BY GRETCHEN KEISER

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--For the first time, the Archdiocesan Annual Appeal will be conducted in the fall with mailings starting in October leading to a November commitment Sunday.

The 1997 Appeal, which funds major archdiocesan priorities, has a goal of $3.8 million. The 1996 goal was $3.3 million and it was held in March as has been the custom.

Having the Appeal in the fall places it within the larger framework of giving. Parishes and missions have their stewardship program in the fall, inviting Catholics to reflect on God's gifts to them and to give of their time, their talent and their treasure in response to God's generous love.

Parishioners are asked to consider giving a tithe, or 10 percent of their annual income, back to God over the coming year. If they prayerfully believe this is too much for them to give, they are asked to give whatever percentage they believe they can afford. The key is making a decision reflecting trust in God's providence and provision and expressing gratitude to God.

Of their total charitable gift over the coming year, Catholics are asked to donate 5 percent to their parish, 1 percent to the Archdiocesan Annual Appeal and 4 percent to other charities of their choice. That 4 percent includes any second collections in the parish which they choose to support, other Catholic organizations like the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Catholic Relief Services or other Third World Catholic missions, the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity or other causes.

"The principal reason for moving the Annual Appeal is that support of the archdiocese is an integral part of stewardship," Msgr. Edward Dillon, vicar general of the archdiocese, said.

"As Catholics plan for what they will give to the church in the coming year, they need to plan for the archdiocese to be part of that," he said. "They are part of a larger entity, the diocese."

Last year several parishes successfully combined the stewardship program and Annual Appeal into one fall campaign, paving the way for it to be done in all parishes this fall. Although conducted now, it is the 1997 Annual Appeal, providing major funding for archdiocesan programs like vocations, Catholic education and religious education, Catholic Charities, and pastoral services including pro-life, minstries for black Catholics and Hispanic Catholics and development of new missions in the archdiocese.

The growing Catholic population in north Georgia has much to do with setting the priorities and funding projections of the archdiocese.

Many major decisions-- from how much of the archdiocesan budget is committed to the vocations program to how many new missions are opened and where--reflect awareness of and efforts to plan for a projected major increase in the Catholic population.

It is expected that there will be two to three times as many Catholics here in the year 2020 as there are now and that increase is already being felt in parishes and missions.

Currently there are 80,000 registered Catholic families living in the archdiocese, up from 63,000 registered families two years ago, said Msgr. Dillon.

Just in the 12-county Atlanta metropolitan area, using census figures, the Glenmary Research Center identified 79,182 Catholics in 1980 and 131,393 Catholics in 1990. That number is projected to more than double by 2020.

In a study for possible new Catholic schools in the archdiocese, the Neil Meitler firm projected the number of registered Catholics could increase 111 percent in metropolitan Atlanta parishes by 2020.

Based on figures of the Atlanta Regional Commission, 276,657 Catholics may be living in the 12-county metropolitan area by the year 2020 based on population growth alone. This does not account for increases by evangelization and outreach and does not include the archdiocese outside the metropolitan area.

The 3 million population in the Atlanta region is projected to reach 4.1 million by 2020. In-migration will account for almost half of the region's population increase, according to the Atlanta Regional Commission.

Of that 800,000 population increase by in-migration, as much as 28 percent could be Catholic, since that is the estimated percentage of the U.S. population overall that is Catholic. That would be approximately 250,000 new Catholics moving in.

Signs of rapid growth in the Catholic population are already occurring, administrators say. When a new mission is opened in the archdiocese, 200 families may join at the outset from the mother parish, but 200 more families will sign up as soon as the new location is well publicized and established, Msgr. Dillon said.

"One of the things we are discovering is that many people are not going to church because the parking lots are so full they can't find parking spaces or because they have to stand in the church," he said. "When we open new missions, the second growth is people who are not going to church. You start with 200 people in a storefront. The next thing you know you have 200 other families who weren't registered previously in any Catholic parish."

"Although inconvenience may not be a palatable reason to many" for failing to attend church, "the fact of the matter is, many are not going for that reason," he said.

As a result there is a sense of urgency for him and other archdiocesan administrators about funding new mission development and other programs that will enable the Church to be prepared for the future. Many planning decisions reflect that urgency and are a part of the Annual Appeal picture.

The annual vocations budget for the archdiocese is now more than $1 million, Msgr. Dillon said. This reflects the commitment of the archdiocese to pay for seminary education and formation for priests who will be needed to pastor Catholics already here and anticipated additional Catholics. At the same time, Msgr. Don Kenny, the vocations director, has been given permission to bring the number of candidates in seminary up to 70 at one time. It has been 60.

There is a significant Hispanic influx into north Georgia, primarily made up of Catholics, many not counted because they are not officially registered in parishes. This group of unregistered Hispanic Catholics "may already be as large as the registered Catholic population" in north Georgia, Msgr. Dillon said, and the archdiocese needs to be responsive to the spiritual and pastoral needs of this community.

"The Catholic population that originally came to Georgia drifted away because of a lack of priests and a lack of facilities," Msgr. Dillon noted. The archdiocese does not want the current and future influx of Catholics to do the same because of a lack of preparation on the part of the North Georgia church.