By Susan Stevenot Sullivan, Staff Writer

ATLANTA--In the year since perpetual adoration of the Eucharist began at Christ the King Cathedral, participants Becky and Ben Upchurch have experienced new serenity and closeness, in their lives and Ben has decided to become a Catholic.

It’s not that the past year has been without challenges. Their third child was born in March and one of their other children has special needs which must be addressed.

Upchurch was born in Atlanta and baptized and raised in the Baptist tradition. He and his wife, a Catholic raised in Texas, were married by a priest 12 years ago and agreed to raise their children as Catholics.

“I’d kind of gotten away from the Baptist Church, where Becky had a strong faith in the Catholic Church,” Upchurch said. “So those seemed like the right decisions, but I wasn’t ready to jump into the Catholic Church. I went to Mass with her about half the time, though I couldn’t receive Communion.”

The couple moved into Christ the King Parish in 1988 from Smyrna. In the last few years Mrs. Upchurch became more involved in the parish. When perpetual adoration was being organized early last year she knew she wanted to play a role.

“The last few years had been a difficult time,” Mrs. Upchurch said. “I’d been going to churches with schools during the day and spending time praying, so I’d already been kind of doing that (adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.)”

When perpetual adoration began June 5, 1994, Mrs. Upchurch had committed to coordinating the guardians for the 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. time slot daily and to taking the Monday, 5 a.m., slot personally.

“I was a week pregnant when adoration started,” Upchurch said. “The further along my pregnancy got, the more the adoration involved my husband.”

“I thought she might need more sleep,” Upchurch said, “and I really agreed with the whole concept of perpetual adoration and I wanted to try it out.”

“It meant getting up at 4 a.m.,” she said. “He did that a number of times. He came back feeling refreshed.”

In January Mrs. Upchurch volunteered to become the team leader for the noon to 6 p.m. guardians. She still serves as a guardian at least once a week during daytime hours.

The couple’s third child, Meggie, was born March 1. The night before their daughter’s christening Mrs. Upchurch found out how far reaching her involvement in perpetual adoration would prove to be.

“He told me the evening of April 28 that he wanted to become a Catholic,” she said. “I was shocked. He had told me just a year and a half before the he wouldn’t do something like that.

“I see it as a direct intervention as a result of the presence of Jesus,” Mrs. Upchurch said.

“When I go in there (the chapel) I think about being in the presence of Jesus,” Upchurch said, “not about being Baptist or Catholic. When you walk in that room those things aren’t important because of the presence you feel. I go to pray and think about things.

“Maybe that did make me more comfortable about going to Christ the King,” he said. “Maybe it did make me reflect on my children, one ready to be baptized, one just receiving first Communion.

“I would agree with Becky that it was probably the beginning of a series of events that led up to that decision.”

Another factor was attending part of the Billy Graham Crusade in October, said Upchurch, whose 40th birthday was July 25. Graham spoke about the brevity of life on earth and the idea of being called by name.

“Something clicked in me that it isn’t enough to try to be a good person and a private Christian,” Upchurch said. “You need that full communion. If I hadn’t been attending the perpetual adoration, what he said might not have hit me the way it did.”

Upchurch said he realizes that his decision will have an impact on the whole family.

“It can’t help but make the whole family more powerful and more connected, to worship at one place,” he said. “But that’s not why I did it. This is the right time for me. This is the right thing to do. It’s like I got a wake-up call.”

“It took all these things to come clear to me,” he added. “Perpetual adoration provides clarity without you knowing you’re getting it in a gradual way.”

“You have to go in there open-minded,” Upchurch said. “You’re going to feel that presence. When you leave that room your faith and conviction have been given a power boost.”

Upchurch started the inquiry process in June and will participate in a rite of welcoming Aug. 20 at the cathedral. He will then be enrolled in the catechumenate program as a candidate for full communion.

For Mrs. Upchurch, time spent before the Eucharist has had individual benefits as well.

“It’s been real powerful for me,” she said. “It’s like having a personal audience with Jesus. In my mind I tell him the good things, the bad things. I feel peaceful. It helps me to keep my perspectives in place.”

“At times there’s almost a touch of euphoria,” she added. “And I’ve been teary-eyed in there, both from happiness and release of sadness. It is an incomparable solace to go to the chapel.”

She is convinced that anyone who makes the effort will benefit.

“It (visitation) helps you run your daily life,” she said. “You’re helped by being able to talk to Jesus and be replenished in your faith. Everyone benefits because you are a more peaceful person.

“I think it’s also a way of making reparation for our own outrages against (Jesus) and for the outrages of the world against him,” she added. “That’s my personal opinion. I’m sure someone else can say it more eloquently.”

“It does take some sacrifice of time in your schedule, but the rewards are much greater than the sacrifice,” she said emphatically. “Once you find a place in your schedule, you’ll miss it if you can’t go.”

Upchurch said he sees a spiritual transformation taking place on many levels.

“This is the strongest we’ve ever felt as a family,” he said. “We have an overall feeling that our family will be okay even though life is hard. There’s a connection that we have with God and Jesus and each other. There’s a calmness that everything will be alright.

“This is the happiest I’ve ever been,” he continued. “I’m not an up and down person. Things don’t usually faze me. But there’s no comparison to the happiness I’m feeling now.

“A whole new spiritual dimension has been added to our marriage,” he added. “To have a spiritual connection with your spouse along with loving that person and the physical connection--that adds another dimension to the marriage. Problems become secondary.

“It’s by far the happiest time we’ve ever had together,” he concluded.

The 24-hour devotion before the Eucharist at Christ the King Cathedral, 2699 Peachtree Road, N.E., is always in need of volunteer guardians. Please call Jane Brown, (404) 233-0997, for information about one-hour time slots that are vacant or to commit to a time that’s best for you.