By Gretchen Keiser

Perhaps it should be dubbed the little parish that could.

A few years ago Blessed Sacrament parish, perched on a large piece of land behind Greenbriar Mall in southwest Atlanta, had undergone so much change that the future was highly uncertain.

Once a highly involved parish with a school and dreams of building a new church, it had seen the religious order staffing the school withdraw and the school itself close. The community around the parish, which serves College Park, East Point and the Ben Hill section of Atlanta, changed into a predominantly black neighborhood and was intersected by highway construction. Old families moved out and few of the new families moving in were Catholic.

The parish census declined. The new church building became an unrealistic dream. Masses were held in a school auditorium area on folding chairs under fluorescent lights enclosed by cinder block walls. A leaky roof was too expensive a job to tackle. Finally the multi-purpose building which housed the former school and auditorium was itself being offered for sale as a possible financial answer to troubles that seemed not to end.

It looked like the beginning of the end. But it has turned out to be a new beginning for a community that persevered.

“A lot of community feeling – a lot of participation – has been the feeling of Blessed Sacrament from the beginning,” said Beverly Shlapak, a former parish council president and active parishioner who saw all her children go through the Blessed Sacrament school.

While the community and parish changed – even to the point of having the churched staffed no longer by diocesan priests but by missionaries of Our Lady of LaSalette – the spirit of involvement remained on a smaller scale. Maintenance work was done by parishioners and the upkeep and mowing of the land outside was taken care of, too.

But in the last year or so, that spirit has been rekindled. The search for a possible buyer for the building led the parish to Peggy Hinson, a school administrator who wanted to use the facility for a private school called Romar Academy. A rental agreement was reached and the Academy began operating, Monday through Friday, in the classrooms and cafetorium once occupied by Blessed Sacrament school.

The unique arrangement leaves the building completely free on weekends for adult education programs liturgies and parish social events. But it began to turn around the financial problems. First to come was a new roof for the structure. Then, with funds now coming into the parish, they sought and received $20,000 in funds from the archdiocese to renovate the old auditorium and create a proper church sanctuary.

From that base, the parish more than multiplied the talents they were given.

Seeking out parish priorities, and drawing upon the expertise and guidance of Crawford Murphy of Architectural Design Associates, a parish renovation committee headed by Mrs. Shlapak began to make decisions. The open area, with metal rafters and cinder block walls, was partitioned to create a rounded effect, and the space was reoriented so the altar was at the opposite end of the room. It was freshly painted and tile floors were covered with soft gray carpet. Harsh lights were replaced with modern, directed lighting that focused upon the altar.

Parishioner Michael Shlapak, brother-in-law of the parish council president, donated his talents as building contractor and along with many others helped to find the most economical ways to get the work done on the church.

As the change began to emerge, the parishioners were asked, and readily agreed, to provide the money for new oak and brown pews and for the furnishings for the altar and sanctuary, including a new baptismal font. Parishioner Mimi Moenk, a sculptress, created a new risen Christ figure for the sanctuary cross using brass from an old cross. Adjacent to the main sanctuary area, a new day chapel and meditation area before the Blessed Sacrament was created.

“The outpouring from the parish has been phenomenal” once the work began and changes could be seen, Mrs. Shlapak said. Father Richard LaMadeleine, pastor, said the parish census has risen from 250 families to about 280 families since the work began.

A choir, singing gospel and traditional music, has been formed by parishioner John McClure. The parish youth group has also had an active year taking part in the archdiocesan-sponsored youth rally and activities of its own, including a retreat.

The renovation was incorporated into the progress of the liturgical year. For example, the Stations of the Cross were installed during the Lenten season and as a part of the parish program.

The combining of new and old was marked Saturday evening, June 18, with a liturgy of rededication celebrated by Archbishop Thomas Donnellan. It was a time of “joy and sadness” because in the midst of the renovation Father LaMadeleine, pastor for the last three years, completed his time in the parish and left this week for a new assignment as pastor in Dagenham, England.

While parishioners are losing a much beloved pastor, who is widely known in the archdiocese for his work in parish renewal and Marriage Encounter among other activities, they are gaining a parish with what Father LaMadeleine called “a growing sense of self-confidence.”

“A lot of things came together,” he said. “The archbishop was extremely generous in lending us money… and the parishioners themselves did so much…It’s really been marvelous.”

Even when things were difficult, “the spirit of the people throughout has been very good,” he said.

The renovation work and other changes are a “good and new sign,” he said, of a community that is “determined to be what a small parish is able to be – a living community of faith” which also provides a strong sense of family.