Holy Family Timeline

1986 First Sunday in Advent

  • First service in New Lebanon Presbyterian Church.
  • Early name for the church was St. Francis of the Mountains. Bishop Judson Child on his first official visit requested that we change our name to Episcopal Church of the Holy Family.
  • Father Paul Ross was Holy Family’s first priest.

1987 First Steering Committee Formed


1988 Purchase of Bent Tree Drive lot


1989 Recognized as a Worshipping Community


1990 October 31 – Father Ross’ last service. Father John Bolton served as supply priest.


1991 June – Deacon Sam Buice was appointed Vicar to Holy Family, Jasper and St. Timothy’s in Calhoun.

  • First Vestry included John Lewis, Sr. Warden, Evelyn Smith, Jr. Warden, Julian Douglass, Bill Durrett, Jim Wilbur, and Nancy Womack. Pete Cook served as Treasurer.

1992 January 25 – Sam Buice’s Ordination to the Priesthood.

  • May 17 – First service in the Chapel of Assembly of God on Cove Road

1993 February – Sam Buice, Nancy Womack, and Bill Durrett visited property owned by Elaine McEwen.

  • March – Bishop gave permission to sell the Bent Tree Drive property.
  • August 27 – Motion made to purchase the Dorsey property on Griffith/Cove Road (9-10 acres)
  • September – Chapman family offered the parish the use of their chapel for our services.
  • November – Motion made to borrow $100,000 from Diocesan Foundation for the purchase of the two pieces of Dorsey property.
  • December – The Rev. Sam Buice submitted his resignation.

1994 January 9 – The Rev. Sam Buice’s last Sunday at Holy Family

  • Motion made to request that the Bishop name Scott Trotter as Deacon Designate.
  • February- Holy Family logo, designed by Erin and Whit Wright, accepted by the Vestry as the official logo for the church.
  • May – John Scott Trotter employed as Vicar of Holy Family Church.

1995 August – First service in the new modular building

  • November – Scott Trotter announced his resignation from Holy Family.

1996 September – The Venerable Rev. Dr. Jerry Zeller appointed Consultant and Interim Priest by Bishop Allen.

  • June – Food Pantry opens
  • July – Memorial Garden and Wall dedicated
  • November/December – Purchase of 27.5 additional acres of land

1997 April – Building Committee formed with Bob Womack as chair.

1998 June – The Very Rev. John Sanders comes to Holy Family

  • July – Deacon Frank Wilson is hired as Assistant Part-time Priest
  • October – Garland Reynolds is selected as the architect for the new building

1999 The Venerable Rev. Dr. Jerry Zeller served as his mentor.

  • November – Full Parish Status.

2001 March/April – Groundbreaking for the new Sanctuary

2002 May 19 – Pentecost – First Service in New Sanctuary

  • December – Father Zeller announces plans for retirement in April of 2003

2003 April – Jerry Zeller made honorary “Rector Emeritus” of Holy Family.

  • June – Nominating Committee established to search for a new Rector.

2004 August 16 – The Rev. Mary P. Johnson is called as Rector of Holy Family.

  • October 12 – The Rev. Mary P. Johnson’s first Sunday at Holy Family.

2005 February 27 – Celebration of New Ministry of Mary Johnson

2010 August 1 – The Rev. George S. Yandell is called as Priest-in-Charge at Holy Family


2011 November 19 and 20 – CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF CHRIST’S MINISTRY IN OUR FOUR-COUNTY AREA

  • 25th Anniversary Celebration and Pledge
  • Consecration Sunday. Guests The Rev. Dr. Bill Harkins and The Rt. Rev. Neil J. Alexander serving at the 10:30 service and Blessing the 25th Anniversary Trees.
  • Vision and mission statements distilled from small group input sessions with over 95 participants.

2012 With an average Sunday attendance of 183 and 437 active members, Holy Family flirts with moving from a pastoral style congregation to a program style parish where more responsibility and authority are delegated to lay leaders.

  • 3-year Long Range Plan adopted by the vestry in May.

2013 Campus Master Plan developed through 93 participants in more small group sessions.

  • Annual operating budget was the 22nd largest parish budget in the Diocese of Atlanta out of 110 congregations.

2014 In February the vestry approved the recommendation from Worship Committee to shorten the mission statement to: “Serving and engaging people in vibrant ministries.”

  • On December 6, The Pastoral Care Ministry held a half-day retreat on Depression with Dr. Beth-Sara Wright with over 45 people attending, with a number of non-parishioners from the wider community.

2016 Vestry consulted with Rev. Lang Lowery, Canon for Christian Enterprises in the Diocese, to address options for the future elimination of the $736,000 mortgage in three years.


2017 Insurance (less a $5000 deductible) covered the reconstruction of the pavilion and roof replacements on all campus buildings that were damaged by Hurricane Irma.


2018 Jacque LeBlanc hired as Holy Family’s first sexton


2019 Vestry unanimously endorsed plan to eliminate the mortgage before commercial loan refinancing due in 2023.

2020 65 parish members contributed $468,000 leaving balance due of $135,000 to pay off the commercial loan.

  • Diocese of Atlanta loaned Holy Family the $135,000 at 1.9% to be paid off in five years saving us $15,000 in mortgage and principal payments each year.
  • March 15 – The last in-person worship service in the Nave due to the COVID pandemic. Thereafter services filmed and shared on our website.
  • August – Live streaming equipment arrived and a broadcast control room was built in the Nave.
  • October – Outdoor Sunday services initiated weather permitting.

2021 Due to COVID concerns, outdoor Sunday services continued until March 28 when the Diocese allowed indoor services with social distancing and masks.

  • In June masks became optional only to become mandatory again in August due to the COVID Delta variant. Live streaming of services continued for online viewing.
  • Parish Administrator Michelle Roberson Daniel resigned in April and Christie Beiring was hired as her replacement in July.
  • The vestry identified “improving church visibility in the community” and “updating the phase II expansion plan” as being most important for our immediate future.

2022 As we began to regather at Holy Family, we experienced the restoration of Prayer Books and Hymnals to the Nave, wearing of masks became optional, and use of the common cup was again allowed, along with other options for the Eucharistic.

  • We gathered socially outdoors for Wonderful Wednesdays in the summer and early fall.
  • In October, forty-nine parishioners participated in Serve Pickens, a community-wide day of service.
  • Serve Pickens had its origin at Holy Family. We capped off the year by announcing the major accomplishment of having paid off our mortgage in November 2022.

2023 On Epiphany the parish held a mortgage burning celebration and chili dinner with Bishop Rob Wright.

  • In May, the vestry hosted small group input sessions where it became clear the parish wanted to take better care of our facilities.  Accordingly, the vestry launched a campaign to raise at least $100,000 for exterior staining of the church and sealing and re-striping of the parking lot.  The campaign exceeded the goal resulting in sufficient additional funds to replace the carpeting in the parish hall and the establishment of a reserve fund for future maintenance and repairs.