Early History - Continued

Bishop Gerald Frey established St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church and parish on September 3, 1968. The first Mass was celebrated on September 29, 1968, in a house located at 3327 Crane Ferry Road, about two blocks from the present Church. In addition to being the place of worship for Catholics residing on the west side of Richmond County and in Martinez, this house also served as the parish office, the parish hall, and the residence for the first pastor (Fr. Roy Cox). It’s hard to imagine when you consider that about seventy families were in the membership of St. Teresa’s at that time!

During this time, Columbia County, Georgia, was part of the Archdiocese of Atlanta; however, Catholics residing in Columbia County were participating in Eucharistic celebrations at St. Teresa of Avila parish. A survey was conducted, and the results - which indicated that the spiritual needs of Columbia County’s Catholics could be best served by St. Teresa’s parish - were sent to Bishop Raymond Lessard. In 1979, Columbia County, Georgia, officially became a part of the Savannah Diocese; and this brought the official enrollment of the parish to about 350 families.

The Church As We Know It

In February 1981, Bishop Lessard met with the members of the Parish Council and the Building Committee to discuss the parish’s plans for physical expansion. It was decided that the physical needs of the parish could be best realized if expansion was done in three phases. Phase One would be an education building, because it was the most-immediately needed. Phase Two would be a new Church. Phase Three - A would be a Parish Center; and, finally, Phase Three - B would be a new Rectory. In September 1983 (the Fifteenth Anniversary of the parish), eight classrooms were built for the religious education program. On October 11, 1987, Bishop Lessard celebrated Mass and dedicated the new church building, which is where we currently worship and which has a capacity of 750.