April 2008:
Late in 2007 the office for Stewardship was opened at 27 Brickdam and Mr. Rock Beharry was appointed to introduce the Stewardship programme in the Diocese. Beginning in the Georgetown Pastoral area the Pastoral Team of priests was invited to recommend persons who were already living a stewardship way of life in their communities and who would be interested in promoting Stewardship as a way of life in the Diocese.
From among those so recommended a Diocesan Stewardship Council was formed in March 2008. In April 2008 the Council was formally mandated to offer the Stewardship programme to parishes in the Diocese. Coinciding with this occasion, Fr. Michael Cockburn, a Diocesan priest from Trinidad and Tobago with a great deal of experience of Stewardship, came to Guyana to conduct workshops on Stewardship with the Stewardship Council and to hold open sessions for the Catholic public.
These initiatives took their queue mainly from a Pastoral Letter on Stewardship issued by the Bishops of the Antilles Episcopal Conference in September 2003. The full title of the Pastoral is Stewardship and the Revitalization of Parish Life in the Caribbean. In my visits to parishes and in the process of “Restructuring” appeals were made and invitations issued to all the faithful to become more involved in church activities and parish life i.e. to live more fully their Baptism and their status as disciples and stewards and to do so with enthusiasm, imagination and creativity.
Stewardship is about faith formation, spirituality and practical ways for parish communities to live their Christian vocation. The Stewardship Council, beginning in September 2008 with parishes in the Georgetown Pastoral Area, will conduct four-day Missions so that all communities will have the opportunity to learn about the programme. The Missions will focus on the spirituality of discipleship and stewardship and promise to be an opportunity for faith enrichment for everyone. The Christian stewards receives God’s gifts gratefully, cherishes and tends them in a responsible and accountable manner, shares them in justice and love with others, and returns them with increase to the Lord. As these Missions are announced in your parish please make every effort to participate.
+ Francis Alleyne OSB
