Six ways the church can raise the money it needs.

If surveys say Catholics aren't stingy when it comes to giving to charity, then why isn"t the church receiving its fair share? Perhaps it's all in the approach.

When it comes to money, the Catholic Church faces a credibility gap. That doesn't mean the church has been wracked by financial scandals; it hasn't. The credibility gap comes from the church's inability to deal with two conflicting trends: greater financial demands and declining financial resources.

The signs of straining resources are everywhere: the increased closings of parishes and parish schools; the maintenance of aging buildings; the crisis in retirement costs for priests and men and women religious; the growing demand for resources to help those without jobs, food, or shelter; and the growing number of immigrants and pregnant teenagers who turn to churches for help.

Dwindling resources are also quite evident. Regular weekly church attendance - the best predictor of church giving - is declining. Survey after survey shows that Catholics rank well behind Protestants in the percentage of income they contribute to their churches, a trend that has grown over the past 30 years. Francis J. Butler, president of FADICA (Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities), estimates that only one fourth of Catholic families are bearing the major responsibility for supporting their parishes.

The church has offered several responses to this crisis, but none has been adequate to the task. Some church leaders simply ignore the problem and hope it will go away. Other church leaders use a combination of guilt and blame, the problem, they say, is all those stingy Catholics.

And still other church leaders advance unrealistic expectations with talk of tithing. Catholics in some parishes may tithe, and more may increase their giving as the result of tithing programs. But there is no reason to believe that generations of Catholics accustomed to giving less than 1 percent of their incomes to their churches will suddenly decide to give 10 percent.

Yet another response is education about stewardship. The U.S. bishops issued the pastoral letter "Stewardship: A Disciple's Response' in late 1992. The chairman of the committee that drafted the pastoral, Coadjutor Archbishop Thomas Murphy of Seattle, referred to the emphasis on stewardship as taking "the high road."

Few people quarrel with the pastoral's message that Christians are "God's co-workers, with their own particular share in His creative, redemptive, and sanctifying work." But few see the pastoral as galvanizing a response to the church's fiscal crisis, either. Sharon Hueckel of the Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana wears the hats of both stewardship and fundraising, and she acknowledges the difference between the two. Hueckel, a strong supporter of the pastoral, says, "Fundraising always involves stewardship, but stewardship doesn't always involve fundraising."

It's time for the church to take a new approach to money and to learn from both the research conducted on giving over the past decade and the experiences of grassroots churches. Here, then, are some ways for the church to raise more money.

1. Shake 'em down with care.

It's unfair and inaccurate to assume that American Catholics don't contribute more to their church because they're selfish. Some no doubt are, and when people use a disproportionate amount of the church's resources and try to avoid paying their fair share, pastors and lay leaders have a right to bring it to their attention. But it's not all that simple.

First, all but the most affluent families today feel financial pressure. Real income has declined since the '60s, average household net worth has declined since the |80s, and it often takes two earners in a family to have the same buying power as one earner a generation ago. Costs for the essentials - food, housing, transportation, health care - continue to rise. Many Catholics pay tuition to parochial schools. People think twice about where they spend their money, even in church.

Second, Catholics aren't stingy. When it comes to giving to nonreligious causes, Catholics hold their own with Protestants and, according to some surveys, actually give a higher percentage of their incomes to charity. There must be other reasons besides stinginess that cause Catholics to give less to their churches. Father Andrew Greeley, a prominent sociologist, believes that Catholics withhold church contributions because of their opposition to church teachings. That's true, but it's not the only reason.

Catholics don't understand the church's financial needs,they have reservations about the church's handling of finances, or they feel left out of church life, including decisions about church finances. It's far more fruitful to deal with these other reasons than to simply condemn Catholics as selfish. Even people convinced that they should give money to the Lord have to trust the intermediary. Every time someone talks about "stingy Catholics," it becomes harder, not easier, for the church to raise the funds it needs.

2. Show where the money goes.

People can't give you what you need unless you tell them what it is - that includes money. Fundraisers report that people give more when they understand the need. Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan of Santa Fe proved that point in early 1994, and he had a hard sell. Pope John Paul II had named him archbishop to clean up a mess. Sheehan's predecessor, Archbishop Robert Sanchez, had resigned due to charges that he was involved in sexual relations with teenage girls. By coincidence, a retreat house that had counseled hundreds of pedophile priests since the early 1960s is located in the archdiocese. Some of those priests had continued to molest children after their release; some victims sued; and the archdiocese became responsible for millions of dollars in settlements.

Pedophile priests are certainly not popular. Many people blame the church for not acting quickly enough in such cases, and some people resent the victims who sue the church. So it was quite a challenge in December 1993 when Sheehan asked Catholics to contribute to a settlement fund. But by March 1994, Catholics had contributed $1.5 million to add to the $2 million the archdiocese already had in its settlement fund. Sheehan says only one out of 91 parishes refused to contribute. According to Santa Fe chancellor, Father Richard Olona, "We're all just overwhelmed with the response." If the Archdiocese of Santa Fe can succeed by asking and explaining, then parishes, dioceses, and church agencies can accomplish a great deal the same way.

Sharon Hueckel cautions that placing too great an emphasis on explaining needs may make it easy to get a new church roof but harder to fund less tangible work such as evangelization. Today, many church needs are not as obvious as brick and mortar. The whole diocesan structure has expanded in the past generation, adding such tasks as planning and advocacy. But just because it may be more difficult to explain the need for evangelization or a communications fund than the need for a new roof, it doesn't mean that the church can avoid doing it. If you can't tell people what you're going to do with their money in a way that they can understand, then you can't expect them to trust you with it.

3. Draft everyone into the effort.

"Whenever we see successful parishes, they get people to take part," says Butler of FADICA. "In a typical parish, members aren't involved; they're passive; they just come to get serviced. When you allow people to be passive, you pay for it. When you get people involved in the parish community, new resources are generated even outside the parish. They become grant-making parishes, little foundations. People need to be invited in. It's community building."

Jim Marshall, a newsletter publisher from Reston, Virginia, echoes this view, "People have to feel they're part of the community to give more than a dollar or five dollars a week. I was in a parish in Fall River, Massachusetts last week and the pastor said, By the way, next week the celebrant at the 10 o'clock Mass will be the bishop.' It's important for the bishop to get out among the people. My parish has involved 50 to 70 percent of its members in the Renew program. But people don't feel part of the community if the religious-education program isn't good, if the parish lacks good liturgy and good music, if the homilist doesn't relate to the people."

Father Thomas Sweetser, S.J. has surveyed Catholic attitudes toward giving in his almost most 20 years with the Parish Evaluation Project. "Our work with parishes across the country has shown that people will contribute more to the church, both money and time, if the leadership [read pastor] manifests a participative, inclusive style. The good old days' of the pastor ruling his parish do not go over well in today's church. People are turned off by an authoritarian, commanding, dictatorial style of leadership. They are also turned off by a laissez-faire, noncommitted, hermit style of pastoring."

In an article in Chicago Studies, Sweetser described the ingredients necessary to get people involved in their church:

1. Personal, face-to-face, phone-to-phone invitation.

2. Inclusive, facilitating, participative pastoral

leadership.

3. Asking for commitment - pleading specific time

and money over a limited period, to be evaluated

and renewed at regular intervals.

4. Enjoying one's participation in the parish - having

fun, receiving support, experiencing

growth.

5. Seeing a return for one's investment of time and

money.

6. Sharing in the decisions and directions of the

parish and its ministry.

4. Clarify misconceptions 

of a Cadillac culture.

The internal Catholic culture that has emerged in the U.S. often makes it difficult for the church to raise money. One cultural problem is that many Catholics mistakenly believe that the church is rich. The church owns buildings and property, but it is also responsible for the mortgages and upkeep that go with ownership. The misconception about Catholic wealth is yet another reason why the church must be honest and direct with people about its resources and its needs. By addressing these concerns, the church can increase collections.

The difference in structure between Catholic and Protestant churches reinforces the misconception about wealth. Most Protestant congregations must be self-sufficient from day one, and congregation members see the need to raise money. But Catholic parishes are part of a larger church that people believe is somewhere out there with money to bail out the parishes. In fact, the church "out there" is financed in large part by assessments from the parishes.

Many Catholics give the same dollar amount their whole lives, even when their incomes rise. And many give the same amount their parents gave. A Harris poll conducted for the Lutheran Brotherhood found that Catholics are less likely than Protestants to say they give more to charity than their parents gave. Among Protestants, 50 percent said they give more than their parents gave and 16 percent said they give less. Among Catholics, however, 46 percent said they give more while 25 percent said they give less.

Yet, another issue is the lack of training in finances for priests. Studies of the priesthood have found that seminaries do not prepare priests for management in general, and financial management is a key area where the lack of such training is costly.

5. Don't go to church without it.

Fundraising doesn't always have to be depressing. Churches might take a lesson from the pet rock craze of the '70s. Someone made a lot of money with the idea of painting features on rocks and selling them aspects; they only cost a couple of dollars, but almost everyone had one.

Churches and schools often sell candy to raise money, but there are other products. One church sells much to its parishioners each spring. Another creative approach involves making it easier for people to contribute - some churches now accept credit cards.

Terry Tuohy, a church fundraiser in Chicago, says she goes after people's "disposable Friday-night drinking money." Tuohy stages social events as an alternative to the bar scene. She invites people, particularly young adults, to church social events for food, entertainment, and socializing. Tuohy says most of the churches she works with in Chicago are in low- and middle-income areas, but all raise substantial amounts of money.

Tuohy's first success was Old St. Patrick's on what used to be known as Chicago's Skid Row. When she began 10 years ago at the request of the new pastor Father Jack Wall, Tuohy says the church had exactly 25 members. Tuohy with a handful of others recruited volunteers and organized a huge, one-price-fits-all block party. The first party attracted 5,000 people and raised $67,000 for the parish. In the sixth year, she says, 1,000 volunteers sold tickets at $25 each to 20,000 people who raised more than $500,000 in a two-day party.

Tuohy has since left Old St. Pat's to work with other churches. She tens pastors, "I'll get them to church, but you've got to keep them there." She plans parties and ethnic festivals, such as the Italian feast at St. Joseph's, which is across the street from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago. Tuohy says that low-income parishes often buy into a "welfare and subsidy mentality" when they have the ability to raise funds themselves.

6. Make your designation known.

Any fundraiser win ten you that the hottest trend today is designated giving. Partly in response to fundraising scandals over the past few years and partly as a result of the Baby Boomers' distrust of institutions, more and more people want to know exactly what their contributions will finance. People are less likely to contribute to broad general funds and more likely to contribute to specific causes.

The Catholic Church now has 11 national collections for causes that touch on almost every area of church life: relief aid, antipoverty and communications programs, Peter's Pence (for the pope's programs), and retired religious. In other words, the church has an existing plan for designated giving. One person will give to collections for foreign missions and for the Campaign for Human Development and not to collections for Catholic University or Peter's Pence. Another person may do just the opposite, but both may give to the collection for retired religious.

But instead of promoting the national collections for all they're worth, the bishops seem embarrassed by them as burdens on the local church. Butler estimates that with better promotion, better explanations of what the collections support, the amount raised by the national collections could be increased substantially.

Last year's collection for retired religious is considered a success because it raised more than $23 million. But that averages less than 50 cents for each parish-connected Catholic in the country. "We need good local programs that people can understand," Butler says. "The amount raised could be tripled or quadrupled if people understood what they really do."

When all is said and done, the money crisis facing the Catholic Church is more than a money crisis. It's a symptom of larger problems: the decline of community and the confusion about purpose. The way to raise more money for the church is to be come better at being a church.

Stewardship means more than just big bucks

Stewardship, a word once heard primarily in Protestant circles, is about more than money, it's about how we live our whole lives or how we use our "Time, Talent, and Treasures," as some call it. When the U.S. bishops issued a pastoral letter on stewardship in November 1992, the chairman of the committee that drafted it, Archbishop Thomas Murphy, said the concept could be summed up by answering the question, "What do I own and what owns me?"

Using biblical stories as examples, the pastoral said a steward is "one to whom the owner of a household turns over the responsibility for caring for the property, managing affairs, making resources yield as much as possible, and sharing the resources with others. The position involves trust and accountability."

The bishops describe stewardship as an "obligation of Baptism." For Christians, they say, God is the owner of the property; Christ is the ultimate steward, laying down his life for others; and Christ's disciples must be stewards and imitate Him. The bishops spelled out three convictions underlying the pastoral:

1. "Mature disciples make a conscious, firm decision, carried out in action, to be followers of Jesus Christ no matter the cost to themselves."

2. "Beginning in conversion, change of heart and mind, this commitment is expressed not in a single action, not even in a number of actions over a period of time, but in an entire way of life."

3. "Stewardship is an expression of discipleship, with the power to change how we understand and live out our lives. Disciples who practice stewardship recognize God as the origin of life, the giver of freedom, the source of all they have and are and will be ... They are grateful for what they have received and eager to cultivate their gifts out of love for God and one another."

Stewardship, then, addresses not just whether or how much money people give to the church and other causes, but how well they spend their time and use their talents every minute of the day.

Sharon Hueckel, a fundraiser from the Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana, notes that stewardship also has important implications for care of the environment. "The stewardship of creation involves caring for and cultivating the world which God the Creator has entrusted to us. It includes the joyful appreciation of the wonders of nature, the protection and preservation of the environment, respect for and protection of human life, and the development of this world through our work."

The church gave early and often

How did the early Christians really think about money? Sister Agnes Cunningham, S.S.C.M., a prominent theologian, studied the views of Christians over the first four centuries after Christ's crucifixion to get an answer.

Writing in Chicago Studies, Cunningham says that, first, for the early Christians, the definition of rich and poor included "interior attitudes and dispositions of the heart as well as wealth." In other words, there was no virtue in being poor i you didn't love God, and there was no lack of virtue in being wealthy if you used your wealth to help others. Giving to the poor was "lending" to God, Cunningham says.

She says there are three reasons that explain any success the early Christians had in persuading the wealthy to give to the poor.

1. A deep spirit of community, a clear sense that all were "one in Christ."

2. "The example of the bishops, priests, deacons, and other ministers, who dedicated themselves to the care of the poor, the abandoned, the needy of every kind."

3. The Church Fathers -refused to castigate or shame the wealthy because of their possessions. The Gospels proclaimed a message of universal salvation."