1996 Stewardship Giving Exceeds Past Years' Totals

Orthodox Observer - February 1997

Efforts by the Archdiocese to increase parish financial contributions through greater outreach proved very suc- cessful as income from the 1996 Total Commitment Program has surpassed the previous high by nearly $658,000.

According to information from the Department of Stewardship Ministry, the Archdiocese received more than $8.15 million for the year. The figure for 1995 was $7.46 million and the 1994 total over $7.49 million, the highest amount raised prior to this year.

| Upon learning the news, Archbishop Spyridon responded that he was "most grateful to all the bishops and the communities within their respective dioceses who came forward to fulfill their obligations to the national Church."

| The Archbishop added, "We must begin to reach all the faithful and provide the services and ministries essential for the growth and expansion of our Church here in the Americas."

| He also said that a greater effort will be made to keep the communities informed "of how their moneys are being returned to them as services." One way he plans to do this will be through the Orthodox Observer, which beginning in March will increase its frequency to 18 issues per year.

Funds from the Total Commitment Program support the Archdiocese National Ministries. These include religious education and Hellenic College-Holy Cross School of Theology, the diocesan ministries, which receive a portion of stewardship revenue, outreach programs that include youth ministry and Orthodox missions, community services such as the Registry Department, support of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and world Orthodoxy, and communications.

A major factor in the program's success was the stepped-up efforts since September by the Stewardship Ministry and diocesan bishops to contact parishes, especially those that had not sent in their contributions, and to emphasize the importance of their participation.

"We worked with each parish and the funds started coming in," said Stewardship Ministry Director Paulette Poulos. "The parishes did their part more than in the past and we want to publicly thank everyone."

She also praised the bishops for their support and leadership in their dioceses. "The key to a successful stewardship ministry can only be through the cooperation, guidance and leadership of the diocesan bishops," she said. "We plan to make every effort to work in conjunction with each bishop and chancellor to secure that all parishes faithfully offer their monthly commitment to the Archdiocese."

Even the smallest communities have given their whole-hearted support to the Total Commitment Program. One example is St. George Church in Lynchburg, Va., a community consisting of 21 persons and no full-time priest, but that has fulfilled its annual commitment of $1,020 without prodding from Stewardship Ministry officials.

While the amount raised for the National Ministries over the past year will greatly reduce the nearly $1 million budget deficit, Stewardship officials said they plan to expand their fund-raising efforts to increase the Church's revenue next year. These include two areas, the 1997 Total Commitment Program and the LOGOS (League of Greek Orthodox Stewards), which will be restructured.

"We want to generate more interest from individuals who would like to donate more to the Archdiocese so the entire burden does not fall on the communities," said Ms. Poulos.

[ Orthodox Observer - Vol. 62, No. 1123 - February 1997 - pp. 1, 3 ]