By Paula Day

St. Matthew's parish in Fairburn is one of the seven LaSalette parishes in the archdiocese undergoing an evaluation this summer.

Father James Caffery, MS, is pastor of the South Fulton County parish and during his two years as pastor the parish has grown from 260 to 345 households. Recently when he asked parishioners to evaluate their parish, he told them, "You will honor me most by being truthful." The priest noted that if a parish is a healthy parish, it is because the parishioners also work to make it so. "We must be a welcoming, inviting community as individuals," he said.

Through its Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) process the parish received 14 into full communion with the Church this past Easter. Seven are now participating in the pre-catechumenate and nine have indicated interest in the sessions to begin in the fall.

"The spirit of this parish community is shown in its liturgies," Father Caffery explained. "They are uplifting, welcoming, joyful. The people are extending themselves, not allowing themselves to be strangers."

St. Matthew's has many young families the priest pointed out. The number of children in the parish religious education program has increased from 55 to 160 since he became pastor. They are involved in the weekend liturgies, singing songs, offering prayers of the faithful, at times performing appropriate skits.

Recently a parishioner approached Father Caffery asking to initiate a senior citizens group. According to Rose Noehl, the group has grown from 12 to 16 to 21. They have attended a local theater production and have plans to go to a Braves game.

"If you take care of the young and take care of the old," Father Caffery said, "then you get those in-between. If you care for those they love, then they'll be interested in the Church."

Father Caffery points with pride to the parish outreach to the community at large through its S.M.A.R.T. Team. The St. Matthew's Addiction Referral Team meets twice a month and offers educational and supportive assistance to those affected by alcohol and drug abuse in the area.

St. Matthew's parishioners extend their welcoming and joyful spirit to the sick and shut-in, making regular visits to Christian City. The extensive complex in South Fulton County includes a convalescent center, retirement home for the elderly and home for children.

St. Matthew parishioners recently trained to assist with the obtaining of annulments at a workshop conducted by the archdiocese's Tribunal. Two plan to attend an August training session for parish AIDS ministry coordinators offered by the Archdiocesan AIDS Task Force.

"The parish sends people to these (events) so that when hurting people come to me, I can send them to those who have been trained. The parish helps finance their involvement. No matter what the future, they'll be of service to the Church," Father Caffery said.

The "little church that could" is bursting at the seams. A converted funeral home, the structure houses the priest's living quarters, offices, meeting rooms, classrooms and a tiny sanctuary, once the funeral home chapel. To accommodate overflow at weekend Masses, one room is converted into a closed circuit television room. Another, at a right angle to the sanctuary, opens directly onto the altar area.

Groundbreaking for a new all-purpose structure with 4,000 square feet of socializing space is planned for the fall. In addition to this gathering area, it will be used for the more heavily attended weekend Masses, seating 450. It will add needed classroom space and the plans allow for the parish's projected growth. The parish has $100,000 of the needed $300,000 for construction.

The hoped-for completion, "at least by spring," cannot come soon enough for Father Caffery who is a "man without a room" from eight to 11 on Sundays. Even the rectory living room is expropriated; RCIA sessions are held there. Because of the concentration of so many on Sunday mornings in such a small area, the pastor says he "does more work on Sunday and then uses Monday to figure out what I promised people" the day before.

"We're working in a hurting situation, but there's tremendous good spirit," the priest says. "We'll look back and say 'those were the days.'"

The LaSalette priest came from a Cajun parish in Louisiana of 1,500 families and church that could seat 800-900 people. He finds that the intimacy of St. Matthew's small sanctuary with "no big pulpit to hide behind" creates a far less formal atmosphere and in his homilies he shares himself, talking "as if with family members."

St, Matthew's will have its on-site evaluation in mid-September. Father Caffery will be the LaSalette member on an evaluation team visiting Good Shepherd parish in Orlando, FL, in October.