Stewardship: Giving, Volunteering, and Ministering

Time is a gift not to be taken for granted.  Managing the time we have been given is perhaps the most important aspect of Stewardship.  Time spent in reflection and prayer, in nurturing the relationships we have with family and friends, or even just enjoying the beauty of the world around us is time well spent.

Prayer is the cornerstone of Stewardship.  It is how we demonstrate our faith in God.  In prayer we give thanks to God for all we have and reflect on how to return to him a portion of the time, talent and treasure he has given us.  Eucharistic Liturgies are wonderful occasions for prayer.  Outside of the liturgy, there  are many opportunities to deepen your faith and connect with our parish community, including the GIFT (Generations in Faith Together) program, our spiritual formation program for parishioners at all ages and stages of life.

It is our hope that you will find time each day for prayer and that you respond to the invitation to generously share your time with us in service to all of God’s people.

The stewardship of talent calls us to search out our talents, nurture them, help them grow and then share them with others.  We all have something to share, something that we are good at or that we especially like to do.  Our parish family is not only in need of your talents, but we recognize the responsibility we have to help you nurture them and give you opportunities to use them.

If you haven’t already found your opportunity, please take some time to reflect on the Ministry Offerings and let us know if you would like to join a group or volunteer for a project.  We invite every parishioner to participate in at least one parish ministry each year. Putting our faith into action is at the very heart of the beliefs we profess and celebrate.  By bringing diverse talents to various projects, committees and ministries, every member of our parish community  has the opportunity to serve and  live out their Baptismal call.

We are called to express our gratitude for all of God’s gifts through a life of generosity.  We share our money and all of our material possessions because they are meant to be shared and because we each have a need to give.

In our parish we ask new parish families to make a stewardship pledge.  Our parish also asks families to renew their stewardship commitments annually.   This is done so that we can make meaningful decisions concerning our ministries and plan the programs that will be carried out in the following year.

The amount each parish family gives will be different, because the resources of each family are different. Give in proportion to what you have been blessed with; but give sacrificially.

Stewardship Contribution slips are mailed to parishioners monthly. These slips can be used for weekly and monthly offertory donations, along with any Holy Day and special collections. The parish tracks these contributions and provides parishioners with an annual  statement for tax purposes. Each slip provides various options to earmark donations and should be used to ensure accurate disbursement. One envelope is provided by the parish for monthly contributions. Cash donations that are not accompanied with a contribution slip cannot be tracked by the parish and will not be included in the year-end contribution statement. To insure tax deductibility for donations to our parish we recommended use of parish contribution slips.

Many OLOL members provide their donations to OLOL via an electronic transfer. This can be done via an ACH transfer directly from the donor’s bank account. Click here to download the form to print out, fill out, sign, and return to the Parish Office.

Interested in making a donation online? Click the image below, then click on the GIVING tab.

Learn More About WeShare at OLOL!

Making a gift of stocks, bonds, or mutual funds is a simple and effective way to support the ministries of OLOL, and can have significant tax advantages for the donor.  For additional information on charitable gifts of stocks, bonds or mutual funds to Our Lady of Lourdes, contact:

Patricia Fabian, Director of Administrative Services at (414) 545-4316 ext 125

Planned giving is often done in conjunction with estate planning and is a viable option for donors of all income levels. Examples of popular planned giving tools include charitable trusts and annuities, bequests by wills, beneficiary designations of retirement plans and life insurance policies and gifts of real estate or property.  To request additional information on this process, please call the Parish Office or parish member Mike Steppe at (262) 827-9055.