DIOCESE TO SPONSOR

                                STEWARDSHIP DAY NOV. 8

Leaders in the Church’s effort to promote greater understanding of Gospel stewardship among the faithful will address a Stewardship Day to be held at the Immaculate Conception Center, Douglaston, Saturday, Nov. 8.

            Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio will participate in the day’s program, conducting morning prayer at 9 a.m. and celebrating and preaching at Mass at 3 p.m.

            Sponsored by the diocesan Office of Stewardship and Development, the event will include a keynote address and eight workshops, featuring speakers from nearby and distant dioceses.

            The presentations will focus on various aspects of the life of a Christian steward, said Thomas F. Flood, diocesan director of stewardship and development.

The U.S. Bishops’ 1992 pastoral letter on stewardship describes a steward as “one who receives God’s gifts gratefully, cherishes and tends them in a responsible and accountable manner, shares them in justice and love, and returns them with increase to the Lord.”

            The keynoter will be Father Raymond B. Kemp, coordinator of the Preaching the Just Word program and a Senior Fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University in Washington. He has given talks and homilies at retreats and conferences around the country.

            Workshop topics and speakers will be:

            “Basic Principles of Stewardship,” Daniel Conway, senior vice-president of RSI-Ketchum, Inc., Dallas.                                                                                                     

“Stewardship---Family and Youth,” Rosemary Bisig Smith, executive director of the Office of Stewardship and Development, Archdiocese of Louisville.

            “Stewardship in Religious Education,” Dr. James Sheehan, director of religious education, Diocese of Brooklyn.

            “Parish Stewardship Processes,” James K. Kelley, director of stewardship, Diocese of Charlotte.

            “Let’s Give ‘Em Somethin’ (Good) to Talk About,” Laurie Whitfield, associate director, Office of Parish Stewardship, Diocese of Rockville Centre.

            “Family Stewardship---Ties that Bind,” Joseph A. Wood, director of parish stewardship, Diocese of Brooklyn.

            “Unity and Diversity---Unfolding Stewardship among Hispanic Communities,” Jose de Jesus, director of stewardship, Diocese of St. Augustine.

            “Parish Stewardship---Pastors’ Perspective,” a panel that will include Msgr. Robert J. Pawson, Our Lady of Lourdes, Queens Village; Father James K. Cunningham, St. Mary Star of the Sea, Far Rockaway; Father Joseph T. Holcomb, St. Finbar’s, Bath Beach, and Father Joseph R. Grimaldi, St. Mark’s, Sheepshead Bay.

            The moderators for the pastors’ panel will be the respective stewardship directors of the Brooklyn and Rockville Centre Dioceses: Mr. Flood and Robert Cammarata.

            Mr. Flood said he hoped the presentations “will help us understand what it means to be a disciple of Christ and will help to welcome the spirituality of stewardship into our lives.” 

            Further information is available by calling the Brooklyn diocesan Stewardship and Development Office at (718) 965-7300, ext. 1602.