Ron's blog

Working in partnership - a unified approach to extending the mission and ministry of the church in the community.

Planned Giving Counsellors conduct ‘Partnership Planned Growth Missions’ on behalf of two (or three) parishes that are within a reasonable distance of each other.

The Parish Priest of a large Catholic Parish in Sydney shared with me prior to the meeting and presentation of how difficult it was to move ahead with the things that needed to done. Does that sound familiar?

While most of the planned giving programs we conduct are on behalf of Anglican and Catholic Parishes we conduct programs for the Uniting Church too. There really isn’t any difference to speak of between denominations when it comes to stewardship. At a Uniting Church meeting and presentation at a large coastal city of northern New South Wales a committee member gave voice to matters that had no place in that particular meeting.

“We don’t have any needs here” was the comment made by a member of the parish council when it came time for discussion following a presentation. My response had to be “ there are always a new opportunities about extending the mission and ministry of the church”. The Parish Priest readily agreed and listed a number of new initiatives that he was keen for the parish to engage in. He said “not least of which is supporting Catholic Missions overseas”.

Working in a Brisbane Parish some years ago the office secretary, a very committed person shared her concern with me about the monthly ‘Jumble Sale’ she said “The parish spends a lot of time and ener