Investing their talents.

Members of St. Bartholomew Parish in Wayzata, Minnesota, got an opportunity to see if they could emulate the good and faithful servants in the biblical parable of the talents found in Matthew 25:14-30 after a fellow parishioner read about a project started in California called the "kingdom assignment." In that project, members of a church were given $100 each with instructions to use their own initiative to increase the amount and donate it to charity. The St. Bartholomew parishioner decided a similar program would bring out the best in the members of his church and anonymously donated $10,000 to get the ball rolling.

Father Mike Reding, St. Bartholomew's pastor, parceled out the donation, giving $100 to each participant and instructing each to use the amount to build the kingdom of God. One couple decided to host a potluck supper and were helped by seven other couples. The group raised $12,000, which they donated to three separate charities, helping stroke victims, homeless and troubled youth, and the deaf. One church member staked her six-year-old son with $10, and the boy invited 30 friends to watch a movie, charging them $3 each for admission. The event raised $71, which the boy donated to help his teacher's five-month-old grandson, whose mother had recently died.

Total proceeds from the kingdom project were over $100,000 at last count.

St. Bartholomew parishioner Mike Peschel was quoted in a Catholic News Service report: "It's probably true that there are more good people than greedy people, but the greedy people seem to sell more papers. The good news is that there's still more good people."