The actual inauguration of St. Anna’s Mission in Monroe took place with the formation of a study group which met in the reception room of Dr. Homer Head’s office. Father Walter J. Donovan, pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Athens, came to preside at the meeting.

The first Mass in the vicinity was celebrated on July 25, 1954 in the conference room of the Walton Electric Membership Corporation building by Father Donovan. Parishioners had built a folding altar and a portable confessional which were set up each Sunday. This remained the site of Sunday Masses until January 1955 when the American Legion offered an unoccupied house they owned for the use of Monroe Catholics.

The people of the mission planned long and worked hard to equip their area with a chapel. During the summer of 1954, a magazine subscription drive to help raise funds to buy a site for the chapel was managed by Mrs. John Briscoe, Mrs. Claude Friend and Mrs. Dan Melton. On October 30, 1954, the property on U.S. Highway 78 was purchased and the deed sent to Bishop Francis E. Hyland.

The construction of a white frame chapel was begun in the summer of 1956. The first Mass was celebrated in the new chapel on December 2, 1956 by Father R. Donald Kiernan. During the time preceding this the Monroe mission was known as All Saints Catholic Mission. The Catholic Extension Society gave a contribution to the construction of the building and the name St. Anna’s was specified with the gift. The formal dedication of the mission by Bishop Hyland was held on May 16, 1957. This was the first rural mission to be dedicated in the new Atlanta diocese. Msgr. Joseph G. Cassidy preached the sermon at the dedication ceremonies, which were attended by the Mayor of Monroe and several city and county officials.

In the twelve years since the first Mass was celebrated in Monroe, nine priests have cared for the mission: Fathers Walter J. Donovan, R. Donald Kiernan, James L. Harrison, Leonard F. X. Mayhew, John J. Mulroy, William Hoffman, Alan M. Dillman, Henry Gracz and James F. Scherer.