The seeds of the Catholic Faith were planted in Bartow and Gordon Counties back in 1949 when Mass was celebrated in a log cabin used by the Calhoun Women’s Club. Spiritual care continued under the guidance of the Redemptorist Fathers from Saint Joseph’s Church in Dalton until Father Dennis Dullea, the new Pastor in Dalton and a priest of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, planned the construction of a church building that was completed in 1969.

At the 1969 dedication of the building, Father Joseph J. Loftus, MS., a LaSalette priest, was the first pastor along with Father Peter T. McKeown, M.S., his assistant. The Mission of Saint Clement was comprised of fifteen families that year.

The parish has grown steadily over the past fifteen years, reaching one hundred fifty families in 1983.

Now, after consultation with the Presbyteral Council, according to the prescription of Canon 515.2, the Pastor of Saint Francis of Assisi Church, Cartersville, and the Dean of the area, it is in the best interest of the Faithful and the Church-at-large to accord this mission full parish status.

Therefore, the canonical consultation having been made, I now decree the establishment of Saint Clement’s Parish, Calhoun, Georgia.

The boundaries of the Parish of Saint Clement shall coincide with the boundaries of Gordon County in the State of Georgia.

The first pastor will be its present administrator, Reverend Michael J. Flanagan, M.S. The effective date is September 20, 1984.

Given in Atlanta, Georgia this 14^th day of September 1984.

Most Reverend Thomas A. Donnellan

Archbishop of Atlanta

Reverend Peter A. Dora Ecclesiastical Notary