The first Lay Congress ever held in this archdiocese -- and what is believed by many to be the first such Congress in the world since Vatican Council II -- will meet at the Biltmore Hotel in Atlanta this weekend. Elected representatives from every parish in the archdiocese will participate.

James W. Callison, of Most Blessed Sacrament Parish in the Ben Hill area of Southwest Atlanta, will preside. Mr. Callison was elected president of the Congress by the 72 delegates who were, in turn, elected by their fellow parish members. The other elected officers of the Congress are: Felmer Cummings, St. Joseph’s Marietta, vice president; Mrs. E. P. Faust, Sts. Peter and Paul, Decatur, secretary; and Paul Sauerberger, Immaculate Heart parish in Atlanta, treasurer.

The Congress was officially convoked last January by Archbishop Hallinan. Its specific purpose is to formalize recommendations by the laity for legislation to be enacted by the archdiocese’s first Synod (archbishop and clergy) next fall. The Synod’s legislation will govern the archdiocese during the years immediately ahead.

The recommendations of the Congress and of the recently concluded Sisters’ Congress, and the decisions of the Synod, will be made within the framework of the 16 documents which were formulated at Vatican Council II. The primary document of concern to the Lay Congress is Chapter IV of the Constitution on the Church, which calls for the expression of lay opinions and use of the laity’s talents and charisms for the good of the Church. The Congress itself, being an organ for the expression of lay opinion, is an implementation of the Constitution.

Initial work on the Congress was started about a year ago, by a group of approximately 35 laymen and women who were called together by the archbishop to lay plans. These people were designated the “ad hoc committee” because the Congress had not yet been formally convoked. The ad hoc committee elected Herb Farnsworth as chairman, Mrs. Harry B. Horsey, Jr., was secretary.

The ad hoc group divided itself into four committees. One group, called the Steering Committee, laid the initial plans and worked up the beginning procedures for the Congress. It elected Mr. Furman Smith as its chairman.

A second group took on the job of studying and recommending changes in the administration of the archdiocese and its component units, including the parishes. It particularly sought ways in which the laity could be given a more effective voice in, and a greater responsibility for, that administration. It elected Mr. Albert Lawton as its chairman.

The third group chose education in all of its facets as its field of work. It elected Mr. Samuel McQuaid as chairman.

The fourth group called itself Future Expansion and Development. While all of the committees were concerned with the future, this committee particularly dealt with ways in which the spiritual mission of the Church and the spiritual goals of Vatican Council II could best be implemented in this archdiocese. Its elected chairman was Mr. Henry deGive.

The four ad hoc committees researched and studied for about 8 months. They then issued comprehensive reports on the basis of which the elected delegates and alternates to the Congress began their work. After the elections last January, the committees (while continuing under the same chairmen for sake of continuity) were expanded to include the elected representatives. Each elected delegate was placed on one of the committees.

In addition to working directly on the committees, the delegates and alternates took on the important chore of explaining and leading discussion of the reports at meetings in each parish. In this manner, all of the laity were given an opportunity to participate in the Congress’ work. Once a consensus of thinking concerning the initial reports was developed in each parish, the thoughts were transmitted to the committees where they were discussed and, by vote, accepted, rejected or modified by the elected delegates and alternates on each committee. The revised reports were then discussed in each parish, and additional suggestions were acted upon in later committee meetings.

The result of this extensive amount of work over many months will be culminated this weekend. Each report, as finally revised, will be presented to the Congress section by section, to be discussed by all of the delegates, alternates and ad hoc members of the Congress and to be subjected to proposed amendments and to be voted upon by the elected delegates.

In addition, a procedure has been established for delegates to propose other business to be discussed and voted upon at the Congress. Such new ideas may be submitted in writing to a Rules Committee, consisting of one elected delegate from each of the basic committees, and the Rules Committee will decide, by majority vote, which of the proposed new subjects should be debated and put to a vote on the floor of the Congress.

The final recommendations, as passed by the representatives of all the parishes assembled together in formal Congress, will be presented at the close of the Congress on Sunday afternoon to Archbishop Hallinan. The archbishop has promised that the recommendations will be formally laid before the committees of priests preparing for the Synod, and (along with the sisters’ recommendations) will form a major portion of the Synod’s work.

The Congress will open Friday evening, in the Biltmore’s Empire Room, at 7:30 p.m. There will be brief opening ceremonies, in which Archbishop Hallinan and Dr. William Cannon, dean of the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, will participate. Following the opening ceremonies the Congress will start its work the very first night.

The Congress will continue on both Saturday and Sunday (in the Biltmore’s Exhibition Hall). Business meetings will be held each morning and afternoon. A banquet will be held on Saturday evening, at which Mr. Martin Work, executive director of the National Council of Catholic Men, will give a critique of the Congress’ work up to that point in time.

There will also be liturgical celebrations, under the guidance of the clergy/lay Archdiocesan Commission on the Liturgy. These will include a Bible service, a Mass at noon on Saturday to be concelebrated by the two priest consultants to the Congress, Fathers Keirnan and Foust, and a closing Pontifical Mass to be concelebrated by Archbishop Hallinan and the new auxiliary bishop, Joseph Bernardin.

In addition to Dean Cannon, who will deliver the opening night’s keynote address, the Congress’ Steering Committee has invited a number of members of the Orthodox, Protestant and Jewish faiths to attend as official observers. Catholics who have not been elected delegates or alternates, and other non-Catholics, will also be welcome to attend the meetings of the Congress. They will be seated on a first-come, first-served basis, in a special visitors’ section.