Chapter Six
†
The year 1974 will principally be remembered as the year of the Energy Crisis. With Arab nations flexing their muscles and dramatically reducing the flow of crude oil, energy prices in the U. S. skyrocketed for the first time. Higher bills and a new reality hit every home and business in America hard. Cheap oil was about to become a thing of the past, and the promise of nuclear energy—once called a technology that would be too cheap to meter—was falling under closer and closer scrutiny.
Non-profit organizations were hit especially hard. Even after the sale of part of its Alps Road property to Sambo’s, Holy Cross found itself facing an uncertain future. Partially in response, the church sold its parsonage on Janice Drive—the first and last parsonage Holy Cross would ever own.
Rev. Morelock, not long after starting his ministry in February 1974, gave the congregation a challenge that went to the heart of Christian ethics and a response to economic woes: “What lies ahead is the denial of one’s self,” he said, “and the acceptance of the cross.”
Responding to the energy from a new pastor, Holy Cross looked inward and concluded that it needed a youth group, a constitution, a better budgeting process, a long-range solution to its building problems, and an evangelism program. The church did add an early service in June 1974—perhaps not the best month of the year to add a new program—and began using liturgical services from a new service book, along with more contemporary music, using instruments such as the guitar and flute.
The church also continued its long-standing involvement in the community, donating funds and time to Recording for the Blind, the Retired Senior Citizens’ Volunteer Program, and the Athens Community Council on Aging. The church also, perhaps whimsically, appropriated the funds to send “20 needy kids to the circus.”
During the following year, the lack of a youth program worried church leaders and Pastor Morelock, who said at the church’s annual meeting that Holy Cross “must” have such a program. There had been a youth choir for a short time, but it dissolved due to “lack of participation and support.”
One financial issue weighed heavily on the church’s mind in those years. The property and church at 155 Alps Road had been bought using loans from the Division of Missions from the Lutheran Church in America. The church was paying interest on the loans, but it wanted, in fact, to operate on its own now, without help from the national organization, and considerable discussion went toward moving the congregation in this direction.
Problems were cropping up with the building itself as well. During the mid-Seventies, the sanctuary leaked so much some joked that Holy Cross should be known as “the church with the inside waterfalls.” Hogan Lumber Company sold the church lumber for roof repairs at “a very special price,” and Bill Bennett, of the building committee spoke for all when he said, “Hopefully, if it is raining on Sunday, January 11, 1976, you can be anywhere in our sanctuary and be dry.”
To raise money for repairs and to keep the congregation going during this period, Holy Cross had one increasingly valuable asset: the land around the church itself. Bought inexpensively before the building boom started, the land was now quite valuable. Still, members were divided on selling off parts of the property (though ultimately they did just that). In early 1973, for example, the Church Council recommended selling all or part of the property, but the church members weren’t so sure and refused to go along.
So Holy Cross entered its own kind of limbo. The current building was in bad shape and being patched together all the time, but there was no real movement from within for a new church structure.
Rev. Morelock was displeased to report on the state of the church at the annual meeting in 1976, for the buildings problems remained, and the growth of the church had been very small during the previous few years. On the other hand, member Willard Snyder made and donated to the church a candle stand for the Paschal candle.
By that year, controversy about whether to look for a new location or stay was an almost daily affair. Finally giving in to what seemed inevitable, the church authorized, apparently, “several” realtors to show the property, but nobody really thought Holy Cross wanted to sell. Finally, however, the church sold two parcels of its land, and with the proceeds, hired David Lunde as architect for a new sanctuary on a small parcel of land the church had bought just down the street past the Beechwood Shopping Center.
With plans for a new church underway, the church began to move forward once more. A youth ministry was finally “in bloom” at the church, and in 1976 one Christian who brought his witness to the group was University of Georgia quarterback (and future head coach) Ray Goff. Holy Cross also hired a part-time secretary after a time of not having one. Two new choirs were added for children and youth
The year 1977 is important in the history of Holy Cross. The church approved preliminary plans for an elegant church on its new property on West Lake Drive, enlarged the Church Council from nine to 12 members, and launched Phase Two of the Building Fund Drive with a dinner at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education. In a congregational business meeting, members accepted the bid of the Weekly Construction Company on a 50-14 vote—perhaps not a vote of overwhelming confidence, but approval anyway.
On a sultry Sunday, July 31, 1977, the church gathered at the site for its second groundbreaking. Perhaps no one imagined giving up the location on Alps Road this quickly, but with businesses swelling all around it, there was little choice. Crews started cutting down trees on the new site August 8.
While plans moved ahead for the new church, the old one had needs that could not be ignored. The congregation repaired the gas stove, refurbished the air conditioner, added gravel and grass, trimmed hedges, painted, and repaired the plumbing.
The church held a fine picnic and service at Watson’s Mill State Park, and Holy Cross distributed to local motels 200 copies of The Good News Bible, a modern-language text that for a time was wildly popular. Music in services continued to show signs of creativity, and in one service Libby Howell played the autoharp and Carol Wissinger the guitar.
By January of 1978, 34 percent of the construction of the new church had been paid. The first bulk-mailing permit was issued by the Post Office for Holy Cross. Rev. Morelock was dividing his time between the Elberton congregation and Holy Cross, and the Athens church continued to fret about attendance in Sunday school classes.
Finally, after delays from weather and other problems, the new church was nearing completion on West Lake Drive, and though the sanctuary was not yet ready, the congregation decided to hold a service of dedication in the educational annex on November 19.
It’s worth noting the names of some faithful members at this point. The Building Committee, which had worked hard on the new church, included Michael Taras, chairman, and members Berdia Brittain, Howard Jordan, Jerome Paulin, Vernon Robinson, and Ivan Roth. Church Council members included Henry Marks, chairman; Fred Friedrichs, secretary, and Marie Hagaman, treasurer. Members were James Anderson, Walter Edwards, Richard Gnann, Willard Snyder, John Stuedemann, Adrian Thomas, and Glenna Wilson.
In keeping with the importance of the day, the preacher was Rev. Dr. Gerald Troutman, president of the Southeastern Synod of the LCA, while lector was Rev. Charles Wessinger, pastor of Peachtree Road Lutheran Church in Atlanta. Rev. Morelock was the liturgist, while choirmaster was Richard Gnann, Jr., and organist Bobby Wheeler. Acolyte was Albert Morelock, crucifer Danny Marks, and ushers Jim Hansen and Fred Yount.
The members gathered in front of the educational annex and the still-unfinished sanctuary and sang “Christ is Made the Sure Foundation” as they prepared for the first-ever services at what is still the location of Holy Cross Lutheran Church. The responsive reading was Psalm 24: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof . . .” (It’s worth noting at this point that earlier in the church’s history, the Psalm each Sunday morning was sung, but this had been discontinued a few years before. Singing the Psalm would ultimately return and stay part of the services at Holy Cross.)
At this point, Building Committee chairman Michael Taras unlocked the doors for the first time and ceremonially gave the keys to Pastor Morelock. The processional began to the sound of Henry Purcell’s well-loved “Trumpet Tune.” Once inside, the congregation read in unison what must have struck everyone as the perfect Psalm, number 122: “I was glad when they said unto me: Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
After the liturgy, the Nicene Creed, and the singing of “Lift High the Cross,” Dr. Troutman delivered the sermon. Chairmen of the Building Committee and Church Council spoke of dreams fulfilled and promises yet to come. The recessional hymn was “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken,” set to Haydn’s familiar music. The “Hornpipe Finale” from Handel’s Water Music ended the service.
On this day, only five founding members of the congregation from 1955 still remained at Holy Cross: Mrs. H. H. Brittain, Dr. and Mrs. Howard Jordan, Miss Dora Mollenhoff, and Mrs. Sanford Ritchie.
While concerns about Sunday school attendance remained, that was hardly the most important thing on the horizon. In the following year, controversy engulfed Holy Cross and threatened to destroy it—just as it began worship in a new sanctuary.
Chapter 7
