"As each one of us has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace." Peter 4:10

Here in the Diocese of Wichita, we are so fortunate that most of our Catholic community understands and takes seriously the responsibility to participate in a stewardship way of life.  The majority of our parishes and schools operate as a result of sacrificial giving that is our ordinary habit.  But what happens when special situations arise and more is needed than what our ordinary habit supports?  That's when a parish and/or school must rely on Extraordinary and Legacy Stewardship - sacrificial giving that is beyond our ordinary habit.

It is true that not many parishes have a strong, or even have, an Extraordinary and Legacy Stewardship program, so why does St. Thomas need such an initiative? The needs are clear.  The church and school are landlocked,  the neighborhood demographics continue to change, Wichita continues to grow Eastward, the school relies too heavily on the parish budget and our ordinary habits are not even covering our immediate needs.  Sure, we may not see the benefits of this program for 10 or 15 years but that's when the challenges mentioned above will face us head on. That's when we will need to call upon those gifts that were above and beyond our ordinary habit.

Although some may relate the term "fundraising" to Extraordinary and Legacy Stewardship, they are not the same.  Fundraising is a short-term, stop-gag measure of generating income, usually through selling of material goods.  Extraordinary and Legacy Stewardship, on the other-hand, is a long-term approach that includes developing and executing a strategic plan, improving public relations and securing support in terms of human and financial resources. Extraordinary and Legacy Stewardship is a people business and it is a ministry of sharing.

Parishioners will be able to participate in Extraordinary and Legacy Stewardship by way of donations of funds or material goods, endowment support, gifts of life insurance and bequests to St. Thomas, just to name a few.  Some of these types of giving have immediate benefits to the donor and/or parish and others will have deferred benefits to either the donor, parish or both.  Opportunities for above and beyond giving will be communicated via the G.O. (Giving Oppportunities -http://stthomaswichita.com/extraordinary-stewardship/go) section of the website and the Planned Giving Committee will be determining which types of planned gifts will most benefit our parish and parishioners.  More information regarding all opportunities to participate in Extraordinary and Legacy Stewardship will be forthcoming on this site, in the weekly bulletin and in the Reflections newsletter.  Please stay tuned!