BY SUSAN STEVENOT SULLIVAN

Georgia Bulletin Staff Writer

MADISON--Veterans of the Revolutionary War were among the first settlers of this city which was once a stagecoach stop between Charleston and New Orleans.

Decades later Union General William T. Sherman was convinced to spare Madison's stately homes and churches from his destructive march to the sea.

But it would be 130 more years before a Catholic church joined the ranks of Madison's notable edifices. On Oct. 28, the first Catholic church in Madison was dedicated by Archbishop John F. Donoghue.

The Gerald P. O'Hara Assembly of the Knights of Columbus sent nine men in full regalia to form an honor guard as the blueprints and key were ceremonially handed over in front of the church at 526 Vine Street.

Father Michael Redden, pastor of both the Madison mission and St. Augustine Parish in Covington, officially opened the main door at the archbishop's invitation minutes after the 10 a.m. dedication began.

The parishioners of St. James Mission, each wearing a white carnation, stood in the warm sunlight streaming through the Gothic windows of their new church and asked God's blessings on the realization of a dream that began in the 1950s.

The people and the building were sprinkled with holy water. The five priests who attended the liturgy anointed various parts of the structure with holy oil, before the archbishop liberally coated the top of the granite altar with the same oil.

The pungent smell of oil mingled with the incense which was then wafted about the church and sanctuary. The ritual complete, parishioners prepared the altar for the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Once the altar candles were lit, the lights in the church came on, literally and symbolically.

"When I last visited you," the archbishop said in his homily earlier, "(I) had the pleasure of presiding over the ground-breaking ceremony for the church we dedicate today. And like the planned and welcome birth of a child, after nine months of protective love in the womb of the mother, today, from the hearts and wills of this Catholic community, rises a song of rejoicing, as we attend this birth, the birth of this new phase in the life of St. James Catholic Mission."

"As archbishop over this Church, it is with strong paternal feelings that I now thank everyone who has contributed their gifts, their labors, to what we realize today. For we have taken dreams, ideas, land and building materials, and with the Spirit of God to guide our work, together we have made this new home for Catholic life, this home which is greater than the sum of its parts, this home which will ever open its doors to welcome those who will find here forgiveness, peace and the joy of welcome salvation."

The archbishop spoke of the parishioners as living stones in God's building. He described how stones change with time and noted that some of the most plain are, in fact, jewels. The effect of God's word, he said, can cause our souls, hidden under the stony hardness of sin, to come to new life and beauty.

In closing the homily the archbishop repeated words he had spoken at the dedication:

". . . that during its life, this Church of St. James will shelter those who mourn, that it will enthrone those who rejoice -- that from its people and its people's dedication, children will grow into husbands and wives and priests and sisters -- and that its walls will ever echo the song of our deliverance -- the living music of men and women and children, gathered to praise God and to proclaim salvation in Jesus Christ, who is Lord over all, for ever and ever. Amen."

Before the final blessing, Father Redden thanked the archbishop for presiding at the dedication. He noted that the building is a visible sign of the faith of parishioners who have waited for this day, some for 40 years.

Father Redden said that the Holy Spirit's image as a dove led him to the insight that a bird builds its nest one twig at a time. Today, he said, the new church is just a little part of the great nest the Church of Christ is building.

As Barbara Engle, the mission's first and only organist, began the notes of the recessional hymn "Let There Be Peace On Earth," there were tears from some members of the mission's 50 families and their guests. Many remained in their pews after the song ended as choir director John Gallagher lit the sanctuary candle in its red chimney.

The 250 people attending the dedication withdrew to the community room for a lavish buffet prepared over several days under the direction of parishioner Dr. Tony Raviele. Such meals after Mass are a tradition in the mission, Father Redden said. The mission Mass is at 8:45 a.m. each Sunday.

The reception was a leisurely time for signing the registry, poring over scrapbooks and remembering the decades when a Catholic church in Madison seemed an impossible dream.

That dream now encompasses 8,000 square feet of space and includes six classrooms and an office as well as the church and community room. Both the gathering area and the church, which seats 210, have vaulted ceilings. A round stained glass window, designed and donated by parishioner Jim Conrads, glows from the highest point of the structure.

The granite altar was designed by Father Redden, who said he and Deacon Bert Berding used pieces of plywood as a model to make certain the proportions were correct for the space.

James Stack, a granite and marble contractor who is a brother of Father Dan Stack and brother-in-law of Deacon Berding, made the altar of Brazilian granite purchased with parishioner's funds. Deacon Berding assisted with the cutting, said Stack, who has donated his marble-sculpting skills before to make the altar at St. Bernadette Church in Cedartown.

Father Redden submitted a madonna and child design with a pro-life theme for the front of the altar, which Stack inscribed and decorated in gold leaf. Stack, a parishioner of St. Jude in Sandy Springs, also made the granite platform for the baptismal font and the pillar which supports the tabernacle.

Father Redden and parishioner Richard Whelan disassembled, shortened and reassembled the ambo to correctly fit the sanctuary space. The ambo repeats the theme of Gothic arches which are a feature throughout the building.

The church is designed so that with the removal of a single wall the church can be tripled in size and the site will only lose a few of its pecan trees. The classroom area can also be tripled in the future with the loss of a small part of the parking lot.

According to Barbara Engle, the mission was named after the patron saint of the first priest to request a separate Mass in Madison for the handful of Madison Catholics who at that time attended St. Joseph in Athens.

The congregation grew slowly and used a number of locations for meeting, including a kindergarten, a venerable Episcopal church, an historic home and the chapel of a funeral home, according to Mrs. Engle.

She remembers the years when she played the organ, her husband, Bob, did the lectoring and together they took up and counted the collection and set up and took down the altar each week.

"This is wonderful," she said. "If someone had told me it would take so long, I might have thrown in the towel. But then, we started with only three families."

Grace and Harry Healey are another foundation couple at the mission. They returned to Madison, where Grace was born and raised a Baptist, in 1955.

"He was Catholic and a Yankee," Grace said with a smile. "You'd of thought he had horns and a tail."

Becky and John Gallagher are another of the mission's pioneer couples. Their daughter Theresa was the first child baptized when St. James became a mission in 1967. Their granddaughter, Sarah Kaitlin Gallagher, was the first child baptized in the new church Nov. 4.

Gallagher recalled that at some point the chancery inquired as to whether the mission's patron was James the Great or James the Less. "We decided, since we were so small, it would have to be James the Less," he said with a laugh.

Parishioner Rusty Haynes, a Navy veteran of 31 years and three wars, was just baptized a Catholic May 15, 1994. Born and raised in nearby Buckhead, Haynes still lives on the water, but now it is with his wife Ruthie at Lake Oconee.

Haynes, 73, said he started coming to church with his wife and enjoyed the community he found. He attended a few of Deacon Berding's inquiry classes and "One day it just hit me," he said. "I don't think I made a wrong move."

Haynes said he is very happy with the church and particularly approved the move from a funeral home as a place of worship to a real church.

"It ain't everywhere. . . you see every week where you're going to be laid out," he said of the funeral home chapel.

Money raised at an annual golf tournament, Lion's Club Mardi Gras and yard sale helped with the tremendous financial challenge that faced the mission in building a church.

Father Redden said every St. James parish in the United States was contacted and asked for a donation and several parishes responded. Most important, Father Redden said, was the incredible generosity of parishioners.

"It went great," said Father Redden. "It was a tremendous effort on the part of all the people at St. James."

Kathleen Reid, organist for 15 years at the Madison Presbyterian Church and her minister, Chuck Hasty, were among the ecumenical guests celebrating the day with the mission members.

"We have near and dear friends whom we have seen work and pray and now celebrate this church," Hasty said. "We wanted to share that celebration with them. It's a great day for the whole community."