St. Francis breaks ground
By KATHLEEN McKEVITT Sentinel Writer

Sentinel photo/Jared Putnam Father Richard Wise breaks ground on St. Francis of Assisi's new community building.

Four years ago, Father Richard Wise of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Blairsville, initiated a survey with a company used by Catholic churches to research their next ideal steps to take to support the needs of a growing congregation. Number one on the list was clearly a new Parish Multi-Purpose building, which would provide offices, classrooms, meeting rooms, and social space, and they had just the place to build it.

St. Francis got its start back in the mid-1980s in the old Cochran Funeral Home with eight families, then moved to a pool hall, then an old gun shop, and finally, to the property in Highway 76 (on the road to Young Harris) purchasing with it a small building known as Marion House, where services were held.

They moved out of the gun shop with 130 families. As they moved into the building known as Marion House, the same building that has now been demolished to prepare the place for the new Multi-purpose building, they continued to save for the construction of their Church sanctuary building. The congregation continued to grow.

By 2003, when Father Wise became the new Parish Priest, the group had grown to 320 families, and it was becoming clear that changes would have to be made to accommodate them and their activities.

Today, there are 482 families, which translates to 30 percent growth, and, according to Father Wise, "We had to build a center."

The survey called for a three-part expansion: 1) demolition of Marion Hall 2) build a new Parish Hall 3) enlarge the church.

The move into the new Marion Hall is expected to be in April 2008. It is being built by Ron Cantrell Construction Company of Cleveland, Ga.

According to Father Wise, "Expansion of the church is still several years down the road."

Father Wise says of his congregation and their purpose, "This will enable us to better serve the local community. We serve inward, so we can serve better outward."