By Michael Motes

Has “Saturday Night Fever” struck an East Cobb County parish?

Probably not, but Father John Mulroy, pastor of Holy Family, will soon be the proud proprietor of a $200,000-plus discotheque equal to any in the area.

Actually the newest addition to Holy Family’s seventeen and one-half acre complex will serve as a parish center, but an interesting feature about the building is that it can double as a fully-equipped disco, complete with sophisticated sound booth, strobe lights and a portable dance floor.

“When construction began, I was astounded at the amount of equipment that was donated,” said Father Mulroy. “In addition to the musical equipment and dance floor, we’ve been given a giant-screen television set, kitchen appliances and other greatly appreciated gifts to make the new parish center a real multi-purpose and extremely comfortable facility.”

Since working with young people has long been a priority to Father Mulroy, he is pleased that Holy Family will have a center at the disposal of the more than 450 high school students living in his parish.

“Many of the young people here are really rootless,” he says. “This is a very transient area in which families average moving every three or four years. The new center will be a gathering place for our youth and we’re already at work on regular Wednesday and Friday night plans to keep the teenagers occupied and happy.”

To assist with the high teenage population, Father Mulroy has recruited the services of Pat Kahnle and Barbara Cotter, both of whom have backgrounds dealing with youth having taught in Cobb County schools.

Father Mulroy has an interesting parish situation. When he left his downtown Atlanta Sacred Heart assignment, he was a Catholic pioneer in East Cobb County. That was in June of 1973. But the area has expanded so since that time that the pastor can no longer even furnish an estimate of the number of families in his parish.

Last August the establishment of Saint Anne’s and Transfiguration parishes in East Cobb resulted in a sharp decrease in the membership of Holy Family after the new parish boundaries were established.

“While we dropped in numbers, there has been no decrease in the activity around Holy Family,” the pastor states. “This entire area is somewhat of a phenomenon in Catholic growth. Right now, the total Catholic population of East Cobb County is over 16 percent and that is the highest of any religious denomination in the area.”

With ever-growing parish activity, the new Holy Family center is already being booked for numerous activities. Completion date for the building is set at June 1 and shortly thereafter the 27 parishioners baptized at the Easter Vigil will begin a 10-week Bible study course following the 10:30 a.m. and noon Sunday Masses at Holy Family. Next on their agenda will be a series of Monday evening Open Forum meetings, which Father Mulroy says will be “religious free for all, during which any topic dealing with religion can be discussed.”

In the fall, the parish center will house a Week of Spiritual Renewal, featuring Father John Kieran as guest speaker. The facility will also become the permanent meeting place of the Middle School religious education classes. The Women’s Club has their bid in for regular use of the new center for meetings the fourth Tuesday of each month as well as the use for special events. Father Mulroy also hopes that adults of the parish will get together for social gatherings at least once a month once the building is completed.

One new group at Holy Family, the Singles Club, could not wait until the center was completed and hosted a dance in the facility while construction was still underway. Under the leadership of Lou Isaf, the two-month-old group is rapidly gaining membership from the parish’s more than 450 single adults. Future activities planned by the club include a picnic at Piedmont Park during the Atlanta Arts Festival and a cookout volleyball tournament set for May 22.

Helping Father Mulroy keep track of Holy Family’s coming and going Catholics is his indispensable parish secretary, Mrs. Carrie Elfner, who has served at the parish since the pastor’s arrival.

Mrs. Elfner, who will celebrate her 81st birthday at a parish party in the new center next October, is the grandmother of Father Joe Cavallo who heads the Newman House at Emory University.

“When Father Mulroy came to Cobb County, he asked my grandson if he thought his mother would be interested in working with him,” says Mrs. Elfner. “I overheard the conversation and said that I could do anything that my daughter could do and I’ve been here ever since.”

When the “disco” officially opens, Father Mulroy had better save a dance for the lively Mrs. Elfner!