PAGE 6 — The Georgia Bulletin, July 23, 1987
Christ Our Hope
(Continued from page 1)
that made the parish’s new
place of worship a reality,
Ron Gauthier, chairman of
the decorating committee,
said, “A lot of hidden work
was done by many, many
people, — all together it
was a total community ef
fort.”
The parish, which en
compasses an area of
the building contain class
rooms, a food preparation
area and church offices. All
can be expanded without
altering the present struc
ture.
Budget and attention to
parishioners’ ideas have
been a concern since the
project began.
“Because we’re a small
community, we have
JOE M. CUMBIE was the designer of the
newly completed multi-purpose building that
will serve as Christ Our Hope’s place of wor
ship.
southeast DeKalb County
east of Panola Road and
Stone Mountain-Lithonia
Road and south of Rock
bridge Road, has 155 re
gistered families. It has not
had the growth that was
originally projected, ac
cording to Father Kieran.
With its own place of wor
ship he hopes the parish will
now grow.
The multi-purpose build
ing, to be dedicated Aug. 2, is
shaped like an inverted T.
The central section, now to
be used as the area for wor
ship, can be divided by par
titions that slide into ex
isting pockets in the wall.
The extending cross bars of
severe budget limitations,"
said Bill Newman, finance
committee chairman. “We
did a lot of unusual things
ourselves. For example,
parishioners put in 500 plus
feet of utility lines from the
street to where the builders
could tap in. We did it for
$3,000. It would have cost
$5,000. Another example, —
we got a quote of $4,000 for
landscaping — for sod. We
put it down ourselves for
$1,800.”
This community effort
has paid off. According to
Father Kieran, the new
building cost $300,000 and
the whole project, to date,
is below budget at $500,000.
To get this kind of parish
involvement is no accident.
Because architectural
blueprints are hard to envi
sion. Joe M. Cumbie, build
ing committee chairman,
built a scale model of the
proposed sanctuary to help
parishioners see what was
being planned and to gain
their approval of it.
Parishioners who donat
ed the eight panels of stain
ed glass also selected the
panels’ themes. For exam
ple, one family with a ma
jority of male members
named Michael, wanted
their donated panel to depict
St. Michael the Archangel in
some way. Another woman
who is involved in the
charismatic movement
asked that the Holy Spirit be
the focus of her donated
panel. A family, particular
ly devoted to Mary, re
quested a panel with a
Marian theme. This theme
selection gave donors a fur
ther sense of involvement in
the project. The panels, as
well as the five by eight foot
cross above the sanctuary
were constructed by Gau
thier.
Women on the decorating
committee gave input on
all aspects of the interior's
furnishings, according to
Gauthier, who chaired the
committee. They coor
dinated the beige-brown
tones of the carpet and
upholstery to achieve a
soft, warm effect. They
suggested that the stained
glass panels pick up the
colors in the cross. Every
aspect of the cross, which
took four days to create,
has symbolic meaning,
Gauthier points out. The 10
pieces of red glass, for ex
ample, represent the 10
commandments; the 12
horseshoe nails that make
up the crown of thorns,
represent the 12 Apostles.
Gauthier, a professional
artist who works in stained
glass, describes Christ Our
Hope as “a warm, loving
parish.” He is quick to
point out that “a lot of peo
ple who don’t have a
special gift like I have” put
hours mto the less spec-
PARISH INVOLVEMENT— Building committee members use their
skills to finish the interior of the new building.
FATHER JOHNKIERAN, pastor of Christ Our Hope parish.
tacular jobs, and their ef
forts are equally responsi
ble for the final product.
“There was a staining
and finishing crew, a land
scaping and grounds crew,
a crew that installed the
cabinets and bookcases, a
crew that washed windows.
Someone who couldn’t
reach high or climb a lad
der would ask, ’What can I
do?’ We’d say, ‘Here’s
some Windex and a razor
blade — do what you can
reach.’ Some would
vacuum the rugs and dust.
A group of men with
wheelbarrows went around
picking up all the trash the
builders left and carried it
to the burner.”
Joe Cumbie was respon
sible for the building’s
functional design. Careful
planning went into assur
ing its multi-purpose
feature, even after its con
version to a parish center
when the future church is
built.
Cumbie, who has made a
life-long hobby of working
with wood, built the maple/
birch box that holds the
tabernacle, the podium and
lectern, the vessel and gifts
tables. He refurbished the
donated altar and con
structed the six-by-eleven-
foot illumination box that
holds the overhanging
stained glass cross.
Parishioner Joe Mogan,
who designed the sanc
tuary lighting, kept the
planned flexibility in mind.
The system consists of
spotlights directed at
special areas and dimmers
that can be used now for
liturgical drama and, later,
for parish productions.
The new Christ Our Hope
worship center also con
tains special links with the*
past. A 90-year-old stained
glass panel from a demol
ished Catholic church in
Pennsylvania is placed in
the wall above the front
doors. Itisagiftof the Frank
Correale family whose
grandfather had donated it
to the original Pennsylvania
church. The refurbished
altar, donated by Im
maculate Heart of Mary
Church in Atlanta, came to
Christ Our Hope from
‘ ‘leaky storage.’’ The taber-
nacle, also refurbished,
came from St. Joseph’s
parish in Athens. The used
organ was once part of
Trinity Lutheran Church in
Lilburn’s worship service.
This bringing together of
old and new, of well-
established and newly-
founded, gives a sense of
connection, of roots, to the
parish’s first permanent
structure.
Every community needs
its leader; every team, its
captain. Pastor John
Kieran, any casual observ
er would soon note, is one
who leads by working
alongside (and above) his
parishioners. After an
hour's struggle at the top of
an extended ladder to fix in
place the parish logo, Fa
ther Kieran came down to
survey the job with the
three men who had strug
gled with him. It took him
about 20 seconds, he re
calls, to realize they had
put the logo up backward.
Together with parishioner
Mac Mclquham, Father
Kieran built the three
crosses that form a back
drop for the entrance sign
to the parish property.
The name of the parish
was inspired from the
opening words of Saint
Paul in his first letter to
Timothy; “Christ Jesus
our hope.”
The parish logo combines
the Chi (X) and Rho (P),
the first two letters of the
Greek word for Christ, with
the anchor cross, an early
sign of Christian hope.
It is Father Kieran’s
hope that the new building,
especially dedicated to
parish worship, will inspire
growth of the recently
formed parish community.
Future plans for Christ
Our Hope parish include
building a church. Howev
er, Father Kieran sees that
project as being lOyears off.
More immediately, the
house which has served as
rectory, parish offices and
parish meeting hall is being
sold. Proceeds from it will
be used to help build a small
parish rectory. Ten acres of
the 20 purchased in 1984
have been developed. The
remainder is on the market
under contract. Proceeds
from this land sale will help
reduce the parish debt.
RON GAUTHIER, chairman of the
decorating committee, measures a door panel
for a stained-glass fitting.
