Responsible Stewardship in Mission
By Sr Alicia Alambra FMM
Sister Alicia is a Franciscan Missionary of Mary from the Philippines. She has written before for Misyon, from Bolivia, Rome and from the USA. She is currently working in the Archdiocese of Chicago. The missionary work of the Church could not continue without the service of those who spend much of their time in front of a computer ensuring that financial resources are properly used.
‘Build a community of administrative and financial leaders in support of pastoral practice to achieve the mission of the Church.’
Sister Alicia leading a workshop with young adults of the parish
This is the goal of our work as Business Managers of the parishes in the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Our Parish
I working in a parish, St Donatus, Blue Island, Illinois, founded by the Comboni Missionaries in 1909, that includes few skilled but many unskilled workers, some of them migrants. The former residents were Italian who in recent years left the parish and went west of Chicago. Now about 90 percent of the populace are from Mexico and Guatemala.
My Work
My work is to assist the Pastor in the governance and the leadership of temporal affairs of the parish, under the umbrella of the Archdiocese. We are provided with the most up-to-date software in our payroll and accounting. Many times we are given updates through virtual education platforms created by outside consultants.
Sister Alicia in her office in St Donatus Parish as Business Manager
There are academic tracks entitled ‘Stewardship’ to encourage us and our parishioners to support our mission direction. There are church agencies like Parish Transformation and Capital Campaign that help us in promoting the strategic use of Time, Talent and Treasure within the parish.
St Donatus, our patron, while in procession the people
pin money and pray for their intentions.
Belong to the Archdiocese of Chicago
The Archdiocese of Chicago has developed a Strategic Pastoral Plan for six years at all levels for the mission in the church. In the words of our Cardinal,
‘ . . . we have formulated a strategic pastoral plan, not to change what the Lord has given us but to remain faithful to what he has entrusted to us.
‘Over the next several years, we will be paying special attention to the New Evangelization, looking for ways to draw those who have been baptized in the Catholic Church into a more conscious and deliberate commitment to live out their faith. We will be making a special effort to reach out to our teens and the young people in their early stage of adulthood.’(Francis Cardinal George OMI, Archbishop of Chicago.)
What the plan launches:
Ongoing - Parish Transformation and Financial Stability
2011 - Year of Teens and Young Adults
2012- Year of Sunday Mass
2013 - Year of Parent Formation
2014 - Year of the Sacraments
The expectation is to develop the growth of the Catholic community of faith in each parish over these years and to more deeply incorporate the faithful in the life of the Church throughout the course of their lives.
In the procession, the local band of Italians still play the traditional songs, for the younger generation, while the Latinos, try to learn other culture.
Other Involvements
Aside from being the Business Manager of the Parish, I am also involved in religious education, the liturgical committee and RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults).
When invited, I give talks to young adults and other groups in the parish.
Encapsulated good governance, leadership and evangelization
My involvement keeps me in touch with the history and mission of the Catholic Church, along with the more academic tasks of handling the books of accounts, preparing financial statements and budgets.
Italians in the kitchen the whole day, cooking pizzas for the feast of St. Donatus.
All these encapsulate good governance. Leadership and evangelization are guided by the Strategic Planning at all levels, the parishes, Archdiocese, national and universal Church.
Values that include spirituality in the workplace, social justice, a theology and spirituality of collaboration, shared decision-making and consensus building, human resource concepts at the Archdiocesan level, finance and accounting according to the accepted policies and procedures, managing capital and other parish administration best practices, are outlined for us to guide us in our jobs.
Christ is the Light of nations. Because this is so, this Sacred Synod gathered together in the Holy Spirit eagerly desires, by proclaiming the Gospel to every creature, (cf Mark 16:15) to bring the light of Christ to all men, a light brightly visible on the countenance of the Church.
(The opening sentence of the Second Vatican Council's Lumen Gentium ,Dogmatic Constitution on the Church.)