By Jerry Edwards

In the rolling hills east of Marietta a new parish has come into existence dedicated to the Holy Family. The 16-acre site on which a church will one day be built is located midway between St. Jude’s in Sandy Springs and St. Joseph’s in Marietta.

The pastor of the new parish, Father John Mulroy, was officially installed by the archbishop in August. For the past six years Father Mulroy had been pastor of Sacred Heart parish in downtown Atlanta. He has also held pastorates in LaGrange and Athens.

The new parish celebrates Saturday evening Mass at 5 and 7 p.m. in St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church on Holt Road. Sunday Mass is celebrated in the gymnasium of Wheeler High School, also on Holt Road, at 10 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. Daily Mass will soon be offered in the parish house chapel, which is now being built by the men of the parish under the direction of Joe Kedzierski.

A religious education program for children is coordinated by Judy Kiely; the program is conducted in the 35 classrooms of East Cobb Middle School. Dr. Jim Frisbee, a professor at Georgia Tech, is instructing prospective converts to the church (an effort which the pastor calls “the catechumenate”). Ginger Johnston, a member of Sacred Heart parish, is coordinating youth activities.

The parish secretary is Carrie Elfner, the 75 year-old grandmother of Father Joseph Cavallo, assistant pastor of Sacred Heart parish. The house and grounds are kept up by Kate and Mike Ward, a retired Irish couple who moved with Father Mulroy from Sacred Heart.

Helping with the ministry of the parish are Monsignor Joseph Cassidy and Father Ed Keel. Monsignor Cassidy, who for 20 years was rector of Christ the King Cathedral, celebrates Sunday Mass and conducts a weekly Bible study. Father Keel is a young Marist priest who assists in the sacramental ministry on Sunday morning. A large number of lay ministers have completed their training and will be helping in the distribution of holy communion after their formal installation.

The parish house, located on Lower Roswell Road at the corner of Cross Gate Drive, is just a few hundred feet from the future site of the parish complex. The parish house was completely furnished by the generosity of the members of Sacred Heart parish.

Neighboring parishes are helping Holy Family to get on its feet financially. St. Joseph’s and St. Jude’s generously donated $5,000 a piece to the new parish; St. Thomas the Apostle parish in Smyrna is donating $2,500.

Coming together in public school rooms, a gymnasium and an Episcopal church, the people of Holy Family parish are truly a pilgrim people, homeless and wondering. But they are also so much richer for the living experience that they themselves, and not buildings, are the Church.