|
By Erika Anderson, Staff Writer
LITHONIA—As they dedicated their new place of worship,
parishioners at Christ Our Hope Church rejoiced in their parish’s new
beginning by embracing their past and looking toward the future.
The Mass of Dedication, held June 8, was celebrated by Archbishop
John F. Donoghue and concelebrated by the pastor, Father Paul Flood.
Both the life of the parish and the ministry of the pastor were
revealed in the concelebrants of the Mass, who included Father John Kieran,
pastor of St. Pius X Church, Conyers, and Father Austin Fogarty, parochial
vicar at St. James the Apostle Church, McDonough, both of whom served as
pastors of Christ Our Hope. Also concelebrating were pastors under whom Father
Flood has served as a priest, including Msgr. Leo Herbert, pastor of St. George
Church, Newnan, and Father Terry Kane, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Church,
Hartwell. Father Brendan Doyle, pastor of St. Marguerite D’Youville
Church, Lawrenceville, a close friend of Father Flood, also served as a
concelebrant, along with nearly 20 priests of the archdiocese.
As they sang the opening hymn, “We’ve Come a Long
Way,” members of the culturally diverse parish, led by John Beal and the
Christ Our Hope choir, sang the words that they believe reflect the spirit of
their church.
“We’ve come a long way; we’ve come a long way.
Sometimes it was an uphill journey,” they sang, “sometimes on the
rough side of the mountain. But we’ve come a long way; we’ve come a
long way. Leaning and depending on Jesus, we’ve come a long way.”
Geneva Miller, chairperson of the building committee, then
welcomed the congregation and the archbishop.
“We want to thank you for the many and varied ways you
minister to us and shepherd our archdiocese. To our own local shepherds who
pastored us since our foundation, we say welcome Father John Kieran. Welcome
Father Austin Fogarty,” she said. “Archbishop Donoghue, we want to
thank you for your personal support which greatly encouraged us to build what
St. Paul wrote to Timothy, ‘Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of
God our savior and of Jesus Christ our hope, my true child in faith: grace,
mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Miller then introduced Alexandra Thompson, a young parishioner
wearing a lavender dress, who performed a song on the violin.
After the sprinkling rite and the Liturgy of the Word, Archbishop
Donoghue gave his homily, speaking of the commitment and faith of the Christ
Our Hope community.
“This is a great day for the priests and people of Christ Our
Hope Catholic Church. All the work and the achievement has come together, and
finally resulted in this day of dedication—and great joy, great happiness
can be seen in the faces of those who have gathered here in the friendship of
Christ,” he said. “Your pastor, Father Flood, the former pastors,
Fathers Kieran and Fogarty, all the priests and deacons who have worked in the
parish—these men have looked with great love upon this community, in all
its phases of growth—and the ministry of Christ, which is present in them
by virtue of their ordination, has been met, by the warmth and zeal of
Christ’s brothers and sisters—the men and women, the old people and
the youngsters, who make up this family of God here in Lithonia, and who
testify by their daily lives and actions, to the power of Christ’s love in
this place and at this time.”
He told parishioners that it was a day of rejoicing, not only for
the dedication, but because Christ has come.
“He has died and risen, and in His Spirit and in His Body and
Blood, He remains with us forever, as time unwinds, and the day of our judgment
and the Kingdom of God approaches,” he said.
“We rejoice, for Christ is our hope—our ancient hope,
our new hope, our everlasting hope,” the archbishop continued. “And
with Him to lead, dear friends, we now make ready, as a people of hope, to
follow into the light of the morning sun. This is the meaning of our
day—our day of blessing and dedication—and we praise and glorify God,
the Father in Heaven, who provides, who brings us into His courts, the courts
of the Lord, the courts of our salvation, and our joy.”
Following the homily, parishioners, led by Mary Abdulla,
prayerfully and joyfully sang the Litany of the Saints, asking for special
graces on behalf of the new church.
After a prayer of dedication, the archbishop anointed the altar
with chrism, saying, “We now anoint this altar and this building. May God
in his power make them holy, visible signs of the mystery of Christ and His
Church.”
When the altar had been anointed, Father Flood, Msgr. Herbert,
Father Kane and Father Doyle anointed the walls of the church by making the
sign of the cross with chrism.
The archbishop then incensed the altar, and Father Flood walked
through the church, incensing the people and the walls.
Parishioner Jane Febick and Miller then wiped the table of the
altar with cloths.
As he then lit the altar candles, the archbishop prayed,
“Light of Christ, shine forth in the church and bring all nations to the
fullness of truth.”
As a sign of rejoicing, the rest of the candles and lamps were lit
in the church by Father Kieran and Father Fogarty, and Father Paddy Donaghey,
pastor of St. Stephen the Martyr Church, Lilburn, and Father Philip Ryan,
pastor of St. Joseph Church, Washington.
Following the Liturgy of the Eucharist and Communion, Evelyn
McDonough, an aunt of the pastor who came from Australia to attend the
dedication, sang “Lady of Knock, Queen of Nations.”
A reception held after the event was a parish affair, with
parishioners Larry and Shirley Woodham and family giving a traditional Hawaiian
performance, and later, parishioner Leon Millette serving as DJ as partygoers
danced into the late evening.
The parish of 475 families on Wellborn Road broke ground for the
new church on May 1, 2000. Construction was completed in February on the
$750,000 project.
The 5,700-square-foot church seats about 375 persons, and was
built under the supervision of Catholic Construction Services, Inc. Dudley
Barrett Construction Co. was the general contractor and Warner, Summers,
Ditzel, Benefield, Ward and Associates served as architects.
The parish was founded in 1984 with 35 families. The community of
faith worshipped at Lithonia High School until 1987 when a worship space was
built. A small building was used as the parish hall, which in 1998 became
unusable, forcing the congregation to occasionally hold fellowship activities
in the church. Father Flood said that the worship space was “in danger of
becoming a multipurpose building,” but said because of a “tremendous
amount of support from the archdiocese,” parishioners were willing to work
toward the dream of a new church. The old worship space has now become the
parish hall. Father Flood said he was especially grateful to Msgr. Peter Dora,
former vicar general. The archdiocese matched dollar for dollar the money that
Christ Our Hope parishioners raised in order to pay for the new church.
“Most of the parishioners embraced the idea from the
beginning, but they really only built the church because the diocese was
prepared to give us a tremendous amount of support,” he said. “It
showed that the diocese cared for them and it said that our parish was
important and viable. The idea that the diocese was going to help us out
changed attitudes. We basically just rolled up our sleeves and went to
work.”
The church sits on about 9.2 acres and Father Flood said that
there is “a lot we’d like to do with landscaping.” There are six
windows on each side of the church, as well as an eight-foot round window above
the altar. Sometime before Christmas, Father Flood said, that window will
depict St. John the Baptist baptizing Jesus. Eventually, three windows on one
side will depict water scenes from the Old Testament, while three on the other
will depict water scenes from the New Testament.
“Why did we pick water scenes? Because my name is
Flood,” laughed the exuberant pastor. “No, we picked that because it
would be nice and serene. In a way the movement of the water reflects the
movement of our parish from the time it was established. Sometimes water runs
rapidly and sometimes it is very still.”
The furnishing of the church was not only a parish, but also an
archdiocesan affair, with several parishes donating money for the pews. The
sanctuary furnishings were provided by Ramsey Woodworks and Dave Keyack, a
parishioner who works for the company.
Parishioner Lupe Harding, who has been a member of Christ Our Hope
for about five years, said that the parish is like a second home.
“It’s a smaller parish and it’s a close knit
parish, yet it welcomes people in very easily, and you feel comfortable
there,” she said.
Harding said that after attending other parishes, it was Christ
Our Hope where she and her husband felt most comfortable.
“Christ Our Hope gave us a completely different
feeling,” she said. “My husband quickly became involved, and
he’s the one who doesn’t usually get involved.”
She said that her 11-year-old son enjoys being a Christ Our Hope
altar server and that going to church is a family affair as she attends with
her husband and four children, her mother and father, and her sister and
brother-in-law and their daughter. She said her family tries to help out at the
parish in any way they can, including stopping by to cut the grass. She
attributes the parish’s family spirit to its pastor.
“Father Flood is very down to earth and open with you and he
tells you what’s going on,” she said. “Being in a parish
that’s very friendly and having a pastor that’s easy to get along
with—it just feels like home to me. I didn’t even need the new church
to feel that way.”
Carole Golding, who has served as the parish secretary for five
and a half years, said that the parish has seen many new faces since the new
church has been built.
“We have had a lot of visitors, an exceptional amount of new
people registering since the new church has been built,” she said.
Golding said that though it is the “new building that draws
them in,” it’s the “friendliness” that keeps them there.
“Everyone gets along beautifully,” she said. “We
have people from 27-29 countries and there are no lines drawn, no cliques.
It’s just an open, friendly parish.”
Father Flood would like to see growth in his parish, in
ministries, such as the choir, but most importantly he hopes that parishioners,
whom he said like to “pray and play,” continue in the same spirit of
giving and involvement as when they were building the church.
“I would like to see a continuation of what I saw during this
process. People embraced (the building of the new church) despite difficulties
and despite sacrifices. There are tremendous stories of people on fixed incomes
and people with plenty of money who gave because they embraced the idea of a
new beginning,” he said. “I think we can build on that.”
|
