By Thea Jarvis

Edna and Jerry Giordano of Holy Trinity Church in Peachtree City weren’t sure if they should reply immediately to the invitation they received to the archbishop’s installation.

“We felt very honored,” Mrs. Giordano said, but thought perhaps she and her husband should wait to see if someone else at Holy Trinity approached then pastor Father John Druding with an overwhelming need to attend.

“We’re just average, everyday parishioners,” she claimed, sitting expectantly in a cathedral pew before installation ceremonies began. “We do a few things on the side.”

It was a day for average, everyday folks at the cathedral, as well as church dignitaries from all over the United States and beyond.

Bishop Joseph A. Francis, SVD, auxiliary bishop of Newark, said he found the ceremony, “somewhat subdued,” an atmosphere he thought was appropriate in light of the events that had preceded it.

“It was very beautiful and somewhat sad” at the same time, he said, referring to the resignation of Archbishop Eugene Marino, which brought Archbishop Lyke to Atlanta last year. “It’s life and life has to go on.”

Bishop Francis commented that Archbishop Lyke’s greeting to the former archbishop of Atlanta in his homily was “one of the most sincere things I’ve heard” and that the affirming response of the congregation to his remarks “said everything.”

Archbishop Lyke “comes here in the role of servant,” Bishop Francis said. “He has indicated his need for the people.”

The archbishop’s sincerity and the simplicity with which he approached the installation, touched many in the congregation.

Former Serra Club president Ken Murphy, who attended the event with his wife, Peggy, said the low-key ceremony was “indicative of (the archbishop’s) desire to serve rather than to be a member of the nobility.”

Murphy, who has lived in the archdiocese for 31 years, said North Georgia Catholics “have already accepted (the archbishop) wholeheartedly.”

Father Bruce Wilkinson, pastor of St. Anthony’s Lyke had visited some years before his official assignment to Atlanta, said:

“I fell that he’s already given us a clear sign about where he wants to head.”

“He’s developed a pastoral mission for the archdiocese” and indicated his commitment to a “cross-cultural Church” and the priests who serve it, he said.

Father John Adamski, head of the clergy personnel board for the archdiocese, also remarked on Archbishop Lyke’s genuine desire to include members of “an increasingly diverse community” in planning for the needs of the Church in North Georgia.

“He brings a vision he’s eager to communicate. He wants to include all the people in moving the Church forward,” he said.

Father Adamski, pastor of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception just across from Underground Atlanta, found the installation Mass “a very moving experience,” adding that it was “the best planned liturgy I’ve been to in the cathedral.”

St. Oliver Plunkett parishioners Mark and June Layng were happy to be among those in the cathedral congregation. They feel a natural bond with the new archbishop since they, too, are originally from Chicago.

During the archbishop’s visit to their Snellville parish earlier this year, “He made us feel like we knew him,” said Mrs. Layng.

Her husband noted that Archbishop Lyke appears “really interested in getting the diocese back to what’s important, service to the community through the Catholic experience” and he has hopes for “a lot more dialogue. The archbishop won’t sweep the problems of the past under the rug. He seems very open.”

Josie Mitchell, a parishioner at Saints Peter and Paul, whose husband Al proclaimed the Gospel for the Mass of installation, had met the new archbishop in the mid-eighties when he celebrated Mass in memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Cathedral of Christ the King.

“I never forgot him,” she said. “He made a lasting impression.”

Mrs. Mitchell said she was gratified that the pope “still looked to the black community to give us a leader” for the Church in North Georgia.

The former president of the archdiocesan Council of Priests, Father Albert Jowdy, said the archbishop’s leadership, his emphasis on “a very collaborative kind of church” means the Church of North Georgia will be “empowered to meet the remarkable challenges that face us” in the years ahead.

“It is possible that parishes 20 years from now will be entirely different,” Father Jowdy said. “It is comforting that we have a bishop who understands the challenges and is ready to prepare for them through dialogue with the whole Church.”

Sister Margaret McAnoy, IHM, president of the Atlanta Conference of Sisters, was placed with the archbishop’s decision to invite one sister from each community in ministry to the archdiocese. She said the sisters are enthusiastic about their new shepherd and his leadership abilities.

“He is supportive of women in ministry,” said Sister Louise Sommer, CSJ, who attended the ceremony along with 35 other women Religious.

Crofton Breuer, a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, was formally attired in the colorful garb of his ecclesiastical order for the afternoon’s events.

“I’m looking to the future,” he said of his hopes for the archdiocese under Archbishop Lyke, adding that the pain the Catholic Community has experienced is something he would “like to put behind me.”

J.C. McGinley, a native Georgian who with his wife, Mary, represented St. Matthew’s Church in Fairburn at the installation Mass, thought the archdiocese had been through a trial and was ready for a fresh start.

“I’m glad it came out as well as it did, that the diocese was able to stick together during such a tragic time,” he said.

At a reception following the installation, the archbishop’s family enjoyed visiting with other guests over light refreshment.

“When he mentioned my mother it was a really tight spot,” said Andrew Lyke Sr., the archbishop’s older brother who was particularly moved by the archbishop’s homily reference to the one “who put me on the road to faith.”

“We’re just so proud,” Mr. Lyke said earnestly. “He never forgot us and we never forgot him.”

Mr. Lyke recalled the days when his little brother was involved in some heavy civil rights activity. At times, he said, his family was concerned for his safety. One evening, they received a call from the young priest, who told them he was being followed.

“He called back and he was okay,” Mr. Lyke said, but admitted that “from then on I didn’t know what to expect.”

“He can watch out for me now,” Mr. Lyke laughed, somewhat relieved at the role change.

Doris Fields, the archbishop’s sister, was delighted to be on hand for her brother’s installation.

“I loved it,” she said with a catch in her voice. “It was a blessing. Only the Lord could know how I am feeling.”

Sister Dorothy Ann Kundinger, FSPA, who had driven from Mississippi to attend the ceremony, met Archbishop Lyke years ago through Sister Thea Bowman, FSPA, the well known evangelist, educator and gospel singer who died in 1990. She had been Sister Thea’s aide during her long battle with cancer.

“It was like being ‘to home,’” with all those she had drawn close to through her friendship with Sister Thea, she said.

Shirley Lyke, the archbishop’s sister-in-law, said of the ceremony, “I enjoyed myself. I knew it was going to happen.”

Mrs. Lyke, who has known the archbishop since first meeting her husband Andrew in 1945, said he had not basically changed.

“His family is very important to him,” she noted. “His mother is his foundation.”

And although the archbishop is now know to the world as the country’s highest ranking black Catholic clergyman, a man of ability and importance, “To us he’s just Jimmy,” Mrs. Lyke said with affection.

(Paula Day contributed to this article)