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By Priscilla Greear
Staff Writer
LAWRENCEVILLE-St. Lawrence Church in Lawrenceville celebrated the
construction completion Jan. 7 of a new education building, providing a more
spacious learning environment for young souls to seriously and creatively
explore their Catholic faith.
Twenty-four classrooms along the halls of the new building are dedicated to
and feature icons of different saints, which students will study as they pass
through each grade as a part of their spiritual journey.
"We have such a learning environment and facility," said Diane
Maguire, director of religious education. "We're able to have larger class
sizes. Each of the rooms is named after a saint to help the kids and the adults
(learn them), which we were not able to do before."
And saints are just a few of the jewels that 1,100 youth in kindergarten
through eighth grade will pull from the treasures of their faith while learning
in the 35,000 square-foot, two-story education building. It includes a
gymnasium that becomes a social hall as needed.
Archbishop John F. Donoghue presided at a prayer service of dedication for
the new building. Father Anthony Curran, St. Lawrence's pastor, and the
church's former pastor, Father John DeVore, MSFS, assisted the archbishop.
During the dedication, the archbishop thanked parishioners for their support
and leadership in the project.
"As in all good works of the Church, it is the generosity of the people
that must be accounted the principal means by which we are able to support and
carry out the needs faced by our parishes - and that spirit of generosity, is
but the simple response of good men and women to the loving heart of
Christ."
"These new buildings will be serving the needs of these same three
groups -- families, parishioners, and neighbors--but more than this, our work
will show to all people, that the glory of God is made manifest in the good
works of His Faithful sons and daughters, and that His Holy Catholic Church is
always up to the challenges and demands of the hour. God bless you all, for the
part you have played and will continue to play, and may He bring all the hopes
of St. Lawrence parish, to a speedy, safe and successful conclusion."
Father Curran then recognized priests who celebrated Mass for the then
26-family congregation of St. Lawrence when it met in a storefront from
1968-73: Father James Fennessy of St. John Neumann Church, Lilburn, and Father
Richard Kieran. The parish was originally established as a mission of Holy
Cross Church, Chamblee, in 1965. Father Curran also recognized the late Father
Ken Bayer who, in 1987, had the current church building added onto the original
building constructed in 1973. He thanked building designers Chapman Griffin
Lanier Sussenbach Architects, Inc., Potts General Contractors, Inc. and
building committee chairman Bob Riddett.
"This is a momentous day in our history," he said.
The pastor spoke of the many seeds of friendship to surely be planted on the
gymnasium's fertile soil.
"Don't feel for a minute that the gymnasium is any less significant
than the classrooms, which will be used for celebrations throughout the year
... I celebrate those classrooms with you but I also celebrate the
gymnasium," he said. "I can see a lot of those families in that
gymnasium (and) all the connections that can happen there. Families can connect
there. If it gathers the family, the family gets that much more tightly bonded
so that when we come to the table (for the Eucharist), we can celebrate what
has already happened --but if it's not happening out there it's not happening
here."
He spoke of the next building project to better serve the parish of 2,000
families by expanding the worship space by 900 seats.
"As we gather tonight we're working with the architect on 900
seats," he said. "We need to take care of the Catholics that are
here."
According to Father Curran, the parish has doubled in size over the past
five years and adds about 300 parishioners annually, as half the newcomers to
Lawrenceville are Catholic. And last year, 83 adults joined the church.
"I look forward to coming to work as there are such wonderful people on
this staff. To all of you, we thank you and let's look to the future," he
concluded.
The archbishop asked God to bless the building and all those who use it. He
then sprinkled holy water through the hallways of the new building as parents,
catechists, students and others lined the walls and filled the classrooms.
The building cost $3.2 million and was partially funded through the
Archdiocesan Capital Campaign. Begun in spring 1999 and completed in November,
the building also features six offices, a kitchen and two youth rooms. The
project also included renovation and expansion of the library, nursery and
adult education room. Youth religious education was formerly held in 11
classrooms and trailers.
Standing by the new gym, Riddett expressed joy over the new building after
having put in 40 hours a month planning it.
"This is terrific. This building is finally finished. This has been
three years of work. It has come out perfectly," he said. "Now we
have more room to gather and educate our kids and get together for the fun
times ... This parish keeps growing and it's going to continue to need
expansion."
His service was a way to give back to this close-knit parish family.
"We've been here for 20 years. Our kids grew up here. All our friends are
here. It's very important. It's a big part of my life. This just gives us more
opportunities to share," he said. "It's the prayers and the caring of
the people here. Everybody goes out of their way to help each other"
whether by giving someone food or by building a roof on a parishioner's home.
Krista Grey, who teaches "basic beliefs" to third and fifth
grades, gave two thumbs up to the new facility.
"It's like a real school environment. The rooms will kind of make
studying more fun for all grades ... I think they are more apt to engage
children. They look forward to coming more and they learn more. It's just the
enticement that they need."
Maguire said she also likes the new resource room, which features new videos
and other resources where catechists can plan lessons, as well as the new Life
Teen room "giving teens a place of their own." She added that
classrooms have "a Bible and prayer corner and it really makes it fully
Catholic. I know there's a hope that there's a Catholic school someday down the
road but at least they'll get the feel of it."
Deacon Dick Johnson, a member since 1971, proudly said St. Lawrence has come
a long way.
"We've been tightly pressed for space for a long time. We've always
been pressed for space through the history of the parish. We had to rent space.
We've met in other buildings and other churches," he said. "We're
going to experience more growth when they (newcomers) see what we've got now
compared to what we've had."
Later, Father Curran further expressed gratitude to project planners.
"It's been done by committee far more effectively than I could ever do it
because of their knowledge, their experience, their business experience. It was
really their project."
Father Curran commented on the importance of facilities for religious
education, as it is only second in importance to Mass and needed to fully
understand both Scripture and sacraments. He said the gym will allow the parish
to host RENEW weekends, as it has a large RENEW 2000 program, and provide more
fellowship opportunities to form needed ties of friendship and faith in the
growing community.
"It's just that family life can be lived and celebrated here - the
socials, the various times of the year where you come together just to
celebrate whether it's St. Patrick's Day, a fall festival, a spring festival...
the social, the athletic, the spiritual."
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