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Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 19 No. 40
Thursday, November 12,1981
$8.00 per year
THE FIRST DAY of a new Diocese: it was November 8, 1956. The place was the
Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta. The first Bishop of Atlanta, Most Reverend Francis
E. Hyland walks in procession to the installation ceremony. The representative of the Holy
Father (it was Pope Pius XII) Archbishop Amleto G. Cicognani follows behind the Atlanta
clergy. It was the beginning of the nation’s newest diocese and another chapter in the history
of the church in the State of Georgia.
Preserving The
Past
THEA JARVIS
Finding your way to Sharon, Georgia is no mean feat.
From Atlanta, it involves almost two hours of steady driving down an 1-20 that
quickly changes from city-busy to country lonely. Even the hum and murmur of
familiar radio stations soon takes its leave.
Once off 1-20, the best is before you.
Two-lane roads flanked by overgrown fields wind their way lazily over
untended railroad tracks, past mom and pop groceries and vacant, windowless
storefronts.
The news that you have finally found your destination comes in a surprise sign
by the side of the road - Sharon. The center of town that sneaks up half a mile
farther down is as quiet as a schoolhouse on a Saturday morning.
The question surfaces like a full moon on a clear autumn night - what am I
doing in Sharon?
To be sure, looks are deceiving. In the sleepy, unhurried town of Sharon - that
once-thriving railroad hub that sent cousin cotton off to the mills and factories of
Yankee land - lie the roots and remnants of Catholic Georgia.
The Church of the Purification stands not far from Sharon’s main
thoroughfare, a street empty now and silent in the wake of a population exodus
to richer, if not greener, pastures. Purification is the successor to the first Catholic
Church in Georgia.
Around 1790, Catholic settlers from Maryland migrated to Locust Grove, just
about a mile or so down the road from Sharon. They were seeking greater
religious freedom.
their first church in Locust Grove was a log cabin. Close by, space was cleared
amid pine and hardwood for a quiet graveyard to shelter the dead. In 1877,
when church members deemed a move to nearby Sharon would more centrally
establish their facility, the old burying ground was left intact, and the present
Church of the Purification was erected.
Big city bustle has left the Locust Grove-Sharon heritage a veritable orphan.
Catholics were never a majority in this area of middle Georgia, but the little
community in Sharon has now dwindled to about seven.
On Sundays and first Fridays, Oblate Father Bill McGrath, who lives at Queen
of the Angels Church in Thomson, Georgia, celebrates Mass in the white frame
church.
“It should be preserved,” he said recently before leaving for a brief visit to the
Philippines, where he spent most of his mission years. He was speaking not only of
the lonely lady Purification, but of the history of the Catholic Church in Georgia,
for there is deep symbolism in this tired matriarch.
The paint is peeling - inside and out. Wavy windowpanes made of old glass are
threatened by the elements. Some have already succumbed. Broken panels let in
the heat of a Georgia summer and the chill of a Georgia winter.
Aged stations of the cross line the walls, unprepared for the gift of time -
decay. The old Mass vestments are still used by Father McGrath on his weekly
visits.
Across the street from the Purification, a new cemetery stands, having sprung
up because the Locust Grove burying ground became too overgrown and hard to
reach.
Even now, a car trip to the old graveyard requires strength of will, an unerring
guide, and a vehicle ready to brave low-hanging limbs and high-growing brush.
Father McGrath is concerned about what might be lost here through neglect,
disinterest and the ravages of time.
“A lot of the angels on the headstones have been broken off and taken by
tourists,” he said sadly, walking gingerly through the sun-baked weeds and briars.
Some of the tombstones - dating to the early 1800’s - have broken in half and
lean two-faced against a sheltering tree. Others lay flat, taking refuge in the warm
red earth.
Within a few years, without attention, the cemetery will be a jumble of
woodland wanderings, with nothing to distinguish it from any other overgrown
field.
Who will cherish this heritage of Georgia Catholicism? Who will scrape and
paint and dig and prune? Who will clear and clean and spruce and save? Who will
leave to future generations of Georgia Catholics the early monuments of their
faith?'
Seven Sharon Catholics and one mission priest surely cannot bear this burden
alone.
The Church of the Purification and the old Locust Grove cemetery offer a
silent challenge to Catholics of north Georgia - preserve them and you will
preserve a part of yourself.
Are We Blue?
BY MSGR. NOEL BURTENSHAW
Blue? Us? Not exactly.
Maybe black and blue after the long days and the short nights of
the past few weeks. But the task has been conquered and the result, in
beautiful bunches of blue, is in this edition of your Catholic
newspaper. We think it’s a blistering blue-streak supplement.
The child has grown up. She is now 25 years old and maturing
nicely. She has stopped looking over her shoulder to the kindly
mother-diocese of Savannah. She stands proud and able, welcoming
the stream of migrant families clustering everywhere to form vital new
parishes in the northern half of the State.
In producing our silver supplement for you, we traced her very
beginnings-not just the most recent quarter of a century, but back
two centuries ago when the eyes of DeSoto first scanned the red clay
of Georgia. We recalled the days of that giant missionary, John
England, the new Diocese of Savannah and the founding Catholic
community in Locust Grove. We recalled the founding of the Shrine,
Sacred Heart and all the institutions that healed and helped down
through the years.
And we recalled the people. At the moment of foundation,
Monsignor Cassidy was a father figure in north Georgia. Thank God he
still is. Monsignor John McDonough was a lively soft shoe in Cathedral
variety shows back then (we believe he has now tabled the taps) and
Monsignor Don Kieman had just received his first police chaplaincy
uniform. We remembered them all.
We recalled the bishops, chosen providentially by the Holy Spirit
to lead us, some no longer with us, others gone to shepherd far off
communities. From Francis Hyland to Thomas Donnellan - all were
part of the challenge.
Most especially we remembered the times, fleeting by, changing
and renewing our lives. We remembered the giant council in the
Vatican and the mini-council here at home. We remembered King, the
Cancer Home, the healing apostolate, the teaching apostolate and the
many ministries of this growing diocese over the last quarter century.
We are blue in color. We are silver in years. We are solid gold in
memories and we, on our 25th anniversary, are proud as the peacock’s
brilliant spread to bring you this special commemorative supplement.
Enjoy.
EVANGELIZA TION
Ad Campaign Launched
To Attract Unchurched
“WITHIN A FEW YEARS, without attention, the cemetery will be a jumble of woodland
wanderings, with nothing to distinguish it from any other overgrown field.” (For more on the
history of Sharon, see supplement, page 4.)
An experimental mass advertising
program is being launched by the
archdiocese this weekend.
The 30-day test, utilizing
advertisements in the Atlanta
JOURNAL and CONSTITUTION, is
funded by an anonymous donor who
saw similar, successful media
programs in other Catholic dioceses,
Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan
announced.
The ads invite the unchurched,
alienated Catholics, and the curious to
call a special number where a Catholic
layperson is available to discuss
whatever the caller wants to talk
about.
To manage this pilot program
effectively, all of the laypersons
handling the calls are from one parish,
St. Thomas Aquinas, which itself
conducted a similar, although smaller,
advertising program during its
successful Operation Homecomings in
1977 and 1979.
One of the unusual features of the
new archdiocesan program is that the
ads will run in many sections of the
JOURNAL/CONSTITUTION, in an
attempt to attract all types of readers.
On Saturdays, the ad will appear in
the church section with all of the
other religious groups. On Sundays, it
will appear in two of the feature
sections. On other days, the ad will
appear in sports, business, lifestyle,
entertainment and classified.
The Archdiocesan Committee on
Evangelization, chaired by George
Clements, is responsible for the
experimental program, which runs
from November 14 through December
13. Clements said there are seven
objectives for the program:
1. Test whether a news media
promotion works effectively.
2. “Wave the Catholic flag” in an
area dominated by non-Catholic
faiths.
3. Instill in practicing Catholics a
sense of pride, and a sense of duty as
evangelists.
4. Open the doors of the Church to
people who have never been invited
before, arid to inactive Catholics who
1 ' J
have never been invited to come back
before.
5. Offer an “icebreaker”
alternative to calling a rectory and
talking to a priest.
6. Dispel some of the myths and
aloofness of the Catholic religion.
7. Involve the laity even more in
spreading the Good News.
Some of the phone calls, Clements
said, will probably be only of an
“information” nature, where the
caller wants a question answered or
simply wants to talk about a problem.
In some cases, the St. Thomas
Aquinas layperson will try to get the
caller’s name and phone number, so
that the caller can be referred to a
layperson in the nearest parish.
Archbishop Donnellan has asked
all of the metropolitan area pastors to
submit names of parishioners who
would be willing to have callers
referred to them for follow-up contact
and possible home visits.
Carol Bradach and Fran Keeling of
St. Thomas Aquinas have put together
the team of laypersons who will be
PEACE
CHRIST
handling the special phone, 475-2706
on a 24-hour-a-day basis. A phone was
installed in the rectory, but all calls are
forwarded to the layperson’s home.
The “duty” changes each day at noon.
Fifteen couples have each volunteered
to take two 24-hour “duty” periods
during the test.
The copy for the ads changes each
week, although the essential points are
the same, namely that Catholics want
to share with others the peace of mind
and joy that comes with celebrating
Christ’s Resurrection at Sunday Mass.
(Continued on page 3)
Scripture
Was Most
Workshop
Successful
Response to a weekend “Evangelization Through Scripture” program at Sts.
Peter and Paul Oct. 31 was extremely gratifying, according to George Clements,
chairman of the archdiocesan Committee on Evangelization.
The committee has hosted three previous conferences in the past two years,
but the recent workshop was “by far the most successful,” Clements said, both in
the number of parishes represented and the variety of representation.
Some 300 people came to the Saturday conference, which began with a
keynote address by Father Timothy Tighe, C.S.P., and then provided the
audience with a dozen workshops to choose from - all reviewing different
Scripture study models.
Those who attended represented 49 parishes, three mission churches and two
university centers - Emory and the University of Georgia. More than 60 people
came from rural parishes of the archdiocese and, Clements noted, some parishes
who had not been involved in an evangelization program before were attracted to
the Scripture study session.
“It’s clear that proper use of Scripture study is going to be a key to a lot of
parish outreach programs,” he said, as parishes reach out to their own
membership and to the larger community of alienated Catholics and those not
attending church.
Noting the “very heavy rural representation” at the conference, Clements
suggested that parishes in those areas were encountering “even a greater interest
in Scripture - by our non-Catholic friends, by the unchurched and by our own
membership.”
“Evangelization Through Scripture” was planned by the archdiocesan
Committee on Evangelization in response to requests from parishes for more
information on Scripture-based study programs.
- Gretchen Keiser