By Sister Priscilla Klatt

The Catholic people of Gwinnett County do not intend to be satisfied with their church simply as a building. Though the missions of Lawrenceville and Norcross have existed for only a short time, they are becoming centers of Christian liturgy and education -- gathering places for continuous renewal of faith.

The Gwinnett County churches were established as missions of Holy Cross parish (Chamblee) by their pastor, Father Eusebius Beltran. His decision to establish these churches was stimulated by the fact that the “growing Gwinnett” area is presently experiencing a great upsurge in population and industrial development.

Last August, two Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Community (Monroe, Michigan) arrived in the missions primarily as parish workers, with Norcross as their base. In addition to their community action, Sister Janet Ryan and Sister Priscilla Klatt are in the process of organizing, developing and administering a total religious education program in both Lawrenceville and Norcross.

Looking at each church individually, the Catholic Church of Lawrenceville is five years old. While originally services were held on Sunday in a funeral chapel, the mission has relocated at 155 Chestnut Street in a former appliance store. This “storefront church” has been renovated entirely by the parish’s 45 families and it seats approximately 120 persons. There are three tiny classrooms in the back, and an annex to another warehouse which provides additional room. On Sunday mornings, this building is inhabited by junior and senior high school students for classes (or experiences) in religion. The teaching situation is rugged, as the number of students is gradually on the increase, and the size of the rooms unfortunately remain the same -- small. But the spirit is high!

Total parish education in Lawrenceville includes Sunday morning classes for 100 students in grades 1-12; training sessions for some of the parents who are volunteer teachers in the program; the beginnings of adult discussion groups; instruction classes for new converts; planning and providing experiences to help young people become concerned and interested in the less fortunate and in other denominational groups.

One of the most powerful liturgies experienced by the community here was celebrated the week before Christmas. The students decided to help less fortunate persons and did it in the framework of the Mass.

They wrote their own propers for the Mass around the “gift of self to others” theme, and their spontaneous prayers of the faithful reflected a real concern for the poor. From the rafters of the warehouse were strung mobiles of student handicraft symbolizing the “Giving Tree” (a book studied and discussed in earlier religion classes).

At the offertory of the Mass, their gifts of food and clothing were brought to the altar. Their own prayer at that time was: “Lord, we have brought our gifts to you tonight in the hope that these needy families will be as happy on Christmas Day as we are this evening.”

In another area of the county, the Catholic Church of Norcross has experienced rapid growth. Her 106 families represent a mission that has doubled its size since September of 1969. While the mission is currently one year old, the church was formerly Methodist and the white-frame, two-towered building has stood for nearly 100 years.

The total religious education of the mission is of the same type as Lawrenceville. The 130 students from pre-school through junior high are also experiencing the bind of space-less classrooms.

During the week of January 18-25 (Church Unity Octave) the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders exchanged visits with the Presbyterian Sunday School. The Norcross and Lawrenceville Catholic Junior High have planned a “share-in” with John Wesley Methodist students. Their object is to meet minds and hearts with teens of others faiths and to grow in understanding of other persons’ points of view and to enjoy themselves at the same time!

What makes these new missions so unique is the desire of the priests, the sisters, the people to work together, to build a warm, welcoming, Christian community. Creativity, doing things with little space, little money, no equipment and a tremendous enthusiasm have the mission growing by leaps and bounds.