Gratitude given for Bishop's Leadership Society

IC photo by Marie Mischel

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The Bishop’s Leadership Society Gathering on Aug. 31 began with Evening Prayer in the Juan Diego Catholic High School chapel. This is the first year that this liturgy was celebrated at the gathering.

For the past three years, despite the depressed economy, the number of people in the Bishop’s Leadership Society has grown. Individuals in this group donate at least $1,000 yearly to the Diocesan Development Drive, which supports the Diocese of Salt Lake City’s ministries, programs and services.

“I want to thank you because clearly, in terms of your time and your treasure and talent, you have indicated that the Church is a priority,” said the Most Rev. John C. Wester, bishop of Salt Lake City, during his remarks at the Bishop’s Leadership Society gathering Aug. 31, “and I want you each to know that we hold that sacred and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”

This is the first year the gathering had a prayer service; it also was a way to bring the group together as a community, said Diocesan Development Drive Director Shannon Lee.

The gathering opened with a candle-lit Evening Prayer, a reminder that, “like the early Christians, we continue to light candles to remind us of Christ, the light of the world,” said Cece Holt, the gathering’s master of ceremonies. “As members of the Bishop’s Leadership Society, you reflect God’s light so beautifully in our diocese.”

The society was established in 2004 by then-Bishop George Neiderhauer. Its theme is Bishop Wester’s Episcopal motto, ‘Abide in Christ.’

The 346 members of the society comprise 5 percent of the donors to the 2010 Diocesan Development Drive but were responsible for 31 percent of the $1.8 million pledged through Aug. 15.

“This is definitely worthy of praise,” Holt said.

This year, a Book of Gratitude was created that contains the names of those who have, for five years, donated at least $1,000 to the DDD since the beginning of the society. The book will reside in diocesan archives, and names will be added to it as the society grows, Holt said.

Gary Topping, the diocesan archivist, also spoke at the gathering about the importance of archives. “Our Church is a historical church,” he said. “We are proud to point to that unbroken apostolic tradition all the way from Saint Peter up to Bishop John C. Wester…. History is what we are as Catholics.”

In his remarks, Bishop Wester pointed to many of the Utah Church’s accomplishments over the past year – the ordination of two priests and 21 permanent deacons, a new class of seminarians and the certification of 20 lay ecclesial ministers, among others. “We’re part of a continuum of generosity that starts with God and ends with God, and we’re in the middle in this process,” he said. While other charities are worthwhile, “giving to the Church is truly holy. We’re about building up the kingdom of God. We’re about supporting the Church because it is a holy activity that is at once divine and human, so our contribution to the Church is something that genuinely is a holy act.”

The increase in the number of people in the society “says volumes to me of the generosity of the people in this diocese,” Bishop Wester added. “That even in hard times people are willing to still give of themselves, like the widow’s mite. And it says to me that for those who have not been as affected by the difficult economic times, they are willing to step up to the plate and do more to compensate for those who for the time being are not able to give at all.”