Local News
Road Trip Around The Archdiocese - Destination: St. Helena Mission
Published: November 6, 2003
About 120 miles outside of Atlanta up Highway 23 and 441 is Clayton, Ga., nestled between the borders of Tennessee and South Carolina. This small town has a population of approximately 2,000 people and is the home of St. Helena Mission, the most northeast mission in the archdiocese.
The road to St. Helena Mission is beautiful.
Just 15 miles outside of Clayton you enter the Chattahoochee National Forest, which provides nice scenery over the closing miles of the trip. Shortly afterwards the town of Tallulah Falls is followed by Tallulah State Park. By the time you reach the Clayton city limits, country stores, produce and hot boiled peanut stands are strung along the side of the road. Mind you, you still see a Wal-Mart Supercenter and fast food franchises along the way. But once the road intersects with Highway 76, things start to return to the small town look of days gone by. Take a left turn on Highway 76, and just a block away is Clayton’s Main Street.
Main Street is lined with the storefronts of various businesses. There is a hardware store, a department store, a pharmacy, a book store, an art gallery, and a furniture and appliance store, just to name a few. Once you reach the top of Main Street, standing in the shadow of the Clayton Cafe, there is a picturesque backdrop to the city, a range of mountains looming in the background.
Just a few short miles from Main Street, off Mountain Stream Lane, is the property St. Helena Mission purchased in July 2000. One day it will be the site of a new church, with a breathtaking view of the Black Rock Mountains. Right now the community worships at a church on Warwoman Road. On this particular August day, however, as in the last three years, the congregation is gathering for its annual outdoor Mass and picnic under the shade of a large, white 40-foot by 60-foot tent. The main celebrant is Father Luis Zarama, pastor of St. Mark Church, Clarkesville, and the administrator of St. Helena Mission. On any given Saturday and Sunday, Father Zarama makes six 30-mile trips between Clarkesville and Clayton to celebrate Mass for the English and Spanish-speaking communities of the church and the mission. Teenager Jonathan Engel is the lone altar server for today’s liturgy and Dan Lange, a deacon in formation for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, is the lector. Deacon Lee Tollett, who relocated to Clayton with his wife from Sugarland, Texas, just over a year ago, assists Father Zarama. Deacon Tollett welcomes everyone in attendance and reports that pledges for the new church now total $310,000, 10 percent of their goal. He also takes a moment to recognize Ron Spencer, the chairman of the church building committee.
Father Zarama brings a lot of emotion and passion to his sermons. As he shares touching stories of the mutual love between himself and his maternal grandfather from New York City who would come to visit his family in Colombia, South America, it brings people to tears and laughter. But the real story Father Zarama is trying to drive home is the “beautiful mystery of love” we have in the Eucharist. He said the love is at the altar and all we have to do is open our hearts to the love of Jesus. The congregation before him is a mix of seasonal Clayton residents from various Southeastern cities and states, as well as full-time Clayton residents; yet there’s no distinction between localities. They worship like a close-knit family with great faith.
The outdoor Mass is followed by a picnic with a spread of food the width of the tent, plus some. Pat Marcellino has been cooking much of the morning under the hot Clayton sun on what can only be described as a large, black commercial grill on wheels. Marcellino, once known as “the chicken man,” owned a restaurant in Clayton for 20 years called The Chicken Coop. But this year they’ve requested hamburgers and hotdogs instead of last year’s smoked chicken. The rest of the parishioners bring an assortment of side dishes and desserts. It’s like an outdoor smorgasbord. Maybe it wasn’t the town of Bethsaida, where Jesus fed the crowd of five thousand, but the end result was the same. “They all ate and were satisfied.”
Leaving the St. Helena Mission property, one can only imagine what the new church will look like in the future. A sign on the outskirts of Clayton during the drive up read “Mountain Man Country.” No offense mountain man, but one glance at the majestic beauty surrounding Clayton, and it’s clear this is God’s country and it always will be.
This past summer staff photographer Michael Alexander visited three of the outlying churches and missions around the archdiocese for the first time. This is the first in a series of articles conveying in words and photos his visits to St. Helena Mission, Clayton, St. Elizabeth Seton Mission, Warm Springs, and St. Bernadette Church, Cedartown.
