Metropolis Of Boston Train The Trainer March 28th & 29th

1. Metropolis OfBoston Train The Trainer March 28th & 29th Presented by George Vourvoulias And George Matthews

2. National Stewardship Ministries Mission The mission of the National Stewardship Ministries is to teach, promote and establish the practice of true Christian Stewardship in all Parishes in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

3. National Stewardship Ministries “2020” Vision • The vision of the National Stewardship Ministries is to have all Greek Orthodox faithful and Parishes, in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, fully on true Christian Stewardship. • Our goal is that by 2020 all Parishes in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America can fully meet their mission, support and expand an extensive array of ministries through true stewardship and eliminate their dependence on non-steward support. • We recruit and train the necessary leaders in order to establish and engage an infrastructure that will research, educate, implement and support the practice of true Christian Stewardship.

4. Paradigms ~ Generalized patterns or rules we live by ~ Use paradigms to screen data; often ignore or distort data that do not fit

5. Today’s Desired Goal ~ A paradigm shift, or a significant change in your paradigms on stewardship ~ Covey’s subway story ~ Shoe swap

6. Today’s DesiredParadigm Shift ~ Everything I thought I knew about stewardship in our church was wrong! ~ Stewardship is not about raising money ~ Stewardship is a spiritual expression of faith and about salvation ~ Stewardship = Thanksgiving

7. The Parable of the Talents “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much.”(Matthew 25:14-30)

8. “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19) Faith and money are two sides of the same coin. Where the one is, the other is also. We easily pretend otherwise, making faith immaterial or money unspiritual.

9. “And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?” (Luke 16:11 New Living Translation version) “If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?”(Luke 16:11 Greek Orthodox Study Bible)

10. Stewardship Definition ~ Call of the faithful to share willingly the gifts that God has bestowed on them ~ Including sharing these gifts for God’s work

11. Stewardship Definition Stewardship is what you do with the gifts God gave you.

12. Christian Stewardship Is A Way Of Life¹ Stewardship is devotion and service to God and His Church as persons, as families, as a Parish, as a Metropolis, as a National Church, and as the Church Universal ¹ Oriented Leadership – Williams and McKibben

13. Primary Purpose Of Stewardship ~ To promote the spiritual growth of the Stewards ~ growth in Grace ~ develop Faith ~ Not to finance the Local Parish ~ it’s a secondary purpose at best

14. Thus Stewardshipis directed toward the inner person, NOT toward an outer - oriented activity

15. A Reflection on Christian Stewardship¹ “Do I possess the house in which I live? No, it is only on loan to me from God while I remain in that place. Do I possess the clothes I wear? No, they are on loan to me until they wear out, or until I give them away to someone in greater need. Do I possess this body that you see before you? No, it was lent to me by God when I was born, and he will take it back when I die. Do I possess the mind that is composing the words that I speak? No, that too was lent by God at my birth and will go when I die.” ¹ St John Chrysostom from On Living Simply: The Golden Voice of John Chrysostom

16. A Reflection on Christian Stewardship¹ “So do I possess anything? Yes, I possess the virtues which during my life have grown and flourished within my soul. Inasmuch as I have grown in faith, I possess faith. Inasmuch as I have grown in gentleness, I possess gentleness. These things are immortal; they are divine gifts which God will not take away, because He wants heaven itself to be filled with virtue. And, of course, I possess my soul, in which these virtues have their roots.” ¹ St John Chrysostom from On Living Simply: The Golden Voice of John Chrysostom

17. What do you expect to be true of a Parish that is fully meeting its mission?

18. What Is True Of A Parish That Is Fully Meeting Its Mission? ~ Excellent attendance and participation in sacraments ~ Active/enthusiastic participation in activities, functions and extensive ministries ~ Enthusiastically volunteer time and talents ~ Generous donations ~ Spiritual and numerical growth ~ The Parish emulates the kingdom of God - a culture overflowing with joy, peace and love (Stavros and St. Peter – the new process to get into heaven)

19. What Is Needed toMove a Parish Towardsthe Kingdom of God? ~ Developing Parish leadership that is oriented toward the Holy Trinity ~ Fostering a Parish culture that expresses the loving care of one for another ~ Promoting spiritual development through the understanding and practice of true Christian stewardship

20. Statistics provepeople involved in giving time to a charitygive substantially more money to that charity than do those who are not involved

21. People who give their time and talent to the church grow spiritually and feel a part of the church

22. Ingredients Of EffectiveStewardship Ministry ~ Priest / Parish Council / Stewardship and Other Ministries all must completely ‘buy-in’ and be on the same page and are responsible for overall leadership ~ ALL must ACTIVELY participate ~ General Assembly approves the stewardship ministry – results in the “buy-in” of the parish and is a part of the education program (the Greek Millionaire)

23. Ingredients Of EffectiveStewardship Ministry Stewardship committee: ~ Hand-picked for commitment and leadership ~ Often chaired by vice president of parish council (or is a member) ~ Priest is an active member ~ Prepares strategy, materials and coordinates operation of program ~ Coordinates closely with priest, particularly his stewardship sermons ~Committee expands to about 10% of the community for gatherings and visitations ~Meets weekly during campaign

24. Ingredients Of EffectiveStewardship Ministry Parish council’s and stewardship committee’s role ~ Community servant leaders (seek first to serve, then lead) ~ Must lead by example – must be the first stewards and give sacrificially ~ 100% participation and total amount contributed announced to demonstrate the commitment of the community leaders (PPS) ~ The Priest can be extremely effective with particular stewards (head hog at the trough)

25. Stewardship Basis The Holy Trinity is active in the parish and in each of our lives.

26. Stewardship Basis Our blessings come from God -- in the past, now and in the future: • Our birth • Our family • Our potential and developed talents • Our opportunities  Our health and support • Our unseen and unknown blessings

27. Stewardship Basis God came to earth, being born as man. He taught and showed us how to love God and to love and serve our fellow man. He was crucified and rose on the third day, resulting in an invitation for a new relationship with God and thereby we are given the opportunity to be with Him for eternity.

28. REQUIRED ACTIONS We develop our relationship with God by:  Participating in worship services with others • Participating in Holy Sacraments and fasting • Participating in spiritual development opportunities  Personal prayer  Personal devotion and study  Practicing Christian stewardship

29. From Risk to Resiliency: A New Philanthropic Paradigm by Frank Marangoes, CEO, OINOS Educational Consulting(OINOSconsulting.com) Excellent article on stewardship and applies very well to parishes: □ Most influencing factors in Christian giving – ♦ A sense of gratitude for God’s love and goodness (His blessings) ♦ A desire to personally contribute to God’s work

30. Marangos’ Article continued □ Resilient organizations (parishes) put highest emphasis on their highly engaged volunteers. □ Humanity’s basic human needs are for love, consecutiveness, respect, and meaningful involvement.

31. UNDERSTANDING MOTIVES Out actions are driven by internal forces. These forces are called ‘motives.’ Typically, a specific situation triggers a specific motive which, in turn, results in a specific action as the response to the situation. We were born with some of these motives; however, the vast majority of our motives were learned – a great many of these motives were learned from the modeling of our parents(and older siblings if we had them).

32. MAJOR MOTIVES Motives impacting stewardship: • Self-Centered • Social • Altruistic • Spiritual

33. Definitions • Self-Centered Motive – The person acts because he/she expects something in return. • Social Motive – The person acts because he/she wants to assist the group to which he/she belongs. • Altruistic Motive – The person acts to address a perceived need of another person or persons.  Spiritual Motive – The person acts to grow closer to God and to do His will.

34. Self-Centered Motive • Individuals are born with this self-centered motive. It is essential to their early survival. • Persons are motivated to get something in return for their actions. They is less likely to be as motivated next time if they got nothing in return, if they didn’t get what they wanted, or if they didn’t get what they thought they deserved. • If these people continue to be driven mostly by the self-centered motive during adolescence or adulthood, they are viewed as being immature (as self-centered individuals).

35. Self-Centered Motive – Implications for: Should largely, if not entirely ignore this motive – (1) as reinforcing this motive tends to limit self-centered people to only give when they get public recognition and/or something of value in return (which is rarely cost effective), (2) and also tends to alienate the other donors when special recognition is given to those who are obviously self-serving.

36. Social Motive – Implications for: • Strive for warm, loving, and supportive parish culture in which members reach out to each other • Insure that every parishioner is actively involved in at least one ministry other than just the festival (Note: effective ministries also focus on helping us come closer to God.)  Have very active and effective Welcoming and Outreach Ministries  Strive to have an organization for every cohort group in the parish (e.g. Prime Timers)

37. Altruistic Motive – Implications for:  Facilitate ministries/activities in which parishioners can help others (e.g., feeding hungry, driving others, visiting sick/shut-ins, etc.)  Emphasize parish service for the GOYA (serving/clean-up at events; entertaining seniors; helping JOY, HOPE, Summer Camp; etc.)  Coordinate opportunities to serve others beyond the parish (e.g., community projects, participate in OCMC mission trips, etc.)

38. Spiritual Motive – Implications for: • Hold frequent religious services • Offer frequent religious classes • Hold religious retreats and vigils • Have a spiritual development aspect to every ministry • Encourage prayer, devotion and religious study at home

39. Impact of Motive Development The impact of enhanced motivation on stewardship is at least additive, i.e., improvement in each motivation increases individual’s response for engaging in stewardship. The impact probably is multiplicative, i.e., increases in all three positive motives result in increased synergy – leading a pronounced sacrificial Christian stewardship outlook towards one’s life.

40. Impact of Motive Development Clearly the enhanced relationship with God (and others) leads to a clearer understanding that we are expected by God to: • Frequently participate in worship services • Frequently participate in Holy Sacraments and fasting • Participate in spiritual development opportunities  Continuously engage in personal prayer  Engage in personal devotion and study  Practice Christian stewardship

41. PURPOSE OF STEWARDSHIP MINISTRY □ The primary focus of the Stewardship Ministry to is to assist the parishioners in developing a full understanding of the true meaning of Christian stewardship and how to apply this understanding to their daily lives. □ The Ministry is also responsible for managing the annual membership/stewardship drive for the parish.

42. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CHAIR OF THE PARISH STEWARDSHIP MINISTRY General Responsibility of the Ministry Chair: The Chair of the Stewardship Ministry is responsible for managing the annual membership/ stewardship drive, managing efforts throughout the year to foster the ministry, activity and event heads’ use of the time and talent offered by the parishioners, managing efforts throughout the year to foster the actual donation of funds that have been offered by the parishioners, and manage efforts throughout the year to assist the parishioners in enhancing their understanding the true meaning of Christian stewardship and the importance of a loving response to this personal call from Christ. All such management is executed under the leadership and overview of the Parish Priest while always being consistent with the Holy Traditions, Archdiocese Regulations, Parish By-Laws and adopted General Assembly policies, and published Parish Council actions.

43. Ingredients Of EffectiveStewardship Ministry Personal, in-home visitations are most effective ~ Study after study absolutely prove that mail only (“pen pal”) campaigns are easy but not real stewardship programs and rarely get a good or different result (insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result) ~ Why are the following successful: 1. door to door salesmen 2. the Salvation Army bell ringers 3. Hare Krishna 4. Tupperware parties (the mob was wrong)

44. Ingredients Of EffectiveStewardship Ministry Small group gatherings ~ More effective than mailings but less effective than personal visitations ~ Up to 10 – 20 individuals in a home ~ By invitation; preferably “formal” ~ Include testimonials ~ Telephone thank you / follow-up

45. Is It Too Late For Us To Do This? “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.” Old Chinese Proverb

46. Metropolis OfBostonTrain The Trainer March 8 & 9, 2013 Questions & Answers

47. Today’s 2 Bonus Questions What was the greatest invention of Greek Americans to save our churches? When did we invent it?

48. Today’s Bonus Answer The Greek Festival Invented in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s

49. That Was Then This Is Now NOW (Us) THEN (Yiayia and Papou) 2nd highest in U.S. Limited / informal Education Immigrants (laborers/merchants) 3rd highest in U.S. Income Average Tray Contribution $1 * $1 % of Church Budget Paid by Non-Parishioner X Factor 27%+ 0% * $1 in 1922 = $13.70 in 2012 due to inflation $1 in 1960 = $ 7.52 in 2012 due to inflation

50. The Bottom Line Church membership is declining Church sacraments are declining Church contributions are declining Church member spirituality is declining Church relevance is declining Church stewardship is declining Church disengagement by youth is increasing Church member deaths are increasing Church dependence on Festivals is increasing