A small group of men, women and children, including non-Catholics, were so eager to have a mission church in Jonesboro that they searched for property, renovated a store, and begged every article needed to fully equip a church.

Their ten years’ work and plans will be realized Sunday, Oct. 8 when parishioners of Jonesboro will attend dedication ceremonies for the new St. Philip Benizi church. Following the 6 p.m. dedication, Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan will be the principal concelebrant at Mass. Father John J. O’Shea, pastor of the St. John the Evangelist, Hapeville, and Father Daniel O’Connor, pastor of St. Philip Benizi, will assist at the Mass. A reception will be held in the parish hall.

The planning began in April, 1957 when the late Father George T. Daly, pastor of St. John the Evangelist, met with Ware Hutchenson of Jonesboro to discuss purchase of land in the town for a mission of the Hapeville parish.

After months of searching for property, the two men were unable to complete a sale. Aided by Lee Hutchensen, Arthur Huie, Jr. was persuaded to sell five acres of land near the Jonesboro airport. The land was purchased by Father Daly in April, 1958. It was later sold.

By April, 1965, Jonesboro Catholics had saved $10,000 and requested permission from Archbishop Hallinan to have Mass offered regularly in the town. The archbishop informed the group that when a suitable building was available, a priest would be assigned to the mission that fall.

During the summer, the group renovated the Hutchenson brothers’ old Jonesboro drug store on Main St. “The people themselves go the church,” said Father O’Connor. They begged altars, tabernacles, candelabra, sacred vessels and statues from the monks at Conyers, Father Edward Flatley, chaplain at Fort McPherson, and Sacred Heart Church, Atlanta. The women made vestments and altar linens.

Father O’Connor, archdiocesan secretary of education was appointed priest-in-charge of the mission. The first Mass was offered in the old drug store Sept. 12, 1965. The unexpectedly large congregation jammed the building, spilling out across Main St. The setting of the altar was hastily changed to provide room for more chairs.

Two Masses were scheduled the following week, and by Christmas, a third Mass was added to accommodate increasing crowds. The mission outgrew the drugstore and again the parishioners requested the archbishop for permission—this time for a church building.

The committee purchased a 23.9-acre site on Flint River Road in July 1966. Construction began on the church building that winter. Future plans include a permanent church, rectory, cathecetical center and convent. The present church building is designed of pre-engineered brick with laminated wood beams and wood decking. Partitions separate the church from the parish hall. When the entire building is used as a church, it will seat 500 people.

The first Mass was offered in the building on April 30, 1967. On June 3, the status of the mission was changed to a parish, and Father O’Connor was appointed first pastor.

The parish received a $10,000 gift from the Extension Society, in memory of the Frank J. Lewis, family, the donor, the parish was named in honor of St. Philip Benizi.

On July 30, the Blessed Sacrament was reserved for the first time in a Catholic Church in Clayton County—marking the progress of Catholicism in Georgia.