By Michael Motes

“Have faith,” Christ told us, “and you will move mountains.”

The Catholic population of Lawrenceville, taking Christ at his word, rolled up their sleeves, gripped their hammers and their shovels and attacked the mountain.

The history of the Catholic community in Lawrenceville has been a real odyssey of faith – from a basement in a private residence to a room in the Presbyterian Church to a chapel in a funeral home to a store in a back street and finally to a fine new building dedicated by Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan on November 4.

At the dedication ceremony, Archbishop Donnellan called the new church “a showplace.”

The church seats 300 and two Masses are held each Sunday. A religious education program headed by Anne Schroeder currently instructs 250 youngsters.

Father Gerard Gill, MSFS, priest-in-charge of the mission, drives a half-hour from his Norcross rectory to the new church. The Lawrenceville church, named St. Lawrence, is a mission of St. Patrick’s in Norcross, where Father Gill serves as assistant pastor.

The building fund for the church began in April 1970. Father Eusebius Beltran, then pastor of Holy Cross which at that time was responsible for St. Lawrence mission, launched the drive by selling the first brick to the mayor of Lawrenceville.

This action of the mayor, a non-Catholic, was not an isolated once, as some of the most devoted workers on the project were not Catholic.

The Lawrenceville mission was subsequently attached to St. Patrick’s and Father Dan McCormick, former pastor at Norcross, celebrated Mass on the site of the new church in October 1971.

Work began on the new building in April of this year when Father Sean Fleury, Father McCormick’s successor at St. Patrick’s turned the first sod.

The small number present when Mass was first celebrated in Lawrenceville in 1965 has grown to 170 families today. The hopes and dreams of the original few inspired those who came later to make those dreams a reality. All joined enthusiastically in the project and all shared in the joy and the pride as the archbishop with the priests who had served the mission over the years concelebrated Mass in their new building.

The generosity of the Catholics of Lawrenceville seems boundless. An architect donated plans and his services free. A parishioner, who is a building supervisor, took leave from his employment at his own expense to direct the work. Another member of the parish was inspired to guarantee a loan of $600,000 with his own money.

One parishioner undertook the installation of the heating and air-conditioning systems, while yet another volunteered his services to install all electrical requirements. The men and women of the mission turned out to supply the labor and from then on it was all systems go!

And gradually the faith of the people of Lawrenceville began to take on a concrete form and shape, to become bricks and mortar, and chairs and tables, carpets and classrooms; a tangible, visible expression of their commitment to Christ and their dedication to his service.

The visits of the archbishop and his interest in the project were a great source of encouragement and inspiration to the community.

Dave Cogswell, in charge of the construction, summed up the feelings of all when, writing to inform the archbishop, that the building was complete, he said:

“Your visit and inspection of the project in late August inspired us all to keep going. It came at a time when, although 90 percent completed, the end seemed far away. For you to take the time on a hot summer Saturday to climb into the attic to see the rafters and the wiring, to talk to the parishioners who were doing the work and to commend them for what they had done, really impressed them – and me.

“Certainly, it changed your image in their minds from a remote and impersonal being in Atlanta to that of a very warm and human person who was, and is, a real friend and a true spiritual leader.

“Finally, of course, we must all recognize that God was with us all the way. To Him belongs the real credit, for without His help little could have been accomplished.”