The ninth regional stewardship conference will be held Saturday, May 1, at the Savannah DeSoto Hilton, 15 Liberty St., Savannah. The conference, sponsored by the Archdiocese of Atlanta and the Dioceses of Charlotte, Charleston, Raleigh, and Savannah, will bring the stewardship message alive with keynote speaker Bishop-emeritus Sylvester Ryan, of Monterrey, Calif. All are welcome to attend.

Bishop Ryan has served as chairman of the stewardship subcommittee for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, president of the California Conference of Bishops for six years, episcopal moderator of the National Association for the Continuing Education of the Catholic Clergy, and the National Conference of Catechetical Leaders. He is a frequent speaker at international Catholic Stewardship Council events.

The conference will take place from 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Breakout sessions will cover a wide array of topics and provide concrete ideas for promoting stewardship in the parishes, updating communication materials, emphasizing hospitality, recruiting lay witnesses, and working with Catholics in the Hispanic community.

A post-conference tour of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, followed by Mass at 5:30 p.m., will bring prayerful closure to a day promised to be energizing. The deadline for registration is April 16. Cost is $40 per person.

www.archatl.com/offices/stewardship/conference.html.