Back to the future: A tuition-free Catholic school
By Susan Brinkmann CS&T Correspondent


In September 2004, St. Andrew the Apostle Parish’s school in Drexel Hill made history. It became the only tuition-free parochial school in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. But how could a school do this during an era of school-closings and consolidations, declining enrollment and sky-rocketing costs? Trust in God, and a parish-wide commitment to live the Great Commandment—“Love God and love thy neighbor as thyself”—as Christ intended it to be lived. In modern terms, it's called stewardship, but it's really a return to the same kind of authentic Christian charity that built the Church from nothing.

The stewardship message— “Christian stewardship is not a tithing program,” said Steve Litz of St. Andrew's stewardship committee. “It’s a way of life. It means going beyond the minimum of weekly Mass and putting your envelope in the basket. Really living the Gospel message means realizing that, opposed to what our culture says, we own nothing. Everything we have is a gift, and it's how we use those gifts that will determine the final outcome of our salvation,” Litz said. “This is not a program designed to get a parish out of the red. It’s about deepening our relationship with Christ.”

Authentic Christian stewardship means going back to the way the early Church was built—communities of believers, who pooled their resources to support each other and their parishes. When one individual suffered, they all suffered. When one triumphed, they all enjoyed the success. No one went hungry, and everyone did his part.

Several years have passed since the parishioners at St. Andrew were asked to make a formal stewardship commitment that included attending Mass on Sundays and holy days, participating in one or more parish ministry, and tithing seven percent of their gross household income. Of the 700 families who attend Mass at St. Andrew on a regular basis, more than half made the commitment. As a result, the parish became more prayerful, the ranks of parish ministries swelled by 500, and the weekly collection rose.

The death spiral—But St. Andrew’s had another problem to contend with. The parish school was caught in the same “death spiral” as so many other parochial schools across the nation. “Schools lose enrollment, which means less tuition revenue [while] the expense base remains the same,” Litz said. “You’ve got to raise tuition, but when you raise tuition, enrollment goes down. You’re caught in this ‘death spiral,’ and you can’t get out of it.” After several years of parish stewardship they were still struggling, and foresaw a $135,000 deficit for 2003-2004. Instead of hitting the alarm bell, however, the pastor of St. Andrew, Father Joseph Glatts, suggested the parish do exactly the opposite of hiking its tuition fees, and instead, offer a tuition-free education beginning in 2004 for children of families that embraced the stewardship message. It was a true leap of faith, and God rewarded it.

The idea of a tuition-free education was a powerful incentive for the members of the parish, especially the many parish parents who wanted to send their kids to Catholic school but couldn’t afford it. The response was so good that the school was not only able to go tuition-free in 2004—the parish ended the fiscal year with surplus of $11,000. Father Glatts gives the credit to his parishioners, Principal Ron Duska and the Home and School Association. Most of all, he credits his predecessor, the late Msgr. D. James McGettigan, who was the first to attend the Archdiocesan Stewardship Day with parishioners in the winter of 1999.

That’s how the idea of Christian stewardship first took root in the parish. “He cleared the way and began to communicate stewardship as a way of life, not simply a program that you try. We’ve been able to build on that,” Father Glatts said. “Not every parish can do this, but we’re in one of the areas where it can be done,” he said. Authentic stewardship must be built on the right foundation. “It’s called ‘the three Ts’” — but there’s actually a fourth,” Father Glatts said: “Time, talent, treasure and trust in God. They’re like synonyms. I never talk about one without talking about the others. Otherwise, you can get out of balance.” A properly balanced stewardship message has also meant enormous success for parishes in other dioceses across the United States. Most notable are those with tuition-free parochial schools in Wichita, Kan., which is the home of a founder of the modern stewardship movement, Msgr. Thomas S. McGread. Of the 2,600 families in Msgr. McGread's parish, St. Francis of Assisi in Wichita, 85 percent attend Sunday Mass. On any weekday morning, a visitor can expect to find 300 people at Mass. More than 500 regularly scheduled worshippers are involved in its Perpetual Adoration program. And its Sunday collections have been known to reach $90,000. Matthew R. Paratore, the Secretary General of the International Catholic Stewardship Council, warns that successes such as that don't happen over night. “It’s a long steady process of conversion — person-byperson. The spirituality part is what makes stewardship go or not go,” he said. “People either believe or they do not believe. There’s not much middle ground.” Believers can make great things happen, including magnificent churches such as St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. “None of these were built by millionaires,” Paratore said. “They were built with the nickels and dimes of immigrants ... poor to middle-class immigrants with big families to feed and only one person supporting the household. In spite of all that, they were able to build these enormous churches with marble and artwork all over the place.” To people who say, “Well, that was a different era,” Paratore says: “Sacrifice knows its own in any era. It has nothing to do with a timeline.” Tony Mullen, a parishioner at St. Andrew’s, believes that sort of going-back-to-the-future will save Catholic parishes and schools. “What we’re doing here in St. Andrew is not an aberration. This is what everybody's supposed to be doing,” he said. “I really do believe that the future of our Church is in this approach and we're simply being used as a way to prove to people that it can work.”

Another parishioner, Mike Kurmlavage, whose stewardship commitment includes an extra Mass and Bible-study every week, has two children in the school who did not pay tuition this year. “This is what we should have been doing all along, frankly,” he said. “And I think this is what’s going to make or break the Catholic schools.” The sacrifice involved in stewardship does not deter him: “It hurt to build St. Andrew’s church back in 1926, but this is the faith of our fathers. I’m not going to just sit back and watch this go away. We’re going to take an active part in passing this on to our kids, so they can pass it on to their kids.” Litz added: “Everything flows from putting Christ at the center of your life. When you make that leap of faith ... it renews parishes. “It changes lives.”

For more information, contact Steve Litz at back9@rcn.com or visit the International Catholic Stewardship Council at: www.catholicstewardship.org

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