Parishioners of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Cumming are hopeful of worshipping in their new church by next Christmas.

The six-acre property now serving the congregation of about 260 families has been sold to a shopping center developer. It is located at Georgia Highway 20 and Old Atlanta Road.

Father John Ozarowski, pastor, said the parish will build on a site being purchased from the archdiocese of Atlanta at the corner of Highway 369 and Holzclaw Road. Parishioner Robin Millard is architect for the new sanctuary.

Father Ozarowski, who became pastor in October, 1988, when Father Walter Donovan retired, said the parishioners have conducted a “very successful campaign” and succeeded in gathering three-year pledges totaling $310,000 for the church building project.

Millard said a parish study revealed that one of the “key concerns was that we not lose our family feeling as community. We feel the new church will have that feeling.”

The L-shaped building will be of traditional design and will also include a gathering area and religious education facilities. A rectory will be built at the same time, the Roswell architect said.

The new sanctuary is designed to seat 412 people. Future expansion capabilities would permit seating for 1,000. The facility will be built on “a very limited budget,” Millard said.

The design calls for small visitation chapel to be open 24 hours a day. Clear windows behind the altar and along the sides of the sanctuary will allow for a light-filled space.

The church and the rectory have been designed to minimize disturbance to the environment, Millard said.

The building committee was organized in August, 1988, with Ron Seder and Millard serving as co-chairmen. Seder was responsible for the parish expansion fund drive, according to Millard. “He works hard for the church.”

Millard, who has been a member of the archdiocesan property commission for about three years, said the project cost for building the sanctuary, rectory and double garage is $1.1 million. Groundbreaking is expected to take place in April.

Father Ozarowski said the present property was purchased about 15 years ago for Rural Catholic Social Services. The Dominican sisters who now operate The Place in Cumming lived there.

At the time, he said, there were about four Catholic families and Father Tom Kenny would come over from Gainesville to say Mass in someone’s home.

When the parish was established in 1975 with Father Alan Dillmann as first pastor there were about 30 families. The sisters’ former residence became the church and the rectory.