By Gretchen Keiser

Many parishes and mission s in the archdiocese are embarking on a program that will invite people to prayerfully consider the depth of their commitment to the Church.

Using a common model developed by a team of North Georgia pastors and staff of the archdiocese, and drawing from other Catholic sources, the program presents the concept of stewardship and giving of oneself and one's time and goods to others.

"Its a whole mind-set," said Father John Kieran, a pastor who worked on the committee, and who has practiced tithing since his first assignment as a parochial vicar in 1967.

Behind the term "stewardship" is a spiritual reality that accepts the fact that what one has is a gift from God, noted Carroll Sterne, director of development for the archdiocese.

"We don't own anything that we have -- whether that's a bank deposit, the ability to play the piano, or the eight hours you have each week (to give), it's a gift from God," he said.

Stewardship is an invitation to "make a conscious, prayerful decision" about how one uses those resources of money time and talent and to open oneself to a "conversion experience of sorts."

Father Kieran noted that the September 20 gospel on the unjust steward spoke "of our being wise about worldly things, but not being equally wise about heavenly things."

In his experience, giving a set portion of his income to charity and his church has been instructional in the wise use of what is worldly and of what is heavenly. "I've found the idea in Scripture to be very true," he said. "God will not be outdone in generosity. God has infinite generosity."

A number of parishes and missions have already addressed the concept of stewardship in precious years and have experienced great benefits in the wider involvement of people in church life and stronger support of all that the parish is doing, Sterne said.

However, until now an archdiocesan stewardship program had not been developed and it was seen as a need. This summer over 200 people took part in workshops preparing to carry the message of stewardship back to their parish or mission communities.

Much of the presentation in the parish is done by lay people who speak of their own experiences.

"We want people to think about 'what is it I am doing now' and 'what could I be doing', Sterne said.

This applies to the financial commitment one makes to the parish, to other charitable causes both within the archdiocese and in the civic community, and to the commitment to serve other people's needs with time and practical skills and talents.

The Church needs greater support in every area, Father Kieran said. "We're way behind in per capita support of the Church, but we're further behind in a sense of volunteerism," the pastor said. "People find it harder to give five hours in time than to give money."

"The stewardship program is a wholistic program. The outcome, I hope, is to challenge people to seriously ask, 'Why am I in church?'"

From a financial perspective, the archdiocesan stewardship program presents the tithe, or 10 percent of one's income, as the "ideal," Sterne said, but invites people to begin the process where they can by making a commitment and moving on from there.

Some households might find they begin at one percent and move up, he said, while "some people maybe should give more than 10 percent." Whatever the commitment, the stewardship program then proposes that half the amount be given to the parish offertory and the other half be divided among charitable support to the archdiocese, to other second collections, to other church, civic or community good works.

The gifts of time and talent involve personal commitments made to support the Church in non-financial ways, whether by contributing volunteer skills, by praying for the needs of others on a committed basis, by serving on a parish committee, or by working in Christian charity in the community.

Also serving on the committee that prepared the program were Monsignor Edward Dillon, vicar general, Monsignor Donald Kiernan, Father William Hoffman, Father George Kelley, CSsR, Father Robert Susann, MS, Father Steve Yander and development office staff Jane Hopson Enniss and Trish Johnston.

The new program also draws from the experience and publications of other dioceses on stewardship, specifically those of Charlotte, NC, Cleveland, OH, Louisville, KY, Owensboro, KY, St. Louis, MO, and Seattle, WA.

A separate program has been prepared by the committee for the Hispanic community and priests ministering there. Called "Tiempo, Talente, Tesoro," it was developed with the assistance of the Hispanic Secretariat to respond to the cultural differences of the community. Materials are available through the development office of the archdiocese.

(Paula Day contributed to this article.)