By Michael Motes

With the first phase of construction at Holy Spirit parish finished, Father Peter Ludden is ready to put out the welcome mat to archdiocesan groups and organizations that he finally has room to accommodate.

Archbishop Donnellan will officially dedicate the new Church and educational building at an 11 a.m. Mass set for Sunday, October 28.

Although the parish has been in existence since 1964, “Nobody knows were here,” says Father Ludden.

The major drawback has been that the parish underwent “a nomadic period” during which services were held in various facilities, including Pace Academy and Dykes High School.

The first building that the parish constructed was later sold to Mount Vernon Christian Academy, a private high school, and although Mass and other functions have been held there since 1967, the parish “did not have a real home of its own atmosphere,” says the pastor.

“When I came here in 1975, the possibility was being explored to sell the existing building and 13 acres of land,” Father Ludden commented. “At first, the parish leased the property to Mount Vernon Christian Academy with an option to buy. The school finally did buy the property, but we retained the right to used the facility.”

Although Father Ludden is pastor number five of the parish, only three priests have held the title. Monsignor John McDonough was the first pastor, followed by Father Joseph Ware. When Father Ware was transferred, Monsignor McDonough returned, only to be again followed by Father Ware, the immediate predecessor to Father Ludden.

Located in one of Atlanta’s finer residential areas, Holy Spirit sits back from Northside Drive surrounded by numerous trees. Now that construction has been completed, future plans call for additional landscaping to the property.

Stable Parish

The parish is relatively small -- at last count, approximately 380 families.

“This is not a parish with a big turnover,” says the pastor. “But we are steadily growing. Our current membership represents an increase of 26 per cent since our construction began.”

The area around the parish facility is primarily single-family, large lot residences. there are no high rise apartments in the vicinity and this, of course, effects the stability of the population.

“But small numbers have not hampered the activities of the parish,” says Ruth Maguire, who has been a parishioner since the parish was created and who now serves as religious education coordinator.

Ruth is very enthused about the religious education program she spearheads, which includes 26 teachers and three resource persons to meet the needs of the approximate 175 parishioners enrolled in programs from pre-school through adult education.

“Since this is not a changing parish,” she says, “children who grew up in Holy Spirit now have young children of their own in Sunday morning classes. We also have some young families moving in and this increases the enrollment of the children.”

Teachers Are Happy

While Father Ludden is very visibly excited about the new building, Ruth says that the religious ed teachers are happiest.

“The teachers, as well as the students, now feel they really have a home. The personalities of the classrooms reflect the personalities of both the teachers and children and everyone is thrilled to be in a new building that they can decorate as they choose,” she said, adding that prior to completion, all materials used at Mount Vernon Christian Academy had to be taken to and from the building each weekend.

Father Ludden’s enthusiasm stems from “finally being able to take a greater role in the life of the Church of North Georgia by volunteering to host archdiocesan meetings in our new building. Now we are in a position to pitch in and do our share.”

Upcoming groups who have already accepted an invitation to meet at Holy Spirit include the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women and a Respect Life group. Father Ludden anticipates that the parish will soon host the Priests’ Senate and the local Deanery.

“Our new facility is so important to us,” the pastor says. “I view its function as being two-fold. First, we will expand the social contact within the parish through various gatherings, and, secondly, I think we can become wider known in relation to the Church of Atlanta by being able to host other groups.”

The parish has very active organizations, including the parish council headed by Henry Dickle; finance committee chaired by John Warren; board of education under the direction of Sandy Miller; women’s guild with Elaine Phealan as president, and St. Vincent de Paul Society led by Dick Schweitzer. Hilda Cole is the faithful parish secretary and there are always plenty of volunteers around to assist in various capacities.

Unique Group

A unique group in the parish is the Media Group. Under the guidance of Pat Frisina, the group of teenagers in the process of assembling a multi-media presentation using the theme, “Viewing The Church Through Eyes of All Ages: So Far Away.” This will be the fourth multi-media presentation the group has put together. Similar projects have been received with great enthusiasm when presented in surrounding parishes and at several ecumenical gatherings. It is the hope of the group that their current project will also become available for presentation outside of the parish.

With so much either currently going on in the parish or planned to incorporate full usage of the new building, don’t be surprised if you’re soon invited to a function at Holy Spirit. When Father Ludden says, “Y’all come,” he really means it!