The History of Holy Trinity
1973: There were 55 Catholic families in the area. They had prayed and petitioned to Archbishop Donnellan to create a parish in Peachtree City. Their prayers were answered when Fr. Jerry Hardy, from the Cathedral of Christ the King arrived on April 1, 1973 to celebrate Mass the first Mass at Peachtree City Elementary School.
In June of 1973, Holy Trinity became a weekend mission. Fr. Edward Danneker was assigned as our first pastor.
For the next three years, Mass, Religious Education, and meetings were held at various facilities: the school, the Presbyterian Church, the Information Center in the Aberdeen Center, the NCR cafeteria, and finally sharing a warehouse on Dividend Drive with the Lutherans. During this time the parish embraced 300 square miles.
1974: Fr. Daniel McCormick was the second pastor serving from June 1974 for three years. During this time the parish population had grown from the original 55 families to 98 families. Fr. McCormick also celebrated our first outdoor Mass at the amphitheater.
1977: Father James Sexstone was the third pastor, arriving in the spring of 1977. He would remain ten years. The land at the comer of Walt Banks Road and Highway 54 was bought in November of 1976 when parish families numbered 180. Construction began in August of 1977. The building now known as the Old Rectory, was designed for the priests offices and living quarters on the upper level, while the lower level would be for Mass and meetings. This project was completed in time for Midnight Mass on Christmas that same year.
1980: On January 6, 1980 the ground breaking for the church was held and on December 7, 1980, Archbishop Donnellan dedicated the church.
1987: Father John “Jack” Druding was our fourth pastor, his assignment to Holy Trinity beginning in 1987. In 1988 the parish built Loreto Hall, dedicating it to Our Lady of Loreto. Since Masses were being held in the new church, the Marian Chapel was built in the lower level of the Old Rectory building in 1989.
1991: Fr. Edward O’Connor served as pastor from 1991-94. Our parish was flourishing! Loreto Hall was used for overflow seating; McIntosh High School’s parking lot was graciously lent for overflow parking. Fr. Eddie rejuvenated the outdoor Mass at the Frederick Brown Amphitheater. It then became an annual tradition on Trinity Sunday when the parish came together to this one Mass on our Parish’s feast day!
1994: Fr. William Edward Calhoun came to us in 1994. He was a convert to Catholicism and the first African-American priest ordained in the Archdiocese of Atlanta. He approved the building committee’s His pastorate was cut short by a devastating automobile accident in December of that year, and he was unable to return to Holy Trinity. Our church Narthex is dedicated to Fr. Calhoun.
1995: In February of 1995, Father Michael McWhorter, the assistant pastor at the time of Fr. Calhoun’s accident, was appointed the seventh Holy Trinity pastor. Although his time here was short, he picked up where Fr. Calhoun had left off with the plans expansion plans, and just as we were beginning to realize the project, he was reassigned.
1996: In October 1996, Father John Walsh came to Holy Trinity amid the hustle and bustle of preparations of plans and fundraising. Groundbreaking took place two months after he arrived. The sanctuary had been expanded; and the clergy and childcare hallways had been added. He served our parish until June of 2007. During his time here the parish grew to 2500 families.
2002: In 2002 he began the development of the Faith Formation Building to accommodate our expanding parish community. The new rectory was also built. Both projects were completed in 2004.
2007: Father Michael Kingery came to us in June of 2007 from St. Clement Parish in Calhoun. Fr. Mike transferred to St. Andrew’s in Roswell on March 1, 2011.
2011: Our current Pastor is Father John Murphy. He arrived in March 2011 from St. James the Apostle in McDonough. As of June 2022, our parish has grown to 3,276 families! In the spring of 2019, the St. Faustina room was completely renovated to make the space more efficient to accommodate guest speakers. Loreto Hall was remodeled at this time as well. We began live streaming our Masses in 2018. In 2020 at the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, our priests were well-prepared to celebrate daily and weekend Masses online for our parishioners. Unexpectedly, we received notes from people all over the world that they found our Masses online and were participating with us! Our Parochial Vicar is Fr. Pavol Brenkus.