By Steve Lindsey

How many parishes can claim that General Sherman slept in their rectory on his march to the sea? Probably none except St. Joseph's in Marietta.

If you go there today, you no longer approach the house by riding up the cedar tree-lined driveway in a horse drawn carriage as you would have over a hundred years ago, before Sherman departed, leaving the house in flames. Now one comes up an asphalt driveway at the rear. But if you walk around to the front of the house, you can find the cedar trees still standing in stately defiance of man's destructive tendencies.

Only the walls, three-feet thick, remained after Sherman's fire. But the house was rebuilt with a new third story and extra wings. The trees and the house suggest thoughts of endurance, resilience and the constant presence of the Lord.

The Marist Fathers administer St. Joseph's. Since the turn of the century, they have said Mass in Marietta; in 1952, the Diocese of Atlanta bought the house that is now the rectory and created the parish of St. Joseph's. Presently there are three priests to serve St. Josephs people: Father John Emerick, SM, pastor; and Fathers Jim Cummings, SM, and Tom Ryan, SM, associate pastors.

From interviews with members of St. Joseph's, one finds a difference in ideas that may be typical of most parishes. The lightning rod for some of the controversy is the genial Father Ryan. Some view without pleasure what they call his "liberalism," others are happy with what they would term his "activism." General consensus is that matters came to a head last spring, in the aftermath of Father Ryan's controversial address to the graduating seniors at Sprayberry High School, concerning which he still receives nasty phone calls.

The community-minded Father Ryan is presently serving as president of the Marietta Ministerial Association. Among the parishioners are the mayor of Marietta, Disk Hunter and Mrs. Ruth Cavallo, mother of Father Joe Cavallo, assistant pastor at Sacred Heart. She serves as parish secretary.

In writing this article, I cannot overlook the children at St. Joseph's School, some of the most beautiful children I've ever met. They come across as uninhibited yet well mannered. Their happy faces are evidence that something very good is going on in Marietta.