Georgia Bulletin

The Newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta

  • Clergy make their way from the Parish Life Center to St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Church for the celebration of a Mass marking the 30th anniversary of the Douglasville parish Aug. 7. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • Minister of hospitality Ramiro Negreros, right, holds the door open as he welcomes a parishioner into the sanctuary for the Aug. 7 Mass marking the 30th anniversary of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Church in Douglasville. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • Rosemary Crockette, one of the founding members of the St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Church, reads from the first Book of Kings during the Liturgy of the Word. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • Don and Jennifer Bird share a humorous moment during Bishop Luis Zarama’s homily. The Birds relocated to the Douglasville parish from South Carolina last December, where they were members of St. Mary Magdalene Church. The Simpsonville, S.C. parish is also where St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Church pastor Father Jesús David Trujillo-Luna’s brother, Father Theo, is the pastor. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • Two-year-old Alessandra Suarez plays with her father’s camera as her parents Jose and Maria and her sister Montserret are attentive to Bishop Luis Zarama during his homily. As members of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, the Suarez family became friends with Father Jesús David Trujillo-Luna when he was assigned to the Atlanta church. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • Clergy and altar servers join St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Church pastor Father Jesús David Trujillo-Luna, fifth from the right, and main celebrant Bishop Luis Zarama, right center, for a group photo after the 30th anniversary liturgy. Two former pastors, Father Richard Tibbetts, retired, fourth from the left, and Father Fernando Molina-Restrepo, pastor of Transfiguration Church, Marietta, left center, were also on hand. Photo By Michael Alexander

Clergy make their way from the Parish Life Center to St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Church for the celebration of a Mass marking the 30th anniversary of the Douglasville parish Aug. 7. Photo By Michael Alexander

Douglasville

Douglasville’s St. Theresa marks three decades

By GEORGIA BULLETIN STAFF | Published August 20, 2015

DOUGLASVILLE—With a bilingual Mass, a dinner and dance, parishioners of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Church in Douglasville celebrated the 30th anniversary of the establishment of their parish on Aug. 7.

The official decree was made on Aug. 8, 1985, by Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan when the request and the door-to-door survey by a representative group of 12 families convinced the archdiocese that enough Catholic families—approximately 250 families—lived in the western part of Douglas County to justify a new parish. At the time St. John Vianney Church in Lithia Springs was the only parish in the county.

Today the parish includes over 1,250 registered families. The population of the county has more than doubled since 1985, and it is among the fastest growing counties in Georgia.

Bishop Luis R. Zarama presided at the anniversary Mass with Father Jesús David Trujillo-Luna, the pastor, as concelebrant. Previous pastors Father Richard Tibbetts and Father Fernando Molina-Restrepo joined in the celebration of Mass. Over three decades the parish has established and expanded its first church, added a new rectory and a parish life center and acquired new property across the street to build for the future needs of the Catholic community. Visit sainttheresacatholicchurch.org for the details about the ministries of the parish and its 30 years of Catholic history.