Do you want to feel good about the future of the Catholic Church in our diocese? Sometimes Catholic adults can learn important things from Catholic young people about stewardship.

This story is about a gift of $180 that was delivered to the Catholic Foundation of Eastern Montana last December, with instructions that it be added to the Foundation’s “Youth and Young Adult Ministry Endowment”.  What made it stand out was that it was donated by four  children – Greg, Sam, Ellie and Maggie Fulbright of St. Leo the Great Parish in Lewistown.

That’s a tidy sum to come from four young people as a gift and we wanted to learn more about this generous act of stewardship.

According to Greg (16) and Sam (14), tithing is a normal part of their family life. The $180 was the tithe money we had set aside from working on our uncle’s ranch in the summer, from mowing lawns, and shoveling snow.  Our sisters set aside their tithe money from dog-sitting.”  

“Our dad told us the Foundation was offering a match for the Youth and Young Adult Ministry

Endowment, so we figured it was a good deal…to tithe and have it doubled,” said Sam. Greg added, “We are part of the youth of our diocese.  It made sense to share our tithe with the endowment.  The gift was doubled and it could impact the ministries we take part in.”

What do they hope might happen because of their generosity?

• Sam said, “I hope it will help fund trips to NCYC (National Catholic Youth Convention) for the diocese and go to things for St. Thomas Camp”.
• Greg added, “I hope it will help with vocation training. Maybe it will inspire new seminarians to hear their call from attending camps, youth conventions and other youth activities.”
• Maggie (10) was very direct and inspired her answer. She said, “I hope our gift will encourage other people to tithe!”

The good news is that their gift to the Youth and Young Adult Ministry Endowment has the potential to do all of the above for many years into the future!

“Mom and Dad (Zane and Janelle Fulbright) have taught us that if you tithe on one dollar, it makes it easy to tithe on one hundred dollars or more.   So, that’s what we did.  We shared our money in hopes of building up the Church,” the children said. Ellie (12) summed up perfectly the gift of stewardship: “I feel good about sharing the money.”

The Catholic Church is in good hands with young stewards like this. Thank you, Greg, Sam, Ellie and Maggie, for loving and building your Catholic faith!