Christian discipleship to be focus of diocese's Office of Stewardship and Development

Courtesy photo/ Robert Cowlishaw

+ Enlarge

Karin Hurley (center) has returned to serve as the director of the Office of Stewardship and Development team. She is pictured with Gloria Cisneros (development assistant) and Robert Cowlishaw (assistant director).

SALT LAKE CITY—Stewardship and support for the Church’s work are two interlaced threads of the Catholic faith, according to Karin Hurley, who has returned to serve as director of  the Diocese of Salt Lake City’s Office of Stewardship and Diocesan Development Drive after a four-year absence.

Hurley originally took the position in September 2013 and served for almost a year before she moved to Florida when her husband had a job opportunity there. They returned to Utah in August 2016; since then, Hurley helped with stewardship and development at her parish, St. John the Baptist.

Now that she has returned to the Pastoral Center she plans to continue the work of managing the office and growing the donor base with the help of the other members of her team, Assistant Director Robert Cowlishaw and Development Assistant Gloria Cisneros. She also hopes to bring a new perspective on efficiencies and system management, balanced with the spiritual aspect that pervades all the work of the diocese.

“That is the guiding principle of everything we do here,” she said.

Hurley would like to see a more effective symbiosis between stewardship and development with a strong emphasis on discipleship. Christian stewardship should be a daily offering of time, talents and treasures, she said.

“A person who recognizes God’s graces in his life has a transformation of heart and mind. In fully living his or her faith, that person discovers who he/she is and feels a sense of stewardship in what we do,” she added. At that point the individual is less concerned about writing a check during the donation drive and more invested in helping build the work on a daily basis, she said.

Each November during Stewardship Renewal Month members of the local Church ponder what it means to be good stewards; each February during the Diocesan Development Drive they are asked to financially support the diocese. While both have value, it is important they not be seen as the only time or a onetime check as the only way to support the faith and the work of the church, Hurley said.

In the past there was concern that stewardship might be seen as related only to money rather than as a way of living one’s Christian discipleship, so the diocese kept the stewardship and development functions of the office separate, she said. However, Hurley believes that today there is a greater understanding of the nature of stewardship and that now is an opportune moment to begin the melding of the two.

“We inhale the goodness of God and the grace,” she said. “When we give in our community of our time, talents and treasure, that’s our response. That’s our exhale.”

Bishop Oscar A. Solis is interested in having the members of the Diocesan Stewardship Council become active representatives of the Diocesan Development Drive, not only in their parishes but also in the diocese at large, Hurley said. This effort will build a bridge between these two important aspects of the Lord’s work.

“We make a grateful response to the gifts God has given us by also supporting the work of the diocese financially. It’s the practical application,” Hurley said.

She also plans to working with other diocesan offices to build the diocese’s donor base, she said.

“Growing our donor base begins with working as a partner with the other offices of the diocese in faith formation, vocation and family life,” she said. “Without our support of their ongoing efforts there is no metanoia (spiritual transformation).”

Hurley would also like to see what she calls “an organized and dedicated effort” from her office to assist the parishes and missions in the community through workshops and other means.

Hurley is replacing John Kaloudis who has held the position of director since she left 2014 who recently retired. Of the candidates who interviewed for the position, Hurley was chosen because she had been effective and successful when she filled the position previously, and she was the best qualified of those interviewed to replace Kaloudis, said Msgr. Colin F. Bircumshaw, vicar general.

“I am grateful for the leadership that John provided to the office; I wish him well,” Hurley said.