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By Jean Driskell, Special To The Bulletin
ALPHARETTA—Undaunted by a rainy, overcast day, about 500
parishioners, friends and guests of St. Brigid Church celebrated the
ground-breaking for their first church with a prayer service June 12.
The ceremony took place near the main entrance of Holy Redeemer
School since Sunday Mass for the parish has been celebrated in the
school’s auditorium/gymnasium since the fall of 1999.
“St. Brigid’s rents the whole school facility from the
archdiocese for various parish activities, including our Sunday Mass,”
Father Joe Corbett, pastor, said. “We appreciate very much the cooperation
and valuable assistance we’ve received from the very beginning from the
school principal, Mary Reiling. We look forward to being able to share our
church facility with the school community upon its completion.”
The prayer service was held under a small, white tent. Near the
edge, 12 gold shovels from the contractors, the Potts Co., were placed with
their tips in the ground.
Music was led by director Kathy Krause, with three guitarists and
seven representatives from the parish music ministry, which includes adult
contemporary, Life Teen and children’s choirs.
The prayer service started with a song and with the procession of
the fourth degree honor guard of the Knights of Columbus, followed by members
of the parish building committee, Rev. Mr. Bryan Horn, who will be ordained
July 14 and assigned as a parochial vicar at St. Brigid, Deacon Bill Lange,
Father Frank McNamee, pastor of St. Peter Chanel Church in Roswell, Msgr. Hugh
Marren, pastor of St. Benedict Church in Duluth, Father Corbett and Archbishop
John F. Donoghue.
“The work that we are beginning today should enliven our
faith and make us grateful,” Archbishop Donoghue said. “Whenever we
look to the interest of our neighbor or the community and serve them, we are,
in a sense, God’s own co-workers.”
He asked for God’s help for a successful construction project
and protection from injury of those who will work on the building. The reading
was from 1 Corinthians 3: 9-11 where St. Paul wrote of Christians being
God’s co-workers, God’s field and God’s building, with Jesus as
the foundation.
“Tonight we are not just breaking ground,” Archbishop
Donoghue said. “We are entering into a contract with God. We are asking
Him for something special—the grace to see this project through, the grace
to protect everyone who works on it, and the grace to make us better
people.”
This new church, he added, should be a holy sign for
“everyone to see it and to know that it was built by people who have a
deep love for one another.” This will not be a place to hurry in and out
of, he said, but a place to spend time in and “to celebrate the goodness
of God toward His people. It will be a place where we will meet God in the
presence of His Son, Jesus Christ.”
The archbishop also congratulated the parishioners for arriving at
the point of starting construction of a church.
After the responsorial psalm and intercessory prayers, the
archbishop blessed the ground with holy water.
Father Corbett then said, “My friends, tonight’s
ground-breaking is the climax of many, many hours of hoping, of planning, and
hard work and dedication.”
“We are here tonight, as the archbishop said, in the
Lord’s name doing His work,” he said. “We are able to begin this
awesome undertaking of building Him a church, building our spiritual home, only
because of the amazing sacrificial generosity of you, the people of our
community.”
The shovels were manned by Archbishop Donoghue, Father Corbett,
Msgr. Marren, Father McNamee, Rev. Mr. Horn, Deacon Lange and his wife,
Victoria, Reiling, John Schiavone, chair of the building committee, George
Barrie of Catholic Construction Services, Tom Smith of CDH Partners, Mike
Corrum, project manager from the Potts Co., and Sarah Heim, representing parish
youth.
As they turned the first dirt, balloons were released into the air
by children, with cheering and clapping. Then, as the archbishop was saying the
final blessing, construction superintendent John Bohannon drove up in a backhoe
behind the tent. When the blessing was finished he dug a hole and people
started cheering again. Then he gently filled in the hole with the loose dirt.
“(It is) very exciting for everybody to be breaking ground so
quickly,” Schiavone said. “We have a great pastor and he has
generated a lot of excitement about this. The whole parish is excited to have
an opportunity to build a new church. We’re looking forward to having
sacraments in a real church.”
A reception sponsored by the Women’s Guild followed in the
school cafeteria with punch and three cakes, one of them iced with a drawing of
the church.
“We are anxiously looking forward to coming together in a
beautiful worship space and experiencing many new beginnings,” said Mary
Lynn Doyle, co-president of the Women’s Guild.
On display were two large drawings of the church complex,
depicting the architectural style as Gothic renewal.
Jodie Morrow, building committee member, said the Gothic design is
reflected in the cast stone and brick stepped pilasters mimicking buttressing
on the exterior as well as lancet windows with intricate tracery.
She also said that the architects and interior designers worked
together to include details such as wood trusses in the sanctuary, troweled
wall finishes, quatrefoils and custom wrought-iron lighting fixtures.
The interior designer is Allandra Elliott. There will be a rose
window behind the altar, a stained glass window of St. Brigid and a pipe organ,
currently under construction by Casavant Freres of Quebec, Canada, in the rear
gallery. Since the organ is being handcrafted, installation is scheduled for
2003. Building the complex, covering 50,000 square feet, is expected to take 14
months. The budget for the complex, including the rectory, is $14,174,000.
The church will seat approximately 1,200 people including the
choir gallery. Immediately below the main church will be religious education
classrooms, a Mother’s Morning Out program, music department, choir
rehearsal room, Life Teen center and bride’s room.
On the lower level adjacent to the classroom area will be the day
chapel with its own secure entrance. “It is our intention to begin 24-hour
eucharistic adoration in the future,” Father Corbett said.
On the main level, to the right of the church, will be a parish
hall, connected to the church complex. Below the hall will be various parish
offices and departments. There will be an outside play area for children.
“This is very exciting,” said Kevin Phillips, president
of the Men of St. Brigid’s. “A lot of us in this parish come from
other parts of the country. It’s pretty neat to be building our spiritual
home.”
“We love it,” said parishioner Michelle Fallon. “We
really love Father Joe. He brings a vitality of youth to the parish, which is
very rare. It’s very exciting to be a part of it. I think the building is
going to be gorgeous.”
The building campaign started in the summer of 1999, about six
months after the first Mass was celebrated at Centennial High School, with 500
people attending. Located at 3400 Old Alabama Road, St. Brigid’s was a
mission of St. Benedict and became a parish in December 1999. There are now
1,374 registered households.
In addition to Schiavone and Morrow, building committee members
are Father Corbett, Deacon Lange, Jim LaFreniere, secretary, Mike King, Jim
O’Sullivan and Joan Alden.
“The purpose of the building committee was to figure out what
approach we were going to take to build and when we should build,” Father
Corbett said.
The building committee conducted a parishwide survey at all Masses
one Sunday. “The results were professionally compiled and presented to us.
We used those results in working as a building council with the architect and
the archdiocesan in-house construction management firm, Catholic Construction
Services,” Father Corbett said.
Morrow said the building committee selected CDH Partners, Inc., as
their architects since they had a strong background in Catholic church design.
Zoning had to be changed to meet the needs of the church. There were several
meetings with neighborhood groups, some opposing the building of the church. On
May 3, 2000, over two busloads of parishioners attended a hearing by the Fulton
County Board of Commissioners, Morrow said.
With help from Barrie, the site was successfully rezoned to build
the church complex.
Father Corbett said it took approximately one and a half years to
work on the design and layout.
“This building committee itself has truly been a joint
effort,” Schiavone said. “Every time we needed something someone has
stepped up to get things done—real committee effort.”
In early 2000 a fund-raising campaign was initiated in the parish.
Community Counseling Services, Inc., out of New York, was hired as a consulting
firm for the campaign named “Building on Faith.” The campaign was
conducted from August to December 2000.
“Parishioner response was very enthusiastic,” Father
Corbett said. “So much so that by the end of the formal campaign period we
had received support from 57 percent of all registered families in our parish.
This gave us a pledge total of $8.4 million.”
Pledges are still coming in, he said. At present the parish has
pledges totaling $8.64 million, “which is a truly remarkable sign of the
sacrificial giving of the people of this parish.”
Families could also make pledges toward commemorative gifts such
as stained glass windows, Stations of the Cross and an educational wing.
“It will be wonderful to have a facility that our community
can use for educational and spiritual activities as well as parish social
activities,” the pastor said.
Deacon Lange has gone through two other church beginnings at St.
Andrew Church, Roswell, and at St. Benedict.
“(It is) very exciting to do this work here,” Deacon
Lange said. “There’s a lot of enthusiasm here. That’s what has
overwhelmed me—a lot of enthusiasm and support from the
parishioners—phenomenal. More so here than any other church I’ve been
with.”
“I believe the mission and subsequent parish has progressed
so rapidly and spiritually because of a very strong focus on the Eucharist. One
of the first ministries formed here has been eucharistic ministry and
adoration, and everything has spring-boarded off of that,” he said.
He added that the archbishop approved of building the complex all
at once instead of in stages as is normally done.
“Support from parishioners and the archdiocese allowed us to
do this. We appreciate the support the archbishop gave us to go through with
this campaign.” |
