ATLANTA--The Mission of St. Monica, Duluth, will be established as a parish Feb. 1 and Father Greg Goolsby will be appointed as the first pastor. The following is the text of the decree of establishment promulgated by Archbishop John F. Donoghue in January.

Decree Of Establishment

"The Catholic Church has been blessed with enormous growth in the area of North Fulton County and Gwinnett County. In June of 1987 Saint Benedict's Catholic Church was established and quickly grew to be one of the largest parishes in the Archdiocese. To meet these growing needs, a mission was established in the Southeastern portion of St. Benedict's Parish in May of 1994, and subsequently named in honor of St. Monica. That mission has now grown to the point where it merits establishment as a parish.

"Therefore, having heard the Council of Priests of the Archdiocese, in order better to serve the spiritual needs of the people, I decree that the Mission of Saint Monica be and is hereby canonically established as a parish, with the following boundaries:

"Eastern Boundary: Interstate-85 at Pleasant Hill Road to Lawrenceville Suwanee Road (Highway 317). Lawrenceville Suwanee Road to Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, Peachtree Industrial Boulevard to Suwanee Dam Road; Suwanee Dam Road, North to Highway 20.

"Northern Boundary: Highway 20 West to James Burgess Road.

"Western Boundary: South on James Burgess Road to Old Atlanta Road. Old Atlanta changes to Bell Road, then Boles Road to the Chattahoochee River.

"Southern Boundary: The Chattahoochee River South to Pleasant Hill Road. Follow Pleasant Hill Road to Interstate-85.

The effective date of this Decree of Establishment is February 1, 1998.

Given in Atlanta, Georgia, this 2nd day of January, 1998."

Most Reverend John F. Donoghue

Archbishop of Atlanta

First pastor

The first pastor of St. Monica's Parish, Duluth, Father Greg Goolsby, 41, has been serving as priest in charge of the community since June 1996. A parochial vicar since January 1994 at the Church of St. Benedict, from which the mission was formed, Father Goolsby is a native of Atlanta educated at Sts. Peter and Paul School, Decatur, Xavier University, Cincinnati, and Georgia State University Law School. Before entering seminary Father Goolsby practiced law for several years and is chaplain to the St. Thomas More Society, a guild of Catholic attorneys and judges in the archdiocese. He was ordained to the priesthood in November 1993 at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta.

St. Monica's now has 650 families, he said, over 300 joining in the last year. The community gathers at North Gwinnett High School for Mass, celebrated at 5:30 p.m. Saturday and 9 and 10:45 a.m. Sunday. The first director of religious education, Kate Oates, was hired this fall and the community now has an OCIA program and two sessions of religious education on Sundays for children. Leo Daly & Associates architectural firm has been hired to design the first two buildings for a site on Buford Highway in Duluth near Old Peachtree Road.