By Rita McInerney

The new church of Our Lady of the Mountains was dedicated Saturday, Nov. 7 at a Mass celebrated by Father Vincent J. Douglass, CSSR, dean of the Northwest Rural Deanery and pastor of St. Gerard's Church in Fort Oglethorpe. He substituted for Monsignor John F. McDonough, diocesan administrator, who was unable to officiate because of illness.

The small church outside Jasper, which seats 154 people, was filled to capacity for the celebration. For Father Joseph J. Nolan, MS, pastoral administrator, and the 60 families of the three-year-old mission it was a day of joy and fulfillment.

In his homily, Father Douglass dwelled on "home," the place where comfort is found, the place of memories, the source of strength and support, where there are people to trust.

"God wants us to come home, to be part of his family, to take time to be renewed and refreshed through the Liturgy of the Word, to be strengthened through the Eucharist, to renew ourselves so we can witness to the world. God is always here ready to listen to us. We are never alone," he told the attentive congregation.

He urged his listeners to make a special effort to visit Him on a regular basis. "Come in to His holy temple and take the gifts he offers to you so you can give it to others."

He told the parishioners that he was "overwhelmed at what you have done. You couldn't have done it if you didn't believe."

Father Douglass was assisted by Father Thomas J. Carroll, pastor of the Church of St. Ann in Marietta, and by Father Nolan. Two rows of LaSalette priests were on the side of the altar. Father John J. O'Neil, LaSalette provincial from Hartford, CT, proclaimed the Gospel.

Our Lady of the Mountains was established as a mission of Our Lady of LaSalette Church in Canton on Sept. 16, 1984 by the late Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan and Father Nolan appointed to serve the growing number of Catholics in Pickens County.

The church is located several miles outside Jasper at Highway 108 and Refuge Road. A small church with an inviting appearance, it sits atop a hill which slopes to a valley in back of the building. The new sanctuary, with fellowship space on the lower level, was added to an existing small farmhouse purchased with 36 acres of land for the mission. The roof and exterior walls of the house, which serves a rectory, were covered with the same low maintenance synthetic stucco material used in the new building.

Gene Barrington, architect with the Atlanta firm of Barker and Cunningham, said, "We made the house and the new building look like they belong together." The building, he said, was designed to be easily added on to.

Inside, two large windows on either side of the altar area frame a view of mountains, trees and sky and enhance the serene simplicity of the rural mountain church. The effect is what the architect sought, "a comfortable feeling of fitting in with its surroundings. It is just formal enough to fit the Liturgy," he added.

The altar, formerly used for Mass in the rectory, has been refinished in the same dark oak as the ceiling beams and pews. The wooden ceiling is stained with a light chestnut finish. Pews and kneelers are cushioned in a dark brown fabric, "a good excuse," Father Nolan said, "to give them longer sermons." Carpeting is in a dark green.

The wooden lectern was made by Andy Dell, a parishioner, and the cross behind the altar was the gift of Stan Adams, Jasper builder whose firm constructed the church. A handsome quilted wall hanging of Our Lady standing on mountain peaks was the handiwork of parishioners Fran Muzzey and Marilyn Kraul.

The dedication celebration continued after Mass in the large fellowship room downstairs. Here, around tables spread with a large array of meats, casseroles, salads and desserts brought by parishioners, people were talking of the beauty of the dedication liturgy and what had been accomplished in three years.

One of the catalysts, Joe Gonzalez, president of the parish council, member of the finance committee, and the planning and building committee, spoke of the successful drive which raised $86,000 in 32 months. "The archdiocese wanted us to build an all-purpose building. We said 'no,' most of us are retired and would never see a church," he said. A retiree from New York, he and his wife Helen moved to the area in 1981 and live in the Bent Tree resort development.

Money for the new church was raised through pledges, the Christmas bazaar the women held each year and yard sales. And the men's group added money raised through a pizza booth at the annual Marble Fair, according to Patricia Champion, co-secretary with Helen Gonzalez of the parish council and a member of the planning and building committee.

Resident for 27 years, and the widow of a Navy career officer who was born in Pickens County, Mrs. Champion said the area is growing rapidly. About half the parishioners are retirees, many from other states, but more and more families with children are discovering the area, some moving up from Atlanta and commuting to work.

Because theirs is such a small parish, everyone gets involved, she said. Many of the parishioners live year round in the Big Canoe and Bent Tree resort developments while other spend six months in the area and six months in Florida.

Ken Pint, chairman of the planning and building committee, is head of Cryogenic Services in Cherokee County which employs over 100 people. He said cost of the new building came to about $325,000. An unexpected $15,000 expense came about when the state Department of Transportation required that an all-concrete access to Highway 108 be constructed.

Father Nolan, who claims the distinction of being the first resident priest in both Cherokee and Pickens counties (he was appointed first resident priest at the Canton mission in 1979) is well-known to townsfolk in Jasper. One parishioner spoke of having non-Catholics tell her frequently "they know Father Nolan," and of their fondness for him.

As the dedication liturgy concluded, Father Nolan thanked several local clergymen and their wives who were present. The Rev. Max Caylor, the Methodist minister who meet for a weekly dinner with the priest, responded, "We are pleased to work with you so that His kingdom may come."

To reciprocate the kindness of the people in town, the new church was open Sunday afternoon to the public. Tours of the building were given and refreshments served to an estimated 100 friends and neighbors of Our Lady of the Mountains.

Father Nolan said it is believed that the legendary Father Thomas O'Reilly, the Civil War priest who is credited with saving the churches of Atlanta from Sherman's torch, ministered to the few Catholics in Pickens County. As pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Atlanta from 1861 until 1872, he also served "all surrounding missions" as a circuit-riding pastor.

This was in the early years of the Diocese of Savannah which covered all of Georgia. The Savannah diocese was established in 1850 from the Diocese of Charleston which then included North and South Carolina, Georgia and some parts of Florida.

Later in the 19^th century a church for Catholics, mostly Italians, working in the marble industry at Tate and Marble Hill was built near Marble Hill, according to a history of the county written by Luke Tate in 1935. His history says this church was closed before 1900 because of lack of support.

The new church of Our Lady of the Mountains in Jasper is the first Catholic church in the county since that ill-fated church, Father Nolan said.

It was more than half a century before Mass was regularly celebrated in Pickens County, the history goes on to say. About 1957, a Father Kolb, CSSR, came from the Dalton parish to say Mass at the home of Joe Butler in Jasper.

There were several Catholic families who spent the summer at Tate Mountain Estates; so as to accommodate everyone, the building which is now the Art Center was rented during the summer months. The arrangement continued for several years, but by 1961 the Art Center building was being used every Sunday of the year.

Later in the 1960s the mission was served by Marist priests from the school in Atlanta. In the summer of 1960 the Jasper mission was closed and Catholics in the county began attending Mass in Canton, Cherokee County, which by that time had become a mission of the Cartersville parish.

The mission church of Our Lady of LaSalette in Canton was dedicated April 24, 1977. Father Nolan served the mission church from 1979 until 1984 when he was named pastoral administrator of the new mission in Jasper.

First Mass in Jasper was held at the rectory on Oct. 13, 1984 with a large group present. Soon the new mission of Our Lady of the Mountains had outgrown the rectory and the Catholics of Pickens County returned to the Art Center for Sunday Mass after an absence of 16 years. The Saturday Vigil Mass was celebrated in the rectory.