I'm heading to a new conference for the first time over the next few days - the 64th International Catholic Stewardship Council Annual Conference in New Orleans.

It's a different kind of gathering for me. I've spent decades at tech conferences - Adobe Summit and other marketing and mar-tech summits, and startup conferences. This is my first time in a room full of people who spend their lives thinking about how Catholics give, why they give, and how parishes and dioceses can form disciples who understand generosity as part of their vocation.

What Stewardship Actually Means

Catholic stewardship is one of those phrases that can sound like code for "asking for money." It's not - or at least, it's not supposed to be.

At its heart, stewardship is about recognizing that everything we have is a gift from God, and asking what he wants us to do with it. Time, talent, treasure - yes - but also our relationships, our work, our attention, our very lives. The question isn't "how much do I have to give?" but "Lord, what do you want me to do with what you've given me?"

One of the sessions I'm attending puts it this way: "We are not owners of God's gifts; we are stewards of them."

That shift in framing changes everything. You're not giving away what's yours. You're returning what was never yours to begin with - and asking how the Lord wants it used.

Our diocese has been doing good work on this front. The Pillars of Parish Stewardship and Discipleship framework from our last diocesan synod connects stewardship to the broader call of discipleship. You can't separate generosity from formation, and you can't separate formation from mission. A parish that forms disciples will find that stewardship follows. A parish that asks for money without forming disciples will find that the asks get harder every year.

Why I'm Going

I'm attending with and on behalf of our diocesan Catholic Stewardship Foundation, with which I've been consulting in recent months.

The Foundation is the primary fundraising arm serving all entities and donors within the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. It manages over 100 funds - parishes, schools, cemeteries, Catholic Charities, diocesan initiatives - with more than $64 million in assets and over $2 million distributed annually to beneficiaries. It's significant work, quietly done.

As the Foundation forms and grows, I'm helping stand up the tools, donor journeys, and stewardship communications that will serve parishes and donors across the diocese for years to come. My background in marketing, communications, and marketing technology translates surprisingly well into this space. The principles are the same - meet people where they are, understand what they care about, make it easy to act on that care, and steward the relationship over time.

The conference will help me think more deeply about the "why" underneath the "how." I know how to build a donor journey. I want to understand the spirituality that should shape it.

Sessions I'm Looking Forward To

The schedule is packed. Here's what I'll be sitting in on:

An Introduction to the Spirituality of Stewardship Deacon Hicks Armor, Diocese of Knoxville

Not the mechanics, but the meaning. How do we live out the Gospel through stewardship? How do we create a culture of stewardship rather than a program of asks? This is the foundation everything else sits on.

Sacrifice: The Heart of Discipleship, Stewardship and Evangelization Tony Brandt, Casting Nets Ministries

I've been pondering and praying a lot lately about the meaning of sacrifice and how to better teach and preach about its relevance in our spiritual life - and how it reaches its summit and fulfilment in the liturgy. Sacrifice isn't a popular word, but it's the right one for a starting point on stewardship.

Digital Stewardship: Optimizing the Catholic Data Ecosystem Bridget Daley and Vern Sebby, GiveCentral

This one's right in my wheelhouse. How do we use the tools we have well? How do we connect the data we're already collecting into a coherent picture of the people we're serving? Most parishes and dioceses are sitting on more information than they realize - the question is whether it's organized in a way that helps.

The AI Question: How Our Holy Father Pope Leo's Encyclical Can Help Us Utilize Tools for Evangelization and Stewardship Tommy Shultz, Diocesan

I've been thinking about this a lot - both as someone who uses AI tools daily in my work and as someone who's been writing about the intersection of technology and faith. Pope Leo's encyclical gives us a framework. I hope this session will help me see how others are applying it too.

Investing in GenZ and Millennials: Stewarding Younger Generations of Catholics Michael Fischer and Chris Hall, FreeWill

This one caught my attention, especially with my work in youth ministry in the parish. Giving USA 2026 shows religion still pulling the largest share of American charitable giving - $151 billion - but real growth has essentially stalled while bequest giving surged nearly 20%. Meanwhile, parishes are seeing record numbers of adult converts, and new research shows Gen Z donors who give to their faith do so more exclusively than Millennials did.

The opportunity isn't more cash asks. It's teaching younger generations to give through what they actually hold: stock, crypto, retirement accounts, donor-advised funds, legacy. A decade of devotion can turn into a lifetime of well-formed, planned generosity - if we help them see it.

What if the Same Few People Didn't Have to Do Everything? Charism Discernment and Solving the Talent Half of Stewardship Jill Simons, Many Parts Ministries

That's the question you ask almost every day in parish ministry.

Most Catholics have never been helped to see the gifts God has given them. So when we ask what they can contribute, they undervalue those gifts, default to things they've done before, or simply opt out by not responding at all.

The answer isn't better volunteer recruitment. It's charism discernment - helping people name their gifts, value them, and invest them intentionally in the parish mission. The self-knowledge gap is the problem to solve for.

How We Exercise Stewardship Effectively in Our Parish Yaret Macedo and Rev. Greg Marquez, Immaculate Heart of Mary Church (Archbishop Thomas Murphy Award Winner)

This session explores stewardship within Hispanic communities - honoring traditions, culture, and a strong sense of community while forming disciples. Leadership formation, hospitality, ministry involvement, outreach, and meaningful celebrations. I want to learn from parishes that are doing this well.

Transformational Stewardship for an Apostolic Age Keegan O'Rourke, Archdiocese of Denver

Denver has been doing creative work on stewardship and evangelization for years. I'm curious what they're learning.

The Neuroscience of Generosity: What Truly Moves Catholic Donors? Martha Gamez, Diocese of Phoenix

Why do people give, and what's happening in the brain before they say yes? Emotion, identity, memory, trust, belonging, cognitive biases - all of these influence donor decisions, often before conscious reasoning begins.

This isn't about manipulation. It's about understanding what's already happening inside a person and making it easier for them to act on what they genuinely care about. Building relationships rooted in trust and purpose, not persuasion.

Mass Around New Orleans

A brother deacon down there told me which churches I had to visit while I'm in the city. So I'm grateful the conference agenda is organized around Mass each day at a different one:

Sunday - Immaculate Conception Jesuit Church The Jesuits have been in New Orleans since 1847. This church is one of the most beautiful in the city, and I'm told the liturgy is reverent and well-done.

Monday - St. Patrick's One of the oldest parishes in the city, founded in 1833 to serve the growing Irish population. The building dates to 1838.

Tuesday - St. Louis Cathedral The oldest continuously operating cathedral in the United States, overlooking Jackson Square. You can't go to New Orleans and not visit.

I'm also looking forward to hanging out with that brother deacon (shoutout Deacon Alec!) on Tuesday evening after Mass.

Then Back Home

I head back Wednesday to be back with the family and greet some house guests - and to be back in St. Louis for the Fulton Sheen Beatification on Thursday.

Five days. A lot to take in. I'll be processing what I've learned for weeks afterward.

Looking forward to bringing it home - to the Foundation, to the parish, and to whatever comes next.

If you're attending ICSC and want to connect, find me - I'd love to meet you.