SMALL GROUPS FOCUS ON STEWARDSHIP

During the morning on Friday, the delegates broke into five smaller groups to discuss a variety of aspects of stewardship -- the giving of one's time, talent, and treasure.

The breakout groups covered topics such as how to build a year-round stewardship program and creating and moving forward with strategic plans.

"The most important part of planning is keeping the people involved," said delegate Paul Korian.

Another factor to good planning is to get the younger generation involved.

"We told our young people if you don't get involved, our church will die," said Sarkis Boyajian, a delegate from Palos Heights, IL. "We're telling them not 'you should', but 'you must get involved', otherwise there won't be a church for their children to grow up in."

Participants in the session focused on engaging children in the life of the church shared ideas on ways more children can play a role in the church, such as keeping them in the sanctuary during most of the Divine Liturgy and asking them to serve the church as altar servers or greeters.

"We are trying to make sure whenever they're in the church, they're doing something appropriate," said delegate Dn. Ara Jeknavorian, from Sts. Vartanantz Church.

During the breakout groups, the delegates shared ideas, received input from facilitators chosen for their expertise, and learned they don't have to reinvent the wheel. Rather they need to share and build upon experiments in other parishes and take advantage of Diocesan efforts.

For example, instead of spending time managing parish endowment investments, parishes should invest their endowments with the Armenian Church Endowment Fund (ACEF).

"What I have seen is parishes with endowments spend hours trying to decide what to invest in or how to change their investments. But ACEF is a wonderfully performing, professionally managed endowment," he told the workshop on endowments and planned living. "What we're saying is you should invest your endowment with ACEF, so you can focus on how to raise more money for your parish endowment and not just how to manage it."

When it comes to building and strengthening a parish, plans can be created to perfection. They can cover endowments and strategic plans and year-round stewardship programs. But they're not enough to be successful.

"If you have a friendly church, where people love the Lord and love one another, the money comes in. All you have to do is send out an envelope and ask them to send it back," Diocesan Council member Fr. Yeprem Kelegian told participants in a workshop on creating a welcoming church. "This is where it starts. You can have the best planned, strategic, glossy brochures, but unless there's love and friendliness, that isn't going to get you anywhere."

Posted by Jake at April 30, 2004 12:24 PM