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Cardinal Francis Arinze is coming to Denver. The cardinal, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in Vatican City, will celebrate Mass and deliver the keynote address at a stewardship conference next month.
Spirit of Christ Church in Arvada will host the Sept. 20 conference titled, “Eucharist, Nourishment for the Christian Steward.” In addition to Mass and the cardinal’s keynote address, the conference will include breakout sessions and a roundtable discussion. Opening remarks to the conference will be delivered by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
Father Andrew Kemberling V.F., pastor of St. Thomas More Church in Centennial, said that having Cardinal Arinze attend the conference reinforces the importance of stewardship in daily life.
“This isn’t just a peripheral idea in the Church. It’s a central understanding that stewardship, the Eucharist and the liturgy are tied together,” Father Kemberling said. “Having Cardinal Arinze come to address the conference gives credence to the centrality and importance of stewardship in the life of an ordinary Catholic.”
The conference is sponsored by the Archdiocese of Denver and the League of Stewardship Parishes, including the Office of Hispanic Ministry. Event co-chair Mila Glodava, director of stewardship at St. Thomas More, said the conference is designed both for people whose parish has an active stewardship program and those who wish to get a program started.
“Stewardship is in fact a way of life,” Glodava said. “And we’re going to explain how that happens through the different subjects at our breakout sessions.”
Glodava is one of the presenters. Father Kemberling is among the handful of pastors participating in the roundtable discussion. Luis Soto, director of archdiocesan Hispanic Ministry, will deliver a presentation in Spanish. Cardinal Arinze’s keynote address will be translated into Spanish.
Topics of the breakout sessions include: Stewardship vs. American “isms”: Open Forum for Clergy Conducted by Cardinal Arinze; Make Stewardship a Way of Life in Your Parish: Getting Started; Marketing, Maintaining and Renewing Stewardship; and Stewardship in a Hispanic Parish.
The roundtable discussion on Making Stewardship Work in Your Parish will focus on the involvement and success that parishes have had with their programs. Conference co-chair Cathi Politano of the office of Pastoral Ministry at Spirit of Christ will moderate the discussion.
“We want to focus on the idea that stewardship is a worthwhile endeavor for anyone in a parish,” Politano said. “As an example, at Spirit of Christ we have over 70 committees that people can get involved in. There is truly something for everyone.”
“Stewardship,” said Father Kemberling, “is a verb, not a noun.”
Through it, he added, you accomplish evangelization.
“People today don’t realize how captive they are to materialism,” Father Kemberling said. “They hope this will give them total control over their lives when in fact the opposite is true.”
Stewardship, he asserted, gives people the freedom to discover who they are in Christ and to get realigned to lead a happy, balanced life.
“I remind people that we’re not gods, we’re creatures who were created not for ourselves but for God,” he said. “We need to be accountable in this world so we’ll inherit an everlasting reward in the next.”
Stewardship comes in many forms — time, talent and treasure. Glodava said she hopes that everyone who has an interest in stewardship will attend the conference.
“We want to see the pastors, in fact, all the clergy and leaders come to the conference and see how stewardship as a way of life is making a difference in the parishes that have embraced its practice,” she said.
The conference is set from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Spirit of Christ is located at 7400 W. 80th Ave. in Arvada. Cost is $25, $30 after Sept.10. For more information or an application, contact Glodava online at mila@stthomasmore.org or call her at 303-770-1155.
