were some of His original disciples, and they knew Christ’s call was so important that they left their secular occupation to follow Jesus. In much the same way, Jesus calls each of us to follow Him today. He is not necessarily asking us to leave our secular occupations like he asked those fishermen so long ago, but He is asking us to put Him first in our lives and to busy ourselves with building the Church. In many cases, in fact, God wants us to serve Him, to build His Church through the secular occupations we have chosen.

Don McArdle

Empower Your Parish: Elevate Stewardship