“STEWARDSHIP AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Bishop John T. Steinbock
Convocation of Priests, January 2006
At the Priests Convocation in 1994, I presented my personal reflections on “Collaborative Ministry.” That presentation spoke mainly of working together in love with your parishioners in proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. I would ask our priests and deacons to please reread those reflections as many of the principles I presented in that pastoral letter are basic to good stewardship and accountability in relation to parish funds.
The basic definition that I presented for Collaborative Ministry is simply: “working together in love, led by the Spirit of God.” I want to emphasize this in relation to stewardship and accountability in relation to your parishioners. As priests we must seek to be led by the Spirit of God’s love in relation to our people in every aspect of ministry and every aspect of our lives. The way we lead our people to our Lord Jesus and through Him to eternal life, is allowing the Spirit of God’s love to fill us and lead us in our lives. This is basic to being a priest. And this being led by the Spirit of God’s love must be the reason and motivation for having good stewardship and financial accountability. With the help of God’s people, and for God’s people, we collaborate in these matters so that our lives all the more proclaim the Good News of Jesus through the many sacramental, pastoral, fraternal and charitable works of the parish.
I would just refer first to a few principles I gave in that pastoral letter on Collaborative Ministry, and relate them to good stewardship and financial accountability.
“Collaborative Ministry is basically loving God’s people.” Truly loving the other, as we know from our preparation of so many couples for marriage, is respecting the other, treating the other as an equal, being open, honest and truthful in communicating with the other, helping the other to grow, and to use their talents and abilities, sharing in responsibilities. Good stewardship and good accountability involve every one of these qualities. People with the proper expertise must be involved to help share in the responsibilities of the pastor regarding finances. There must be openness and transparency of how the funds are spent, and this means regular reporting of the funds to the parishioners, of all funds, without secrets. If there is something to hide, there is something wrong and we are not totally loving and respecting the people we are called to serve.
“Collaborative Ministry enhances the priest’s role” “Collaborative ministry does not lessen the leadership role of the priest, rather it enhances it, and enables him to respond all the better to the many needs of God’s people.” A priest is ordained to preach, to celebrate the Eucharist and the sacraments, to be a man of prayer, to build up the Christian Community in love, to shepherd God’s people. The priest is not ordained to administer the finances of a parish, but it is a responsibility that he takes onto himself in being a pastor. But he is not meant to do this by himself. Very few priests are trained in finances and administrative management. Very few priests have knowledge of the many civil laws that affect both finances and employment, yet we are bound to follow these laws. But practically every parish has people with these talents and abilities and expertise.
God’s people want to help and would be most willing to help if they are asked. It is their parish, but they must be asked and given the freedom and needed information to help the priest fulfill his responsibility as the pastor. Every parish, even the poorer ones, can have a proper bookkeeper or person with the expertise to take care of the daily financial responsibilities and give advice regarding the many administrative responsibilities that come to the pastor. If the pastor tries to do these things himself, he will find himself with greater burdens and anxieties and will not be able to be give of himself in the real responsibilities of his priesthood. And this leads to frustration. He will soon find himself in burnout mode, as private prayer will be the first thing that disappears in his busy schedule. An important part of leadership for the priest is to discern the talents of the people and to call them to roles of service, and this includes service in the administrative needs of the parish, so that he can devote himself more to what a priest is all about.
“Ingredients that are necessary for Collaborative Ministry.” Here I will simply review quickly those ingredients but I refer you to my talk on Collaborative Ministry from 1994 to reflect more on each thought.
1. The pastor must learn to delegate.
2. There must be a clear mission statement and goals to direct everyone
3. Certain structures are necessary for collaborative ministry to work, e.g., regular meetings where people are free to question and to discuss issues
4. Certain skills must be learned by the priest, e.g. group leadership, listening skills, working with volunteers, communication skills, etc.
5. Good theological and scriptural training must be given to the people involved. This is absolutely essential when it comes to persons involved in finances and administration. You as the pastor should be teaching the people on your Parish Finance Council about the Church, spirituality, salvation history, that the church is not a democracy, about Canon law which must direct the pastor in his responsibility. Without proper instruction, God’s people can be easily misled by people who see the church as simply another financial institution. The Parish Finance Council is to help the pastor in his responsibilities and to monitor that the policies of the Diocese are being followed in the parish, not to run the parish.
6. We all must grow spiritually:
--Trust in the Holy Spirit--willing to risk and willing to fail.
--Security in God’s love—not needing to control, without abdicating authority.
--Patience—with ourselves and others.
--Humility—to take constructive criticism and admit we can learn from others.
--Forgiveness—from the heart when we are hurt, and move on.
--Unselfish love—for the people and for our fellow priests.
“Collaborative Ministry gives the priest more time.” A lot of the administrative responsibilities of the pastor can be taken over by the laity. This is not only true by paid personnel but by volunteers who have the skills and are just waiting to be asked. A Parish Finance Council can also help the priest have proper evaluation for the staff that he now has. Are they fulfilling their job descriptions? Do they have a proper job description? Do they have the expertise to fulfill their job descriptions? Is a more qualified person needed on the parish staff? We do not hire someone to help them out; we hire someone to fulfill specific duties. If a good person is in a position who does not have the abilities that are needed, more problems will come to the pastor, and that good person will not be a help for him. Once proper persons, both paid and volunteer, are in place, and the pastor gives them the proper delegation and information needed to fulfill their roles, the priest will find himself with much more time to devote to the reason for which he was ordained a priest, which in turn will benefit his own mental and spiritual well being.
“The Bishop seeks to model collaborative ministry.” On the Diocesan level, one will find many collaborative structures, and staff with the proper delegation, which contribute both to collaboration and fulfillment of the pastoral and administrative responsibilities of the Bishop: Priests Council, Priests Personnel Board, Diocesan Finance Council, Deposit and Loan Fund Committee, regular Curia meetings, Religious Advisory Board, Permanent Diaconate Board, Deanery Meetings, and various other Boards and Committees which give me input and advice for my decision making. I can say that I have never made any major decision without consultation since I have been in this Diocese. I need the advice and input of my fellow priests and of those with the needed expertise in relation to the decisions that I must make. I readily admit I do not have the needed expertise in running this Diocese, but I do have priests, staff, and laity with the needed expertise to help me in my responsibility. I need the collective wisdom of these people, just as the pastor in the parish needs the collective wisdom of the people entrusted to his care if he is to make good decisions in administrative matters.
“Decision-making and consultation.” As the Bishop, I do not give decision making power over to anyone. I do not have shared decision making. I consult and I seek to come to a consensus in most decisions, but I have the responsibility for making the ultimate decision regarding serious matters. I do delegate decision making in many things to our different department heads, but they are clear in what they have the authority to make decisions and what must be brought to the Bishop. The same must be true of the pastor. He cannot abdicate his authority and responsibility. He has the canonical responsibility for the administration of the parish as I have the canonical responsibility for the administration of the Diocese. Working in collaboration and sharing in responsibilities is not to abdicate one’s authority. The pastor is responsible for the final decisions in major matters of the parish just as I the Bishop am responsible for major decisions in the Diocese. But a lot of minor decisions can be left to others in the parish, if they are clear what their decision making authority is. In this the Pastoral Council or the Parish Finance Council can give advice to the pastor. I do not micro manage or I would have no time for prayer or golf. The Pastor also should not micro manage with many aspects of his parish.
“Working together in love.” “Collaborative Ministry is not simply telling people what to do. “It is a sense of togetherness: in the planning, in the ministry, in sharing the mission of Christ. It is working together in love, led by the Spirit of God.”
Having reflected briefly on my 1994 pastoral on Collaborative Ministry in relationship to stewardship and accountability, I would now simply state a few basic concepts for good stewardship and financial accountability demanded of us priests. These concepts must be put into action into the administration of every pastor in our Diocese. These concepts are not just nice to do but they are essential for being a pastor with administrative duties. They are essential for working together in love with the people entrusted to your care.
1. The pastor has the moral responsibility and duty to have good financial Stewardship over all funds entrusted to his care. The funds of the parish belong to the people of God, not to the pastor.
2. The pastor must familiarize himself with the stipulations of Canon Law regarding administration of goods, “The Diocesan Policies regarding Administration of Goods,” the norms for “Parish Finance Councils,” and the policies in the Clergy Handbook regarding Stipends, Benefits, and financial responsibilities of the pastor, and follow faithfully those norms.
3. The Pastor has the canonical responsibility to administer the finances and material goods of the Parish as defined both by canon law (canons1281 through 1288) and the norms and policies of the Diocese.
4. The Pastor is called to be a good householder, safeguarding the funds and using them only in accordance to the needs of the parish and the intention of the donors.
5. The pastor is to obtain the advice of people with proper expertise to be members of the Parish Finance Council and to give them the information needed for them to monitor the use of the parish funds. The pastor must be open and candid with the members of the Parish Finance Council.
6. The Pastor must see that proper controls are in place regarding the collection of monies, the counting of monies, and the spending of the funds, with the oversight of the Parish Finance Council.
7. Financial stewardship includes good management principles in running the parish, for which he should use people with the proper expertise to help him in this.
8. The Pastor is responsible to attend all training sessions given by the Diocese in relation to the administration of the parish, and to send paid and volunteer staff to any such sessions. Staff and volunteers who are not familiar with the norms and policies of the Diocese and the stipulations of canon law are not to be involved in monitoring or administrating parish funds.
1. Every Pastor is held responsible and is accountable to follow all the administrative norms of Canon Law and of the Diocese, if he is to continue as a pastor with administrative responsibilities.
2. Each parish must have a Parish Finance Council. The Pastor must follow the Diocesan norms for “Parish Finance Councils.” Minutes of the Parish Finance Council Meetings must be kept and made available for the Bishop or his delegate to review and sign at the time of Confirmation in the parish. The Parish Finance Council is responsible to see that all Diocesan and Canonical Norms are being followed in the parish
3. A Diocesan Financial Review of the parish books and finances will be conducted when a priest in charge of a parish is moved, also on a random basis, and whenever the Bishop deems it appropriate for a parish. At times there may be a need for an audit by an outside entity.
4. The Clergy Handbook specifies those items that are to be reimbursed by the parish. All reimbursement requests must be itemized on the proper reimbursement form and accompanied with receipts. The Parish Finance Council is to review these reimbursements at each Council meeting or by a committee set up by the Parish Finance Council, which reports to the Parish Finance Council. This should be done monthly.
5. Parish funds may never be borrowed to pay for personal expenses of the priest. Any priest will be held accountable, even possibly civilly, for such an action.
6. Parishes are to provide regular Financial Reports to the faithful in the Sunday bulletin, at least monthly, and must provide the parish with an annual detailed report of the parish finances, with a copy sent to the Diocesan Finance Office. Model forms are available for these reports. These reports must be honest, complete and candid. The Pastor is responsible to send promptly the monthly financial report to the Diocesan Finance Office.
Good stewardship and financial accountability is essential to being a good pastor and administrator. With the above principles and norms in place, and with openness and honesty in reporting to the people, there will not be cause for gossip and accusations, either against our priests or against people in the parish involved in any way in handling the finances of the parish. We are living in the age of the laity, in which they are called to take on a greater role in serving the needs of the church and of proclaiming the Good News of Jesus. Let us not be hesitant to call people forth with the expertise and talents that are needed in running our parishes. They want to help and are waiting to be asked to help, and we must use the abilities and expertise of our people in the administration of the goods of our parishes if we hope to fulfill well our call to be good stewards.
I do want to thank all our priests who work so hard throughout our Diocese and have always manifested almost to a man support for me as the Bishop. You are a great blessing for me and I thank each and every one of you for that support and friendship that I have experienced though all these years in the Diocese as your Bishop. One of my greatest prayers is that all our priests may live and minister together in that same spirit of fraternity and love. We are all weak and we all fail and we all lack many qualities so essential to be good priests of God. Yet, God uses us for his glory even in our weakness and our sinfulness. Let us never speak badly or any of our priests. We are all brothers and we all have our faults and failings. God is loving each and every one of us just where we are at, calling us always closer to his holy will and love. Let us always encourage and support one another so that God may use us all the more for His glory.
If we are to be good stewards, it is only through the grace and power of God in lives. People do not expect you to have the skills to be a good administrator yourself, but they do expect you to be a man of God, a man of prayer, a man who leads them to know God’s love and presence in their lives as we journey together through this world to the eternal life won for us by Jesus. We can only live up to that valid expectation through the Spirit of God in our own lives. We above all, have been called to holiness, not only for our own sake but for the sake of the people entrusted to our care. Fortunately holiness is God’s gift to us. It is simply left to us to open ourselves to that gift of holiness, his love, his presence in our lives, to be filled ever more with that love and holiness, so that God, even in our weakness and at times failings, may use us to speak of His presence with his people. And we all know we are totally dependent on Christ for this. “Apart from me, you can do nothing.” How well we know this, and how well we know we have that need for personal prayer time alone with the Lord every day of our lives, if we are going to be open each day to be filled with his love, his joy, his wisdom to lead us in relationship to his people.
Christ in the Eucharist is the center of our lives and of our prayer life, but we need to bring our personal prayer to the Eucharist and be led from the Eucharist in giving of our lives in service to God’s people. What a joy and blessing we have in our priesthood, even with its trials and difficulties. What a joy to bear the cross of our Lord, as we know it is for God’s people, that Jesus may use us all the more to bring people to Him, the love of our lives. May we ask the intercession of Mary, the mother of us priests, to help us to work collaboratively with God’s people entrusted to our care. She is the Mother of us all, who loves us as her own Divine Son, and would form in us ever more the image of her Divine Son.
My fellow priests, thank you and God bless you. You are always in my heart and in my daily prayers as we live in the comunio we share through God’s love. Through the Holy Spirit poured forth into our hearts, may Jesus in us praise His Father through our lives, our priesthood and our ministry.
Bishop John T. Steinbock
Bishop, Diocese of Fresno
January 23, 2006