On the evening of Thursday October 4, 2012, the beautifully decorated St. Paul’s Retreat Centre was the venue for the first ever Bishop’s Stewardship Fundraising Dinner. The idea for such an event came out of His Lordship Bishop Francis Alleyne’s discussions with the Finance and Stewardship Councils. His Lordship has been exploring the idea of presenting a financial report of the Diocese primarily to members of the Clergy and also to representatives from the Finance Committees in the various parishes and to Catholic business persons. The idea was to promote accountability, transparency, knowledge of management of their contributions and also to encourage greater participation in the management of Diocesan finances. The discussion segment of the programme provided an opportunity for the business community to offer advice and share business practices. His Lordship also solicited support and sought the involvement of all present in a Bishop’s Appeal to fulfill the needs of the Diocese. The Dinner took the form of a fund raising exercise with proceeds going towards Diocesan Development. The decision to host the event on that day was to coincide with activities of the Clergy, who were already at the Retreat centre for their Annual Conference.
The preparation for the fundraising dinner demanded many hours of planning, hard work and cooperation by members of both the Stewardship and Finance Councils. The commitment and dedication displayed showed the real spirit of stewardship. Tremendous support, both in the form of cash and kind, were also received from persons within and outside of the business community and this showed the real spirit of stewardship of persons sharing their God given gifts with others, whether in the form of time, talent and/or treasure.
The Retreat Centre was beautifully decorated as a result of hard work of the Manager, staff and volunteers of the Centre and also the members of the Stewardship Council. Donations of 25 table centrepieces each with yellow Chrysanthemums surrounding a lampshade-covered candle adorned each table, while guests were each given a stewardship prayer. From as early as 6 p.m. guests began to arrive and were ushered to the Conference area for a Cocktail reception. At 7 p.m. the very talented, Chairperson, Allana Bose, invited Vicar General of the Diocese of Georgetown Msgr. Terrence Montrose to commence the evening’s proceedings with an opening prayer. This was followed by Dinner.
At the conclusion of Dinner, His Lordship commenced the presentation of the Financial Report with the assistance of the Finance Council. He explained that the real objective of the event was his personal desire to share the finances of the Diocese with a wide cross section of persons who have continually supported the Church. He also explained that in the past finances were shared with the Finance Council and Catholic business persons but this opportunity allows him to share with priests, parish representatives and business people who support the church.
His Lordship shared on the spirituality of stewardship. He noted that the purpose of stewardship is to encourage greater ownership of the resources which God has blessed everyone with. Stewardship gives a sense of belonging and encourages greater participation. Understanding that all we have comes from God causes us to experience tremendous gratitude; and out of this deep sense of gratitude comes the understanding that we need to share our gifts of time, talent and treasure with our brothers and sisters.
Bishop Francis Alleyne noted that faith grows when it is lived as an experience of love received and when it is communicated as an experience of grace and joy. The objective of the evening was to bring people into full knowledge and participate on the financial operations of the Diocese. In sharing the financial status of the Diocese for 2011, His Lordship highlighted a deficit for 2011. At the close of the presentation, he invited comments/questions from the audience.
The proceedings came to a close at 9.05 p.m. with a Vote of Thanks presented by Mr. Rock Beharry of the Finance and Stewardship Councils.
His Lordship Bishop Francis Alleyne, OSB, and members of the Stewardship and Finance Councils sincerely thank everyone who has helped in some small way, including those attending, to make this event a success. We pray and ask God to continue to bless you. We thank you once again and look forward to your support in the future as we hope that this event can become an annual feature.