By St. Lawrence Photography Ministry

LAWRENCEVILLE—With its humble beginnings in an appliance storefront, St. Lawrence Church is setting off on a $10 million campaign, envisioning its future on the Grayson Highway campus.  

This construction project will add a eucharistic adoration chapel, replace the original rectory, and convert the current gymnasium into a parish hall, with a new gym.  

St. Lawrence Church celebrated its Golden Anniversary in June with Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv., joining a Mass and groundbreaking. Through the decades, one constant for the church has been people filling its pews as Gwinnett County has grown.  

In an email exchange, Father Henry Atem, pastor, said the anniversary was one of the most significant events celebrated here since the pandemic. 

“The community was very grateful to celebrate God’s many blessings which is reflected in our growth and collective accomplishment,” he said.  

Believers began gathering in the county in 1963 as a mission of Holy Cross Church in Chamblee. By its third anniversary, it had grown to 30 families. Some 173 families had become members within a decade, according to the parish website. 

Thriving community of 4,000 households 

The growing community constructed the county’s first Catholic church building, seating 300 and accommodating 250 in religious education. The following year, Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan raised the mission to a parish. 

In 1987, the parish opened a new Spanish Mission-style church. In 2000 its members dedicated a new education building with 24 classrooms and a gym. 

Church membership totaled 3,000 households in 2004, prompting another expansion. It was dedicated on Oct. 29, 2008. Parish leaders now report some 4,000 households on the membership rolls.   

Early parishioners remember the small community, where people sharing a pew became fast friends, Mass was celebrated outside at parish camping trips and festivals.  

Mike and Melissa Kinnard were among them. Like others, they were newcomers in 1979 to this corner of the Atlanta area, moving from Reading, Pennsylvania, with a young family. Their family grew to four children, giving them many celebrations from first Communions to confirmations at the parish.  

“Almost all of us were from somewhere else. This all occurred at a time in Gwinnett County when … there was a lot of immigration from other places,” said Mike, a retired engineer who is 75.  

Melissa described the parish as an extended family. “I felt very much at home,” she said. 

Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv., helped Father Henry Atem and parish leaders to break ground on the construction project to add an adoration chapel, replace the original rectory, and convert the current gymnasium into a parish hall. A new gym will also be added. Photo by St. Lawrence Photography Ministry

Both served in ministries through the years. Mike’s fingerprints are on construction projects over the decades. Melissa aided the St. Vincent de Paul outreach for three decades. 

Being grounded in this community for the long term shaped their friendships and how they saw their faith.  

“They were just, they were people you wanted to be like,” said Melissa, 72, a retired educator. For her, the faith lives of fellow parishioners were models. 

There’s very little Betsy Podriznik has not been part of at the parish. Since 1974, she’s worshipped here, bringing her young family from Tennessee.  

“It’s a very warm church,” she said. “The body of Christ is in our church.” 

Her faith has been rooted at the church through groups like the Ladies of St. Lawrence, the art and environment committee and the outreach to people living on the streets in Atlanta. She was part of the effort in the 1980s that built the second church on the campus, later renovated. 

Podriznik, 77, retired from sales in the computer industry. Her daughters received their sacraments at St. Lawrence. She worked as the first parish administrator, helping keep the priests organized.  

Despite its larger size, the parish holds on to its caring culture where people go the extra mile. 

“I think it’s a very welcoming church. Even though we’re so large, there’s enough people that have been there long enough that have kept that welcoming caring culture alive,” she said. 

During the 1990s, St. Lawrence assisted in the resettlement of refugees from Vietnam, Rwanda; and several other nations; in 1998 the growing number of Spanish-speaking Catholics in the area prompted creation of the parish’s first Hispanic ministry. 

The Kinnards give a lot of credit to recent pastors for helping to build a community that is unified and diverse.   

Said Mike, “We offer tremendous variety, and we do have such a diverse population, it is unbelievable. If you came to any of our Masses, you’d be astonished. We have a huge Hispanic population, a large African American population. It’s just amazing,” he said.  

Today, parish households speak English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Vietnamese and other languages. 

Father Atem, a native of Cameroon, said he invests his time and efforts to ensure every cultural community can participate and enrich the life of the parish  

“Usually, diversity is a blessing but also an opportunity for collaboration,” said the pastor. “St. Lawrence has grown to become extremely diverse, which is a reflection of Gwinnett County.”