Steward Sunday: Supporting the Well-Being of Clergy and Families
Financial Health Initiative Completes First Program Cycle
The generous stewardship of the faithful makes possible the ongoing work of the Orthodox Church in America to care for her clergy and their families. Through the programs of the Office of Pastoral Life, the Church seeks to strengthen the spiritual, emotional, and financial well-being of those who serve at her altars and in her parish communities.
A 2023 national survey of clergy across the Orthodox Church in America revealed that over 60% of clergy families experience moderate to severe financial stress. In response, the Office of Pastoral Life launched the Financial Health Initiative (FHI) in May 2025, funded by the Lilly Endowment. This program helps clergy families build financial stability, reduce financial strain, and grow in faithful stewardship of their resources.
The first FHI cohort—comprising twenty-five priest families from across the Orthodox Church in America—has now completed the program. Each participant gained access to SmartDollar, a comprehensive personal finance program developed by Ramsey Solutions. Through its nine-lesson course, financial coaching, budgeting tools, and practical resources, participants learned strategies to strengthen their financial health. Ongoing access to SmartDollar continues through 2028.
Graduates of the first cohort have already received grants through the Financial Health Initiative Fund—each providing up to $5,000 to help clergy families build emergency savings, reduce debt, or invest in retirement. To date, more than $120,000 in grants have been distributed. The Fund was established through the generosity of the Lilly Endowment and is sustained through the matching gifts of the institutions, parishes, and faithful of the Orthodox Church in America.
Early results are encouraging. Collectively, participants have reported over $500,000 in financial turnaround through debt reduction and increased savings. One priest shared, “My wife and I went from living paycheck-to-paycheck to actively saving for both our immediate and long-term goals.”
Applications for the next FHI cohort will open in May 2026. To learn more about the program—or to contribute to this vital ministry—please visit the Office of Pastoral Life website.
Join Us in Supporting Our Clergy
The Financial Health Initiative is one way your stewardship strengthens the life of the Church. By becoming a Steward of the Orthodox Church in America, you help provide the resources that sustain clergy families, build healthy parishes, and nurture the faithful across North America.
Your gift—large or small—makes a direct difference in the lives of those who serve Christ and His Church. On this Stewards Sunday, please consider offering your support to the Stewards of the Orthodox Church in America and to the ongoing work of the Office of Pastoral Life.
Together, we can ensure that every priest and deacon has the support they need to flourish in ministry.
About the Office of Pastoral Life
The Orthodox Church in America’s Office of Pastoral Life supports the well-being of clergy and their families, the foundation of parish life across North America. Believing the health of the Church is inseparable from the health of her clergy, the Office offers programs that build resilience, connection and pastoral joy. Programs include Thriving in Ministry peer-learning groups, Financial Health Initiatives, quarterly Synaxis Gatherings, National Clergy Retreats and Clergy Wives Ministry. In partnership with bishops, dioceses, parishes and our generous donors, the Office of Pastoral Life helps create sustainable conditions in which priests, deacons and their families of the Orthodox Church in America can flourish spiritually, vocationally and personally through every season of parish ministry.