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Stewardship Commission "Whatever gift each of you
may have received, use it in service to one another like good stewards
dispensing the grace of God in its varied forms." The Stewardship Commission is composed of lay and clergy volunteers who are appointed by the Bishop to serve as a resource to the congregations, schools and related organizations of the Diocese of Washington. The commission offers annual workshops and a major conference every spring. In addition the commission conducts a biennial survey of congregations and their work in stewardship and provides consulting services upon request. Areas of interest to individual members of the commission include capital campaigns, the theology of stewardship, year-round parish programs, planned giving and issues of holy living. Publications by commission members are available in the resources page of the Stewardship section. Members Church House Staff Contact The report below represents the Annual Report for 2003, presented to Council at the January 2004 Diocesan Convention and printed in the 2004 Journal and Directory. ANNUAL REPORT (2003) The year 2003 was a productive year for the Stewardship Commission, and for ministry and resource development in the Diocese. Members of the Commission are available to all parishes and missions within the Diocese to provide support and guidance on building strong stewardship programs. Members include parishioners and clergy from throughout the Diocese, and the Commission holds monthly meetings at Church House. The Commission works closely with the Rev. Canon Mary Sulerud, the Diocesan Canon for Ministry and Resource Development, who officially joined the Church House staff in January 2003. Throughout the year, members of the Commission offered their assistance to many parishes in all regions of the Diocese. This included one-on-one meetings with parish representatives, attendance at special events such as stewardship dinners, and training of parish stewardship committees. The Commission hosted a booth at the annual Diocesan convention in January. The Commission uses this booth to distribute resource materials to parishes and other interested parties. Members of the Commission helped to staff the booth and were available to answer questions about its work and services. On a Saturday in March, Commission members participated in an all-day retreat at Church House to do some planning for the year. The session was led and facilitated by the Reverend Charles Gearing from the Episcopal Church Foundation. In the spring of 2003, the Commission coordinated a Diocesan-wide survey of parishes as a follow-up to the survey undertaken in 2001. Nearly 70% of the parishes responded to the survey, which provided the Diocese with a wealth of information on how parishes are doing regarding their individual stewardship programs. The Commission hosted its annual Stewardship Conference on May 3rd at St. Francis Church in Potomac, MD. More than 100 lay people and clergy attend the conference, which featured a range of interesting programs. Bishop Chane attended the beginning of the conference and offered an opening keynote address. Two sessions on annual commitment programs were led by Mr. Bruce Rockwell, Financial Officer and Assistant to the Bishop for Stewardship at the Diocese of Western Massachusetts. Mr. Rockwell is also the Board President of The Episcopal Network for Stewardship (TENS). A session on involving young people in stewardship education was led by the Rev. Ms. Ginna Minasian Dalton, Pastor for Christian Education, Youth & Evangelism at the Little River United Church of Christ in Annandale, VA. Mr. Kevin Cashman, now Executive Director of Ministry of Money, offered a session on planned giving. Other sessions were led by members of the Commission. In September, the Commission offered an additional stewardship training session for parishes gearing up for their fall commitment programs. More than 30 participants attended the session, which was held at St. Barnabas Church in Temple Hills, MD. Sessions and discussions were led by members of the Commission and covered such topics as tithing, annual programs, and relating mission and ministry to stewardship. The participants were all grateful for the opportunity to discuss these issues in this informal setting, and the Commission plans to do more of these in the future. Other activities of interest included a planned giving workshop attended by nearly 30 people held on November 22nd , which was led by a representative of the Episcopal Church Foundation, Mr. John Kline who is also the planned giving officer for the Diocese of Maryland . The staff at Church House also started a stewardship discussion board on the Internet. All of the members of the Commission continue to give thanks to God for the opportunity to be of service to the Church in this way. Additionally, we give thanks to and recognize the leadership of both Bishop Chane and Canon Paul Cooney in the area of stewardship. We give special thanks to the Rev. Canon Mary Sulerud and her staff, who have provided such incredible resources and support to our efforts. We look forward in 2004 to becoming even more deeply involved in the work and long-term success of our Diocese. Mr. Marshall H. Ginn, Chair
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