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Stewardship Model

Stewardship Model 2022-2023

Living Stewardship in Community

During the 2021 – 2022 school year, Bishop Carroll Catholic High School integrated the stewardship program into the community system. Given our mission; To Assist Parents in Forming Disciples of Christ who enrich the culture as stewards of Gods gifts, BCCHS established a system which situates mission/service opportunities within the greater context of the formation of Christian Disciples. The Community System provides the focus for this aspect of formation within the school.  Integrating the stewardship component into the community system contributes to the fulfillment of the mission of the school in the following ways:

  • Mentors will receive formation in Catholic mentoring better equipping them to fulfill the mission of the school.
  • Mentors will contribute to the formation of each student in their house through prayer, identification of student’s God-given gifts and talents, identification of opportunities for loving service, preparation for the mission/service project, the actual mission/service project, post-service debrief/reflection on God’s action through the students who performed the service, and celebration of God’s actions through the mission/service project and the gifts the students have received from God. 
  • Under the current system, each house completes one service projects each school year. The project will be discerned by the students and their Mentor and directed toward the Corporal or Spiritual Works of Mercy. Each house will submit their initial idea for their mission/service project to the Director of the Community System by September 30, 2022.  They will then submit a Stewardship Experience Form to their dean two weeks prior to their scheduled experience.  Half of the Houses within each Community should have completed their mission/service project by the end of First Semester, and all mission/service projects must be completed by March 10,  2023.

Service Model 3 E & C: Educate, Empower, Execute, Celebrate

Educate:

·         Students prayerfully identify their God-given gifts and desires with the help of the mentor. In-service at the beginning of the year will train mentors on how to process achievement stories and empathic listening to help students identify their God-given gifts and personal vocations. This is accomplished in what we typically refer to as “vocation” time. Once the students know more about their calling and gifts which they have received from God then the focus should shift to the needs of the community. One of the fruits of doing the service and reflecting on the experience afterwards is that the students’ knowledge of their gifts will increase over time and it is likely that their gratitude will also increase.

·         Brainstorm as a group (Deans, Coordinators, and House Captains). Educate and discuss prominent issues that need attention in our school, neighborhood, and community.  Brainstorm ways to address these problems. Prioritize ideas and select the best ones in the community. Reflect on what we would like to learn from this project. Survey members of each house to find out about their greatest concerns. Perform a project about which the community members feel strongly passionate about. Picking what inspires house members will help encourage participation. Coach this in terms of living the Gospel in the world and putting love into action through acts of sacrifice and service.

 

 

 

Empower:

·         Good planning is crucial to any service project. Planning will determine the project’s success. When houses develop a plan, consider the ultimate goals, of who will be helped by our service and if the project is needed. Use the information gathered, to plan the tasks, responsibilities, due dates and other “nuts and bolts” types of components in a community-based service learning project.

·         Part of good planning, is to inform the school community of our service learning project and the “WHY” we are doing this. The “WHY” is best articulated in relation to Bishop Carroll’s mission. The Stewardship Model empowers mentor to contribute more directly to the actual formation of our students as Disciples of Christ. It empowers the students to put the Gospel of Love into action with their peers. As a result, the students will have the experience of enriching the culture with the gifts that God has given them. School community, awareness of the purpose and hope for this model can contribute a great deal to our project’s success.

·         Part of planning is to generate publicity to local diocesan media outlets, radio stations, and newspapers.

Execute:

·         This is GAMEDAY! This is the exciting part of the project because we get to put our plan into action. Being a team effort everyone in the house should know his or her responsibility. We need to do our best to make this a fun experience. Mother Teresa would tell volunteers who helped serve the poor alongside her sisters that she wanted them to experience the “joy of loving”.  It is a time for students and their mentor to put the Gospel into action through works of loving sacrifice and experience the joy that is a fruit of this love.

Celebrate & Reflect:

·         It is a must to celebrate God’s works especially as witnessed through a completed service project. By completing the service project, our students should experience and learn new things, such as what the face of Christ looks like in the faces of those they served. Students should also have a greater awareness of the particular gifts God has given them. God’s love for the individual person is better appreciated when one realizes that God has chosen him or her to accomplish the building up of the kingdom of God using the specific gifts bestowed on them by God. Knowing they we are each loved and gifted by God is a great reason to offer God thanks and to celebrate. Part of the celebration is taking time to let participants share their thoughts and feelings with one another about their experiences. After the reflection celebrate with refreshments and share in community.

·         Follow-up - In the weeks following the mission/service project the house mentor should schedule “vocation time” with each student. This should be a time in which the student is asked to share achievement stories (see Unrepeatable) about the day. When did they feel most fulfilled? Most “at home” with the work they were doing…etc. The mentor teacher should engage in “empathic listening” (again see Unrepeatable) in order to help the student see more clearly their unique calling from God and the specific gifts that God has entrusted to the student in order to build up the kingdom of God.

 

“As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”  1 Peter 4:10