By Bill Hall

On Sunday, April 30, 1972, a three-handled shovel with a silver blade was thrust into the earth at a 14-acre site on Rucker Road just north of Roswell, Georgia. This evening climaxed the church ground breaking ceremony of the newly created St. Thomas Aquinas Parish.

In honor of the occasion, Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan wielded the ceremonial spade along with St. Thomas Aquinas parishioners John Koch, chairman of the Building Committee, and Carol Braddach, president of the Women’s Club.

Approximately 100 parishioners attended the ground breaking ceremony. Earlier in the day, about 200 more were present at a special Mass and luncheon held at the Mimosa Elementary School in Roswell. Concelebrants for the Mass were the archbishop, Msgr. Donald Kiernan, pastor of St. Jude’s Church, and Fr. Noel C. Burtenshaw, administrator of St. Thomas Aquinas. The luncheon was served by members of the Women’s Club.

The St. Thomas Aquinas Mission was established in 1950 as a mission of the Cathedral of Christ the King under the pastorate of Msgr. Cassidy. At first, the mission existed only in the homes of the parishioners, but later moved to the Community Center in Roswell. This facility served the mission for about yen years.

In 1960, when St. Jude’s Parish was created, the Roswell mission was part of it. As the Catholic community grew, more space was needed for Sunday Mass and arrangements were made to use the Fulton Federal Building in Roswell. In 1969, the mission moved to the North Roswell Elementary School, and in 1970, to the present location at Mimosa Elementary School.

Almost simultaneous with the ground breaking ceremony, Archbishop Donnellan announced the establishment of St. Thomas Aquinas as a parish. The new parish will cover all of North Fulton County north of Chattahoochee River.

Construction of the new church facility is expected to be accomplished in three phases. The first phase should begin in about 30 days and will consist of a 10,000 square foot multi-purpose building to provide worship facilities, ten classrooms for the school of religion, and an apartment for the pastor. This part of the construction program is scheduled to be completed by October 1.

Implementation of phases two and three will depend upon the growth of the parish. Phase two is an expansion phase calling for the construction of additional classrooms for the school of religion. The rectory and the church building will be constructed during the final phase.

St. Thomas Aquinas now has approximately 200 families attending Mass on Sunday. The projected growth of the area, which includes both Roswell and Alpharetta, indicates that the parish will have about 600 families by 1977.

The school of religion was established two years ago and now has a full-time coordinator, St. Jean Marie Stross. There are 130 children currently enrolled but this will increase rapidly over the next five years.

At the present time the building contract has not been let. Plans for the new church were prepared by Gerard Deckbar of Locatell-Deckbar, architects.

Effective June 1, 1972, Fr. J. Douglas Edwards will become the new pastor at St. Thomas Aquinas. He will replace Father Noel C. Burtenshaw, who has been assigned to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church as pastor.

Fr. Edwards is the former the former pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Carrollton.